Theatrical film writer-producer-director M. Night Shyamalan is trying a new tack with his forthcoming production: he’s letting someone else direct. That’s probably a good idea.

After several films that have done poorly at the box office and among critics, the intellectual horror-suspense filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan is teaming up with John Eric Dowdle and Drew Dowdle, directors of Quarantine, on an independent film tentatively called "Devil."

This may be a good move on his part, to bring some new energy to his work.

Shyamalan is certainly a thoughtful filmmaker whose movies typically have good ideas at the core, and his films always feature characters with whom audiences can sympathize—an uncommon trait in today’s American cinema. Unfortunately, unlike his great predecessor Alfred Hitchcock, Shyamalan tends to neglect the spectacle side of filmmaking, the manipulation of audience expectations to bring real surprises and satisfy the viewer’s intellectual curiosity by always keeping them guessing what is coming next.

Shyamalan is known, of course, for the classic film The Sixth Sense and its brilliant final plot twist, but since that film he has been much less effective at drawing audiences into the stories even though the characters and situations he creates are interesting.

Hence since doing The Sixth Sense he has made one very good genre film, Signs; written a successful screenplay, Stuart Little; made an interesting and thoughtful personal film, Unbreakable; and written, produced, and directed three misfires: The Village, The Lady in the Water, and The Happening.

Since then he has signed on to write, produce, and direct The Last Airbender, which will undoubtedly benefit from having a pre-tested concept in the form of an internationally successful children’s TV series. The concept of the series, however, is every bit as bizarre as anything else Shyamalan has written, so it will be important for him to employ to the utmost his ability to create sympathetic characters.

Based solely on its title, Devil sounds as if it has a good chance of connecting with audiences, although no plot details have been released yet. The film goes into production next year, and the producers say that they are aiming for a PG-13 rating.