M Night Shyamalan’s ghost story terrified me to my teenage core – and ignited a love for clever storytellingRead all the other My favourite film choicesThe best arts and entertainment during self-isolationI turned 12 in 1999. Some film buffs like to say the year was one of the greatest in cinema’s history, spawning storied releases such as Fight Club, Eyes Wide Shut and Magnolia. As a pre-teen, most of these went over my head – I was just starting to dip my toe in the world of adult cinema. Like most of my peers, I had been illicitly smuggled into Titanic the previous year despite its 12 certificate. Buoyed by that experience, I had my sights trained on a 15 rating, so I took on The Sixth Sense, bracing myself for “moderate horror”.
“Moderate horror” is probably a fair assessment given that there’s no depravity or gore in the film – it’s more about the psychological chills. But it still feels like understatement for a film that sparked a 20-year fear of the dark.