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Despite being another seemingly generic entry from the endless production at Blumhouse Production – see Paranormal Activity, Sinister, The Gallows – M. Night Shymalan’s The Visit ­is an oddly enjoyable and surprisingly affective found-footage horror.

The film follows the story of two siblings, fifteen-year-old Becca (DeJonge) and thirteen-year-old Tyler (Oxenbould), who decide to head out to rural Pennsylvania to spend a week with their estranged grandparents, Nana (Dunagan) and Pop Pop (McRobbie). The last time their mother, Paula (played by the always reliable Hahn), had seen her parents was fifteen years ago when she left home for good and now Becca – an aspiring filmmaker – is hoping to document their entire visit and shed some light on the longstanding separation.

Excited at the prospect of finally getting all of her questions answered, Becca and Tyler – who helps her to make sure that every angle and frame is fully covered – try their best to make the most out of their visit. However, something seems to be off with Nana and Pop Pop who, after the lights go out, begin to show a much darker side to their already peculiar personalities.

Creepy more than scary, The Visit marks the director’s lowest budgeted feature film to date and although it can’t hold a candle to his 1999 hit, The Sixth Sense, for example, it feels like Shymalan has once again found his footing after a series of duds – think The Last Airbender and After Earth.

Tapping into a familiar concept and turning it into a thoroughly frightening and an ominous experience is what makes The Visit shine. Subtle, simple and refreshingly straightforward, Shyamalan also manages to blend in a light dose of humor into the proceedings and, even though some of the scares can be seen from a mile away and the shaky-cam work does get a little disruptive, the overall result isn’t all that bad.

Delivering a couple of convincing performances, both DeJonge – as the intelligent and extremely grounded older sister – and Oxenbould as her wannabe-rapper younger brother are engaging as the victims-to-be, though Dunagan and McRobbie steal the show with their quietly eerie and wildly unpredictable representation of grandparents-gone-gaga.

Never taking itself too seriously, The Visit is a watchable and undemanding faux-documentary thriller that many have attached the word comedy too. There is definitely a lot to appreciate in this creepy little number, however, if you’re not a fan of this particular sub-genre, then you’re probably better off looking for your frights elsewhere.