Trap

Front Row at the Movies by Shirrel Rhoades

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Manoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan (better known as M. Night Shyamalan) is the filmmaker who gave us “The Sixth Sense,” perhaps the greatest modern ghost story. It has become the second-highest grossing horror movie of all time.

His subsequent movies (“The Village,” “The Happening,” “Old,” “Knock at the Door,” et al.) did not fail to surprise their audiences – the twist endings becoming something of a trademark.

Born in India and raised in Pennsylvania, his films frequently use Philadelphia as their backdrop.

Religion has been a constant thread in his films and TV series. Shyamalan has had an interesting history. He was raised as a Hindu, but attended a Roman Catholic grammar school, then graduated from an Episcopal high school. He took his degree from New York University (while I was teaching there).

His middle name “Night” was made up during college. He liked the spooky inference. That sets the tone for many of his storylines.

His first two feature films – “Praying With Anger” and “Wide Awake” – took on the subject of religion. “Signs” has that element of faith also. As does “Devil,” of course.

That theme morphed to “an obsession with the supernatural.”

With the help of the SyFy Channel, Shyamalan promoted this supernatural image. They put out a story that as a child Shyamalan had drowned in a frozen pond, remaining dead for nearly half an hour. Upon being resuscitated, the boy said he recalled communicating with spirits, an otherworldly experience that fueled his obsession with the supernatural.

Turns out, that story was just a hoax designed to boost his popularity. SyFy admitted it was just part of a guerrilla marketing campaign to generate publicity for a re-release of “The Village.”

M. Night Shyamalan’s latest movie is a psychological thriller called “Trap.”

Starring Josh Harnett and Ariel Donohue, we meet a likable dad who is taking his daughter to a Lady Raven rock concert to reward her for good grades. At the concert, they notice an unusually high number of police. He comes to realize this is an elaborate trap to catch a serial killer – him.

We discover that Cooper Adams (Hartnett) is actually a murderer known as the Butcher. And that he already has his next victim (Mark Bacolcol) hidden away in a basement. Trick is escaping the arena that’s surround by police and FBI agents.

Think: “No Way Out” with a serial killer rather than a Russian spy.

Cooper relies on Lady Raven to help him and his daughter Riley escape.

An interesting sidenote, Lady Raven is played by M. Night Shyamalan’s real-life daughter Saleka, who is herself an R&B singer-songwriter and actress.
Saleka has opened for acts such as Boyz II Men, Baby Rose, and Summer Walker.

She also wrote 14 songs for “Trap.”

Another cast member is legendary Hayley Mills (“The Parent Trap,” “Pollyanna”). Here, she plays Dr. Josephine Grant, an FBI profiler out to capture our serial killer.

In true Alfred Hitchcock fashion, M. Night Shyamalan makes a cameo appearance as Lady Raven’s uncle, who works as a spotter at the concert.

Get your ticket now. Enter M. Night Shyamalan’s trap.

Email Shirrel: srhoades@aol.com