Dead Silence left me silently wishing for the death of the celluloid that was in the projector at my local theater . . .
. . . and that's an understatement.
This was just a bad movie. It reminded me of the time I tried to watch Boogeyman only this time I was in the theater and had paid my hard earned money to watch the film so I wasn't about to just walk out.
The story goes - "Beware the stare of Mary Shaw. She had no children, only dolls. And if you see her do not scream or she'll rip your tongue out at the seam." Sounds like a great concept and I have to admit that the atmosphere of the film was great - really dark and foreboding. That was probably the only redeeming quality for me was the atmosphere of the film, the look of the dolls and even Mary Shaw herself. Other than that though, I was not impressed.
The town of Raven's Fair has been plagued with the curse of Mary Shaw since she was murdered by local townsfolk after the disappearance of a child who heckled her show. As was indicated in her will she was buried with her doll collection - all 101 of them. The problem was, they didn't stay buried and townsfolk started turning up dead with their tongues ripped out of their heads.
Jamie Ashen (Ryan Kwanten) and his lovely wife Lisa (Laura Regan) seem to be living the perfect newlywed life until the night that Billy (Mary Shaw's favorite doll) shows up on their doorstep. After Lisa is brutally murdered and sans one tongue, Jamie goes back to his hometown of Raven's Fair to try and find some answers. He is followed by Det. Jim Lipton (Donnie Wahlberg) who is hell bent on pinning Lisa's murder on him.
Jamie goes to see his father (Bob Gunton) who has seemingly alienated him his whole life. But as we are to find it was with good cause. His father has since remarried a much younger woman, Ella (Amber Valletta) who at first glance seems to be the perfect wife for his now invalid father. Very caring and oh so oddly happy that young Jamie has come back to town.
I think my biggest problem with this film was with character development. I mean I went the entire film not giving one damn about any of the characters. They raced right out of the gate killing one of what you thought might be the main characters and it was like - so what? It's funny how that can work in some films (ex - Scream) but in this one it just didn't do it for me. Besides that even as the film went on there was so much that really just didn't make any sense. It was like things were happening in the film just for the sake of getting the characters to another scene. And while this happens in every film to an extent, in this one it didn't really flow and you knew as you were watching these scenes that things were happening just so other things could take place later.
I don't know, just all in all
Dead Silence is not a film to waste your money on in my opinion. Wait till it comes out on cable or something. And believe me it pains me to say that because I really wanted this one to be good.
If you enjoyed Dead Silence, here are reviews of other recommended movies:
DollsDolly Dearest
Dead Silence Movie Cast and Credits
Directed by
James Wan
Writing credits
Leigh Whannell (screenplay)
James Wan (story) and
Leigh Whannell (story)
Cast (in credits order)
Ryan Kwanten ... Jamie Ashen
Amber Valletta ... Ella Ashen
Donnie Wahlberg ... Det. Jim Lipton
Michael Fairman ... Henry Walker
Joan Heney ... Marion Walker
Bob Gunton ... Edward Ashen
Laura Regan ... Lisa Ashen
Dmitry Chepovetsky ... Richard Walker
Judith Roberts ... Mary Shaw
Keir Gilchrist ... Young Henry
Steven Taylor ... Michael Ashen
David Talbot ... Priest
Steve Adams ... 1941 Detective
Shelley Peterson ... Lisa's Mom
More Dead Silence Movie Reviews
Movie Review of Dead Silence at FirstShowingDead Silence Movie Review and Information Page at The Internet Movie Database
Re: Dead Silence
