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Random movie rave...'DEAD SILENCE'.

I know there are a lot of horror fans here at HTF and in case you missed this movie in theaters check it out on DVD.

After a disappointing slew of horror misfires lately, the latest being The Messengers...UGH, someone finally delivered one that creeped me out so much that it actually made me hesitate to go into the next room alone lol, it's called Dead Silence.

This is just a good old fasioned ghost story complete with creaking doors, swirling mist, an abandoned cob web-infested theater, ventriliquist dummies that move on their own and a scene so unsettling that I wanted to cover my eyes.

But the films greatest virtue IMO is it's use of, ready for it...QUIET. That's right, the lost art of allowing silence to wind the audience up like a rubber band and then letting them have it, the film does feature music but it's used sparingly and to great effect.

I can't tell you how sick I am of horror films that assault us with bombastic music and shock chords in between cheap jump-out scares, Dead Silence has it's share of scares make no mistake but they are very meaty scares, none of what I mentioned before from lesser horror films.

I loved everything about it, the production design, the music, the story, the dread-ridden mood it creates, the acting, the lighting, all earn high marks IMHO. I love horror films that make me feel like i'm 5 years old again and watching something scary and this one made me feel that way.

I'll close with two words...Mary Shaw.

Add it to your queue's and check it out, it's well worth it IMO.

"There was that time I wanted to be an astronaut.
I wanted to be the first one to kill somebody on the moon."

Lou Sytsma

Re: Random movie rave...'DEAD SILENCE'.

Thanks for the heads up! I'll have to check it out.

Every man is my superior, in that I may learn from him.

Walter Przybylowski

Re: Random movie rave...'DEAD SILENCE'.

I was considering using my besy buy bucks to pick this one up on hd-dvd, i'll take this as a sign to purchase it. Thanks for the heads up.
-WJP

ChrisBEA

Re: Random movie rave...'DEAD SILENCE'.

Saw it, and really liked the creepy atmosphere they put together for it. I think this year has actually been a pretty good one for horror so far, much better than last year.

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Dave Gorman

Re: Random movie rave...'DEAD SILENCE'.

Having seen "The Innocents" recently, a movie which excelled superbly in using lack of sound to build atmosphere, I had higher hopes for "Dead Silence" based on your description. However, I felt that "Dead Silence" was closer to "The Messengers" in regard to the use of music and sound, but didn't have as good of imagery as "The Messengers". I thought the use of music (both the quantity and especially the quality) and sound effects was poorly executed in "Dead Silence". Beyond which, there were so many instances of superfluous aural or visual information it was like being spoonfed. Two examples: 1) When Jamie sees the name inscribed on the dummy, it isn't sufficient for us to read it, he has to read it to us. 2) When he's entering the cemetery the night after the funeral, the camera pans up to zoom in on the sign reading "Cemetery" above the cemetery gate -- like we couldn't tell?? Granted, these may seem trivial examples, but the occurrence of such instances seemed like overkill.

Another observation, comparing to "The Innocents": perhaps it's just me, but would it kill the writers to actually have to create multi-faceted characters we can care about instead of merely giving us shallow stereotypes and caricatures? Jamie seemed as stupid and empty as every male lead in almost every horror movie in the last 10 years! The longer the movie went on, the less I cared about his outcome.

Granted, the movie had some reasonably effective scenes, but to me it didn't seem consistently effective. Additionally, I wished that the alternate beginning, alternate ending, and deleted scenes had all been included. I think it would have made the movie more complete.

Anyway, thanks for the recommendation. I didn't hate it, in spite of the tone of my comments! I just had higher hopes...

...And then there's the guy who saw the sign that said "Wet Floor", so he did.

Shawn_KE

Re: Random movie rave...'DEAD SILENCE'.

Saw it tonight, pretty good movie all around. Kinda predictable, but I can let that slide. I also prefered the alternate ending.

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