"Dead Silence" (2007)

Directed by James Wan
Review based upon the unrated U.S. DVD version

I saw the trailer for this movie many months ago, and was drawn to the fact that it was from the writer / director team responsible for the quite brilliant sicko "Saw". When it arrived on DVD before UK cinema release however, I was a bit concerned. Then the theatrical reviews I read were more than just a little bit damning. So, I put off watching it for a while, and let the dust settle on the slip case before I finally managed today to slam it into the DVD player and watch the full, unrated version.

So, were the really poor reviews right?

In short... no.

This is a really effective and gripping ghost story which borrows lots of elements from other genre staples like "Child's Play", "The Grudge" and "The Others", but managed to fuse these elements together into a fluid and cohesive whole.

The technical elements of this flick are top notch, with the writing particularly sharp for a film of this type. After all, this is a big budget B-Movie, and on those grounds it more than succeeds.
The acting is okay... better in some parts than others, but for a horror with few known names that isn't very surprising. If you want Oscar winning performances, this isn't for you. But if you want a well written old-school horror movie with some cool scares and a bit of the red stuff, then make sure you see this. And, of course, no movie from the "Saw" team would be complete without the customary twist ending. And "Dead Silence" has got a real corker.

And one last thing... whatever you do when watching this film... don't scream... or Mary Shaw will get you!!!

7 out of 10
A great horror B-movie... worth catching!