[Dead Silence]
Plot:A widower returns to his hometown to search for answers to his wife's murder, which may be linked to the ghost of a murdered ventriloquist.

Cast: Ryan Kwanten, Amber Valletta, Donnie Wahlberg, Michael Fairman, Joan Heney, Bob Gunton, Laura Regan, Dmitry Chepovetsky, Judith Roberts, Keir Gilchrist, Steven Taylor, David Talbot, Steve Adams, Shelley Peterson.

My Thoughts: Good ghost story but still falls short.

Review:With James Wan and Leigh Whannell having written the screenplay for "Dead Silence", and Wan directing, you'd think it would be the perfect horror film right? Well, you're almost right. "Dead Silence" follows Jamie Ashen (Ryan Kwanten), a regular guy who one night comes home to find his wife Lisa (Laura Regan) savagely murdered. Savagely as in her tongue has been ripped clean out, and her mouth is stuck in a screaming position, sort of like a ventriloquist's dummy. Before all of this, Ashen received a package from a mysterious unseen courier, which contained a weird looking dummy. Jamie believes that the doll is connected to an old legend about the murdered ventriloquist Mary Shaw, who was killed by a mob of angry townspeople in similar fashion to how Jamie's girlfriend was murdered. Jamie then returns to his hometown of Raven Fair to investigate and also to clear his name, seeing as how a dectective (Donnie Wahlberg) thinks Jamies the one responsible for Lisa's murder. "Dead Silence" relies alot on mood, with a very eerie score and dark scenes to give the viewer a perfect feel that he or she is watching a ghost story come to life. However it's nicely darkened set pieces, nicely chilling score, and often trippy imagery doesn't make up for a lack of action or gore. Honestly I was surprised as how this film managed to land an R rating because there wasn't much blood here except for one scene where during Lisa's untimely demise, she coughs up a huge glob of it. Most of the movie just has Kwanten's character being seemingly tormented by one of Mary's dolls, Billy...whom he received in that mysterious package. We know the doll is alive, but Kwanten's character is never really sure until much later. Too much time is spent on this though, and the scenes where we the writers try and get us to be scared because Billy "might" attack Jamie are done one time too many and aren't done well enough to be fully effective. At some point, you've just got to stop teasing the audience with Billy inspired violence and actually show something happening. Jamie's first stop on his quest for answers is his estranged fathers home, where his dad Richard (Bob Gunton), lives along with his third wife Ella (Amber Valetta). Although Ella may seem like just an ordinary woman when she first comes on screen, much later on she becomes a big factor in the film. As far as the supporting cast goes, there really aren't many people which is probably the reason for the low body count. Other than Jamie's father, his wife, and the detective, the only other major players in this film are a local mortician and his weird wife. Another huge issue with this picture besides the low body count, is Mary Shaw herself. Other than a very cool flashback scene where she handles a young heckler in very witty fashion, and of course the third act....there's not much of Mary Shaw seen in the movie. A movie which is based around Mary Shaw as it's central character. But the moments when Mary Shaw is on screen are pretty golden, as she's the type of character that can really change the mood of the picture just by glancing into the camera. The actress who played Mary, Judith Roberts certainly did not disappoint. This is why there should've been more of her in the picture. I mean, Billy the puppet got more screentime than she did. "Dead Silence" is the type of horror film that really saves it's best for last. Although the movie does sprinkle some eerie moments here and there throughout, the final act is when things pick up as it's revealed how and what Mary is using to terrorize and murder from beyond the grave. However, the final act goes by at a lightning quick pace. It's kind of disappointing really, because just when things begin to pick up the film ends and you're left there saying "Huh?", that's it? The ending itself wraps up the film in a very smart albeit abrupt climax, and I'm sure there will probably be a sequel in the near future. "Dead Silence" in my opinion got some things right while getting many other things wrong, it was a 50/50 film at best.

Positives:Great performance by Judith Roberts as Mary Shaw. Laura Regan made the best out of her limited screentime in the picture. Kwanten was decent as Jamie Ashen. Smart ending. Also a great original score.

Negatives:Saving the scares for very late in the picture. Not enough of a body count, and too many scenes that teased but never delivered.

Overall:A decent picture that's worth a look.





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