"The Sixth Sense" (1999)

Although it was not his first film, "The Sixth Sense" was the film that made M. Night Shyamalan a household name.

Haley Joel Osment stars as Cole Sear, a boy who sees dead people who don't know they are dead. Dr. Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis), a child psychologist, is confronted one night by a former patient who violently kills himself. The troubled psychologist soon takes on the job of trying to help Cole sort out his problems, but the boy may be key to an event Crowe isn't even aware has happened.

"The Sixth Sense" was nominated for six Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director.

The film set the pattern for what audiences expected from Shyamalan, including clever twist endings and vivid characters. It also marked Shyamalan's first cameo in his films in a style established by Alfred Hitchcock.

The film was so influential that "I see dead people" was named the No. 44 movie quote of all time out of 100 by the American Film Institute.

"Unbreakable" (2000)

With M. Night Shyamalan's second major feature, he continues with his good luck charm Bruce Willis in a spooky sci-fi thriller.

Willis plays David Dunn, the only survivor of a train crash outside Philadelphia. The crash kills 131 passengers, but Dunn appears to have escaped without a scratch. A comic book art gallery owner, nicknamed Mr. Glass (Samuel L. Jackson) because of his fragile bones, approaches Dunn with an intriguing but incredible theory -- David may be a superhero, like those who inspired the comic book legends.

Shyamalan incorporates many comic book motifs that are nearly invisible. The logo of the news station reporting on the train crash is the same used by the superhero group The Fantastic Four. A song played on a piano is the same as one played in the opening scenes of "X-Men" and the main characters have a color scheme, like the ones used in comic books.

"Signs" (2002)

With "Signs," M. Night Shyamalan attempted to shake off expectations with a good old-fashioned story of extraterrestrials invading, but Shyamalan doesn't seem to have it in him to direct a film without some kind of psychological meaning or mysterious twists, so "Signs" is Shyamalan's version of "The War of the Worlds."

This time, Mel Gibson stars as the Rev. Graham Hess, who owns a farm in Bucks County, Pa. All of Shyamalan's studio films have been shot and set in Pennsylvania, where the director lives.

A car accident (a common theme in Shyamalan's films) that killed his wife tests Hess' faith and he leaves the church. One day, 500-foot-wide circles appear carved out of the cornfields on his farm. Are they the work of extraterrestrials or just some kids having fun? After the crop circles start popping up all over the world, it is clear that the world is about to be visited, but will the visitors be friendly or dangerous?

"The Village" (2004)

Considered by many as a disappointment, "The Village" explores the dynamic of a closed society and how some people may not consider change and advances in society as a good thing.

In an isolated village where phones and computers don't exist and Puritan values rule, Edward Walker (William Hurt) governs with fear and mind control. The villagers, including Walker's blind daughter Ivy (Bryce Dallas Howard), believe they are protected as long as they stay in their insulated world.

If they dare venture into the woods, the creatures that roam there will destroy them and take license to enter the village, killing everyone in their paths.

When a need for medical supplies arises, Lucius Hunt (Joaquin Phoenix in his second Shyamalan film) heads for the border and to an unknown world that could change the lives of everyone in the village forever.

Bryce Dallas Howard (actor/director Ron Howard's daughter) was not the first choice for the lead role of Ivy Walker. Kirsten Dunst dropped out to film another movie.