The Sixth Sense

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For the ability sometimes referred to as "sixth sense", see Extra-sensory perception.

For other uses of this phrase see the Sixth sense disambigulation page.

The Sixth Sense
US film poster
Directed by	M. Night Shyamalan
Produced by	Sam Mercer Frank Marshall
Written by	M. Night Shyamalan
Starring	Bruce Willis Toni Collette Olivia Williams Haley Joel Osment
Distributed by	Hollywood Pictures
Release date(s)	August 6, 1999
Running time	107 min.
Language	English
Budget	$65,000,000
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

The Sixth Sense is a 1999 film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan that tells the story of a troubled, isolated boy (played by Haley Joel Osment) living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and a child psychologist (played by Bruce Willis) who tries to help him.

1 Plot synopsis
2 Awards
3 Production
4 In popular culture
5 Cast
6 Trivia
7 References
8 External links

[edit] Plot synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

As the film opens, Dr. Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis) a prominent child psychologist, returns home one night with his wife from an event in which he was honored for his efforts with children. The two discover they are not alone - a disturbed, nearly naked man named Vincent Gray (Donnie Wahlberg) appears in the doorway of their bathroom with a gun. He says, "I don't want to be afraid anymore." Cole, a central character in the movie, later says the same thing. Vincent is upset that Crowe has not helped him, and Malcolm realizes that Vincent is a former patient Malcolm treated as a child for his hallucinations. He condemns Malcolm for his inability to help him and shoots him in the stomach, and seconds later turns the gun on himself. The scene fades away with his wife by his side, aiding him.

Months later, next fall, Malcolm returns to work with another frightened boy, 9-year old Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment), with a similar condition to Vincent. Malcolm becomes dedicated to this patient, though he is haunted by doubts over his ability to help him, after his failure with Vincent. Meanwhile, he begins to neglect his wife, with whom his relationship is falling apart. Malcolm earns Cole's trust and Cole ultimately confides in him that he is clairvoyant and can "see dead people". Though Malcolm is naturally skeptical at first, he eventually comes to believe that Cole is telling the truth, and that Vincent may have had the same ability as Cole. He suggests to Cole that he try to find a purpose for his gift by communicating with the ghosts, perhaps to aid them in their unfinished business on Earth. Cole is at first skeptical about this advice, as the ghosts terrify him, but soon decides to try it.

Haley Joel Osment as the troubled Cole Sear

Cole communicates with the ghost of one girl who appears in his bedroom and appears to be sick. He finds out where the girl, Kyra Collins (Mischa Barton), lived and goes to her house, where a funeral reception is being held for her. Kyra's ghost gives Cole a videotape, which Cole gives to Kyra's father. The tape reveals that when Kyra was bedridden with illness, her mother was poisoning her food, which led to Kyra's death (it has been suggested that the mother's behavior was due to a condition known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy or Factitious Disorder)^[1] . Empowered now by his ability to use his gift to positive effect, Cole confesses his ability to his mother, Lynn (Toni Collette). Although his mother is troubled by his story, Cole tells Lynn that her mother (Cole's grandmother) went to see her perform in a dance recital one night when she was a child, though Lynn did not see her because she stayed in the back of the audience where she could not be seen. Lynn accepts this as the truth, and her relationship with Cole is strengthened.

His faith in himself now restored as a result of his success with Cole, Malcolm returns to his home, where he finds his wife sleeping on the couch, watching their old wedding video. This prompts Malcolm to recall Cole's advice to him, that he should try talking to his wife while she's asleep, that way she'll have to listen. A short 'conversation' with his sleeping wife follows, revealing the twist ending of the film, as Malcolm, too, has been one of Cole's ghosts.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Awards

The movie was nominated for six Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay (M. Night Shyamalan), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Haley Joel Osment), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Toni Collette, who played Osment's mother), and Best Editing (Andrew Mondshein). The Sixth Sense is one of only four horror films that have been nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award.

This film was #71 on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments.

[edit] Production

The film, with a production budget of approximately $40 million (plus $25m prints and advertising budget), earned $293,501,675 in the United States and a worldwide gross of $672,806,292, making it the #23 on the list of box-office money earned in the U.S. as of August 2006^[2].

[edit] In popular culture

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The line "I see dead people" became a popular catchphrase after the film's release, reaching #44 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies Quote List.

In Scary Movie, shortly after smoking marijuana, Shorty imitates the 'I see dead people' line before laughing uncontrollably and saying, "Man, this shit is awesome!"

The line made the lore of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling when Planet Jarrett "buried" the careers of Team 3D in October 2005 (James Storm, before making a joke, said mock-frightened, "I hear dead people!").

In Warcraft III, Blizzard Entertainment's strategy game, a Necromancer says "I see undead people" amongst other comical lines when the player clicks him repeatedly in a short period of time. IseeDeadPeople (no spaces) is also a cheat in the game that reveals the entire map. [1]

In Jagex's RuneScape, an MMORPG, a character notes "I see dead people" when the player examines an opened coffin.

In the 2002 film Undercover Brother, the title character (played by Eddie Griffin) undergoes a form of brainwashing by the Brotherhood (an African-American spy group) to absorb white culture and go undercover in a white-owned company. After having to watch Riverdance, Major Dad, and Murder, She Wrote, Undercover Brother finally has a "Caucasian overload" and whimpers "I see white people!"

That line had previously been invoked by Billy Crystal at the Academy Awards in the spring of 2000. In one of his sketches, the TV camera would zoom in on various celebrities in the audience, and Crystal would speak a joking line that was supposed to be what the actor was "really thinking". When the camera focused on Michael Clarke Duncan of The Green Mile, Crystal said, "I see white people!"

In The Haunted Mansion, Michael Evers is riding in a carriage in the backyard of the mansion, which is filled with ghosts. Michael tells his dad Jim Evers (played by Eddie Murphy), "I see dead people."

There is a Duck Dodgers episode titled "I See Duck People".

In the TV show Scrubs, the mysterious Janitor is absorbed in a DVD of the film, and neglects to clean up a spill that caused Dr. Cox to fall over. Cox retaliates by taunting the janitor with "Bruce Willis is a ghost. He's been dead the whole time" but the janitor later threatens Dr. Cox with the score of the Lakers Heat basketball game. They settle their dispute by the janitor receiving a home-cooked meal, and an hour in Dr. Cox's massage chair.
- My Screw Up, an episode of scrubs, is a homage to the film involving many similar aspects.

Following the series finale of the British Sitcom One Foot in the Grave, in which the lead character Victor Meldrew died, a special short was made for a charity telethon showing Victor visiting a sick relative with his wife Margaret. The scene involves a long dialogue from Victor, which Margaret, true to character, seems to ignore. After some time and after making some references to this movie, Victor finally realises that he is a ghost whom no one can see or hear. In addition, after the TV showing of this, Lenny Henry (who was presenting the telethon) remarked "I see dead people".

In reference to the oversaturation of the line, the film 50 First Dates uses The Sixth Sense as a plot device for Lucy's condition and the toll it takes on her family, as she sees it for the first time every day.

In the trailer to the movie Harsh Times the character Jim David who is played by Christian Bale delivers the line "I see dumb people". This is also on www.funnyjunk.com on a picture that is called "I see dumb people".

In the PC game Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide, When the player encounters a ruined camp, Deekin the kobold mutters, "Deekin sees dead people."

In an episode of the television series Hannah Montana, Haley Joel Osment's younger sister Emily Osment's character says she sees dead people.

On one MADtv episode, there was a skit parodying the old Pepsi commercials with the little girl who got mad whenever someone confused Pepsi and Coca-Cola. In it, the girl said, "I see dead people... and live ones too..."

An episode of The Cramp Twins is entitled "6th Senseless", a play on the film's title.

An episode of Alias is entitled "I See Dead People".

In the Shrek 4-D attraction at Universal Studios, Donkey (Eddie Murphy) says "I feel dead people".

In an episode of Bravo's Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Carson Kressley discovered a hideous-looking puppet in the straight guy's house; he was seen moving the head while saying in a high-pitched voice, "I see straight people!"

In an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigators, while Sara Sidle is at a funeral home, one of the morticians tells her that morticians see things differently than other people. She replies "You see dead people. Yeah, so do I!"
In the song Standing Ovation by Young Jeezy - "Got it by the truckload, like the bread people. I got a sixth sense, I stack dead people".

In the episode Letters from Pegasus from the first season of Stargate Atlantis, Dr McKay says that he has only seen the first half of the film and that he has "... always wondered how that ended."

In the movie Twelve Monkeys, released 4 years before this film, Bruce Willis says the line "All I see are dead people". Whether this is coincidental or not, both movies share the same actor, not to mention the name Cole, and were filmed principally in Philadelphia.

In the Nickelodeon television series Danny Phantom everytime he senses a ghost he can see his breath as a reference to when it gets cold Cole can see his breath.

Rapper Redman has a song titled "I C Dead People" featured on the Ill at Will Mixtape Vol. 1 released March 13th, 2004. The song features samples from dead emcees Tupac, Biggie Smalls, Big L and Big Pun.

In The Lion King 1½,When Timon witnesses Mufasa rescuing Simba and Nala from the hyenas, he says, "I see carnivores".

In an episode of Blue Collar TV , A ghost who is frightened of the rednecks remarkes "I see rednecks"

[edit] Cast

Bruce Willis as Malcolm Crowe
Haley Joel Osment as Cole Sear
Toni Collette as Lynn Sear
Olivia Williams as Anna Crowe
Glenn Fitzgerald as Sean
Mischa Barton as Kyra Collins
Donnie Wahlberg as Vincent Gray

[edit] Trivia

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Precautions were made to not give any obvious clues to the state of the character Malcolm Crowe. However, in the scene when Cole says he sees dead people, the camera zooms slowly towards Crowe's face. The filmmakers were rather nervous about that shot as a dead giveaway but decided to leave it in and it ended up not spoiling the ending.^{[citation needed]}

The book DisneyWar contains an account of the business dealings behind The Sixth Sense. According to the book, David Vogel of The Walt Disney Company read Shyamalan's spec script and instantly loved it. Without obtaining approval from his boss, Vogel bought the rights to the script, despite the high price of USD$2 million and the stipulation that Shyamalan could direct the film. Disney later stripped Vogel of the title of President of Walt Disney Pictures, and Vogel left the company. Walt Disney Pictures, apparently in a show of little confidence in the film, sold the profits to Spyglass Entertainment, and kept only a 12.5 percent distribution fee for itself.

The color red is also used prominently throughout the movie in situations where the dead are present (see the color of the balloon and Cole's sweater at the birthday party, the tent in which he first encounters Kyra, the numbers on Crowe's tape player, the doorknob to the locked closet, the grieving mother's dress, etc.) Shyamalan's film The Village similarly portrayed the color red as having connotations with evil and the supernatural (specifically, the mysterious monsters that inhabit the woods surrounding the village).