M.Night Shyamalan's Horrifying Hours

Original Film Names: Lady in the Water / The Happening
Original Release Date: 2006 / 2008
Original Runtimes: 201 minutes (110 minutes / 91 minutes)

Fanedit Film Name: M.Night Shyamalan's Horrifying Hours
Fanedit Release Date: April 2010
Fanedit Runtime: 137 minutes (77 minutes / 60 minutes)

Amount of time cut/added: 63 minutes

Intention: You're probably wondering why anyone would try and improve "Lady in the Water" and "The Happening". Simply, I have a deep respect for M. Night Shyamalan. His film "Unbreakable" I consider one of the best films of the decade, and he proved his prowess with it. So how did he go from a brilliant movie like that to stinkers like "Lady in the Water" and "The Happening"?

After re-watching the films I knew what it was. The extra padding he included was poorly done, with excessive dialog and, in the case of "The Happening", an uninteresting subplot.

My goal was to cut each film down to 60 minutes and release them as a double feature. While I managed to do that with "The Happening" I couldn't quite achieve that running time with "Lady in the Water". I really wanted to cut out the Asian woman's fable, but Shyamalan used this as a crutch to explain what was happening in the movie. Because of this exposition I couldn't completely remove it for fear of confusing the audience. But with approximately 30 minutes cut the movie does flow a lot better.

Release details: Edited using HD source from the Blu-Ray discs.

AVCHD: COMING SOON
DVD: DVD-5, 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, NTSC True Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Bonus Features: Text Commentary Track (select Subtitles on your remote during playback to activate)

Hardware and software information: Core i7 Hackintosh 2.66GHz, AnyDVD HD, tsMuxeR, RipBot264, VLC, Audacity, Final Cut Pro, Compressor, DVD Studio Pro, mulitAVCHD

now on fanedit.info

i love both of these films you used to make your edit. i agree, Lady in the Water is one of the coolest films on my list. can't wait to see how you took the 2 films and put a story together. im sure it will be great!

scrapesky said:

i love both of these films you used to make your edit. i agree, Lady in the Water is one of the coolest films on my list. can't wait to see how you took the 2 films and put a story together. im sure it will be great!

Click to expand...

I hope my description doesn't imply the two films were intertwined into a single film. That is not what I did. I simply cut the exces of both and put them on a single DVD so you get two films roughly 60 min. each. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

It was pretty clear to me. Sorry, Scrapesky.

a review:

Being that I am in the minority of actually liking Shyamalan's films, I felt it appropriate that I should give a review. I have not watched Lady in the Water or the Happening since their dvd/theatrical releases. Therefore in watching these edits now, it would give a fair unbiased opinion to see how it flows since most of the original scenes have left my mind (to some varying degree)

Honestly I really do not know why people dislike Shyamalan's films so much? They are not that terrible and certainly miles above most of the crap shoved down our movie watching throats nowadays.

I loved Lady in the Water and I really enjoyed the Happening. I looked forward to seeing this editor's work:


The disc opens up with a nice menu and watery or windy transitions for each edit. The menus are well done. I did not yet watch his commentary subtitled versions and I am sure it will pinpoint many of the smaller things I might have missed that he did work on for each edit.

The video quality is decent enough. All video and audio had no hard cuts or errors to speak of. I am using a regular analog 27" tv for viewing as well as sound. Each film edit on here is presented in Black and White, something I am a fan of.


I really wanted to see this new take on the Happening, so this is what I watched first.

Wow! This was one heck of an improvement over the original. The editing was pretty flawless and the film's pacing was not hampered down. In fact I do not miss anything that was removed and likewise, if you never saw the film, you might be hard pressed to find what was taken away. The only problem I do have is the use of black and white. I tend to prefer films in black and white as it brings across a greater atmospheric feeling on the screen, however for the complete first half I felt it worked against it. It just did not feel right and should have been left in color. The second half of this worked well and the black and white use (especially during the sequence at Mrs. Jone's cabin) was very effective. I would have to double check my original, but I thought one scene towards the end was slightly re-arranged. The pacing really stands out on this and keeps the whole film going without any downtime. I think many that were disappointed with the original would find this as a breath of fresh air.



Lady in the Water:
I am glad I watched this one second. This feels very disjointed and does not make that much sense. It opens with strangers talking and saying things that normally one would not say in a conversation with someone you just found in your pool. It gives a very strange and surreal feeling. So far it reminds me of something I would see in a foreign art film. As this edit goes on, the damage to the film's story and integrity increases. This is one film where it is critical for more characterization and back story. Instead due to the removal of many such scenes, you are given a general plot idea, but it moves way too fast and removes too much to be anything of interest or sense. It really killed the film and only 30 mins in I am having a hard time viewing it.

Ok look, I was only able to make it to 52 mins before I started skimming with the fast forward button. I just could not watch it any longer past this point. Even if the ending does work well, there is already too much damage committed that seeing the rest is not worth the bother. I am really sorry to sound like this, but this edit just fails horribly. Keep in mind I did see the film on dvd before and this edit only slightly makes sense with the knowledge of what is already going to happen. God knows how one would interpret this particular edit if they never saw the film beforehand?

The use of black and white on this feature does hamper it and removes most of the fantasy element by making it feel kind of dreary and dull in addition to my previous thoughts about what the editor removed. I just cannot recommend this half of the edit at all. In theory it was an interesting idea, but on the screen it just failed to translate over


Overall this edition is worth viewing alone for the great improvement with The Happening, but what a horrible mess for Lady in the Water

7 out of 10 stars.

Thanks for the review tranzor. I appreciate the input, good or bad, and your views are well taken. However... I do take issue with one thing:

tranzor said:

It opens with strangers talking and saying things that normally one would not say in a conversation with someone you just found in your pool. It gives a very strange and surreal feeling. So far it reminds me of something I would see in a foreign art film.

Click to expand...

This is exactly how Shyamalan has Cleveland and Story meet in the theatrical version. I didn't touch it. I did cut the animated introduction explaining the bedtime story, as well as introducing all the characters who disappear and don't reappear until the end of the film, but the part you're referring to is untouched.

As for cutting the introduction to the characters I did this, as I said, because they don't reappear until nearly the end of the film. (Some of it is also Shyamalan's terrible attempt at comedy that just stopped the film in its tracks.) And Shyamalan did a fine job of re-introducing them just before, although not in as great of detail. I felt that that introduction, as limited as it was, was enough to get us to where we need to be for the end of the film.

And if enough people are interested in a color version I'm willing to do it. I just need to know before I wipe the drive so I can move on to my next project.

thunderclap said:

Thanks for the review tranzor. I appreciate the input, good or bad, and your views are well taken. However... I do take issue with one thing:

tranzor said:

It opens with strangers talking and saying things that normally one would not say in a conversation with someone you just found in your pool. It gives a very strange and surreal feeling. So far it reminds me of something I would see in a foreign art film.

Click to expand...

This is exactly how Shyamalan has Cleveland and Story meet in the theatrical version. I didn't touch it. I did cut the animated introduction explaining the bedtime story, as well as introducing all the characters who disappear and don't reappear until the end of the film, but the part you're referring to is untouched.

As for cutting the introduction to the characters I did this, as I said, because they don't reappear until nearly the end of the film. (Some of it is also Shyamalan's terrible attempt at comedy that just stopped the film in its tracks.) And Shyamalan did a fine job of re-introducing them just before, although not in as great of detail. I felt that that introduction, as limited as it was, was enough to get us to where we need to be for the end of the film.

And if enough people are interested in a color version I'm willing to do it. I just need to know before I wipe the drive so I can move on to my next project.

Click to expand...

That was my memory not recalling it correctly. I just played the original's beginning. I had really thought that before the first meeting, he knew someone was swimming in the pool at night (or seen her for her to only "disappear"). It still does not change my view though, I believe most of that intro you cut was needed a bit to at least introduce the main character a little more. Your newer beginning just did not feel right to me at all.

as far as a color version goes, again I cannot answer for anyone else, but I do not think it would have changed that much for me, but for someone else it might.

Still I give you props for the Happening because you really delivered on that one (actually for my own keep sake I would not mind a color version of that either)

I am sure others will have very different views on your edit than what I gave, so it is just a
matter of time before they start showing up

I don't own either of these movies, in fact I've never seen them. But this reminded me to put them in my netflix queue so I can see if I should purchase them and then check out your edit....

i am sorry about that, i did mis read the description. i was skimming over it, and i guess i assumed they were merged/joined together to make a single film. i apologize. like i said, either way im sure they are great! you do great work!

The AVCHD version has been submitted and should be available soon. Here are the details:

AVCHD: DVD-9, 720p @ 7400 Kbps, 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, True Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound

I watched the Happening on this disc and I must say it's definitely an improvement. That said, it's still an awful film. Much better without the "OMG the plants are killing us" and the marriage on the rocks plot points. But unfortunately the atrocious acting and pretty weak story and payoff is still unavoidable. Not a bad effort though, and pretty good considering the source material. As for the black and white, I thought some scenes really felt great in black and white while others really felt like they should be in color, so that was a mixed bag for me.

I had seen (and detested) The Happening before, but never Lady in the Water.

The Happening: Great job! It becomes a compact little thriller of perfect lenght (one longs for the classic film days in which 60-minute-long movies were allowed in theatres) which could almost be part of a Twilight Zone type series. B&W works fine for this despite the minor mood ring thing, the buffoonery is gone, and the lover subplot is thankfully nowhere to be seen, by which it all is no longer as much of a poster-film for The Sacrosanct Institution of Marriage, Total Sexual Exclusiveness Division. Sadly, nothing could be done about that turd "love conquers all" ending, and Marky Mark is still as believable as a science man as I would be as Marilyn Monroe. But I did enjoy the movie this time around. Quite a bit, actually. The only technical downside is the abrupt music cut at the very end of the final credits.

Lady in the Water: I'm afraid I can't be anywhere near as kind, but, as this is the only version of it I have seen, it probably has more to do with the original being bloody awful than with the faneditor's work. The story can be followed, but it is barely logical, worst aspect of it being the ease with which everyone accepts the fantasy of it all. Yeah, right. B&W doesn't work nearly as well in this one, probably because of all those night sequences (B&W night photography is a very specific process) that makes all details merge into the background, while The Happening was all set in daylight. Editing seems quite well done, but there are two moments that make me go WTF: one is that "key" thing, which we first see when Giamatti covers it so the Asian girl can't see it, the existence of which had been mentioned but it hadn't been properly visually introduced; and the other is a short sequence of Giamatti in a pajama eating a cookie in front of the Asian girl and her mother. Where did that scene come from, and what the hell is its purpose? Otherwise it's technically well done, but I found the movie just plain atrocious.

DVD menus are good looking and the transitions are original, even if I wonder why the title menu for "Lady" was kept in color.

Overall, 7/10. Worth watching for The Happening.

I watched both, 'The Happening' yesterday and 'Lady' this afternoon.
There is one short scene I didn't like in the Happening.
It's the one in which the fugitives look behind their back baffled at 0'33' 29sec after the invisible shooting stops.
I mean they all had agreed one minute earlier to grant leadership to Elliot Moore, so I thought they did look a bit stupid to make this long halt instead of just running away from the threat, and following his advice. Also, may be cutting a bit of dialogue from the disgruntled old lady near the ending, but it's a minor quibble.
I think Mark Wahlberg is a great asset in 'the Happening', I was not used to see him convincingly play some gentle, caring, patient Teacher, and it worked for me.

On the other hand, Lady In the Water felt like a mess of a movie (except for Bryce Dallas Howard cuteness maybe). The acting is terrible (forced) almost all the way through, and the story is convoluted.
Continuity is broken in heaps and Cleveland Heep course of action is totally unbelievable (he wants to help, lack confidence but leads the rescue party, cries for no reason over some of his neighbor's brat).
Sorry q2, there was just so much you could do to salvage this horrible medium-length film.
Watch this only if you're the kind of person getting goose pimples in front of an accident or inevitably sympathising to strangers in great distress.
Finally, the artsy black and white picture didn't seem necessary to me overall, but may be you had your reasons for this, technically speaking.