I’ve been looking forward to M. Night Shyamalan’s latest outing, Lady in the Water ever since it was announced. This anticipation hasn’t been because I’m a total Shyamalan freak, that ended when The Village disappointed me so badly. Instead I’ve been awaiting Lady in the Water because of the decidedly different tone of the film. Teased as “a bedtime story”, it looked like Shyamalan had departed from his suspense methods and was going to tell a different type of story. Now it looks like that is wrong.

The newest trailer for Lady has a much different tone to it. Instead of the lighter feel of the first trailer, the trailer is much darker, down to the line “How many of you are there?” which felt like a question of wonder in the teaser, but now feels like a line of concern and possibly terror. Paul Giamatti’s character, who thankfully is only shirtless for a few seconds of the trailer, appears to uncover not just a Lady, but an entire culture whose discovery might threaten Earth. Think The Village, only the magical creatures are real, adding in a feel of Signs. At least that’s the feeling the trailer gives me.

Did Shyamalan already work in a twist to the movie? Was that twist in the ad campaign, convincing audiences he had changed his tone and explored a new area, when really his “bedtime story” is just as dark as his take on comic books, ghosts, and alien invasions? I guess we’ll all find out July 21st when the movie hits theatres.

Click here to go to our video page, with links to Lady in the Water’s newest trailer.