Dead Silence (2007)

 

Genre: Horror/Thriller

Time: 1h 30mins

Director: James Wan

Quick Summary: A young widower returns to his hometown to search for answers to his wife's murder, which may be linked to the ghost of a deceased ventriloquist.

This is nightmare fuel, 100%. It isn't that scary, but it is creepy and can really play with your imagination. 

A lot of this is particularly average, to be honest. Though I did think the story was interesting and how they twisted a lot of the common cliches. It is hard now to think of something fully original, but this did pretty well considering the time it was made in was the peak for horror films like this. 

The acting from the majority of the cast was really solid, though nothing really stood out. I felt like they were a little let down by the script, as it felt really bare and lifeless. The protagonist was unlikeable to me, as a lot of his actions were either jumping to conclusions or just plain stupidity. I was very confused on how he survived so long.

There were a lot of plot holes too unfortunately that either doesn't get answered or are just so confusing it would be pointless to explain them. I did like the camerawork a lot though, and there were a lot of cleverly framed shots.

Honestly, the plot wasn't complicated at all, but I liked that. This was a film set out just to be creepy and throw a good handful of jumpscares at you. It also wasn't afraid to be more on the gory side of horror, though sadly I wish it was more practical as I personally felt like it would have ramped up the scare factor as the CGI has aged poorly in my eyes.

Without spoiling it, I really liked the twist at the end of this. Truth be told I did not see it coming and realised how many hints were shown throughout the film, but all so subtly that you would never pick up on it on your first watch. 

This is watchable, and more than once. Yes it does feel a bit generic and it falls flat when it comes to the acting, but there are other small things about this film that makes it enjoyable. Definitely creepy, but an easy watch. 

5/10

"Remember: whatever happens, don't scream."