Dead
Silence (2007)
Directed
by James Wan
Starring
Ryan Kwanten, Amber Valletta, Donnie Wahlberg, Bob Gunton
Young
couple Jamie and Lisa receive a ventriloquist dummy in the mail. When he steps
out of their apartment for a moment, Lisa gets her tongue ripped out and dies. Jamie
goes back to his hometown to bury his wife, only to find that there’s something
very wrong. People suspect this is the work of Mary Shaw; former eccentric
ventriloquist and dead town legend. His estranged father warns him that the
vengeful spirit of Mary Shaw might be coming after him for something his family
did to her a long time ago. Together with the help of a cop who thinks he’s
guilty of killing his wife, Jamie must get to the bottom of Mary Shaw and her
creepy dummies.
The
same guys behind Saw tried something
different for their second feature. Different as in it’s not torture porn. But,
there are certain parts that are tortuous to watch. What could have been a fun
scare flick turns out to be a chore until the next action scene happens.
The
script for Dead Silence does very few
things right. Characters talk and give exposition that sounds so unnatural and
stilted. Also, the ending is a twist that you can see coming within the first
half hour. It wouldn’t have been too awful if the characters could carry the
film from set piece to scare, but they’re all fairly one dimensional or in one particular
case hollow. I don’t expect a masterpiece, but I was hoping for decent lines
and a flowing story. The dialogue is pretty horrendous, the characters are
fairly bare, and the twist ending feels unnecessary.
It’s
the technical stuff that really shines. The shots are lovely and dark, setting
the mood better than the script could. The sets are dripping with gothic decay
and unsettling calmness. The effects with Mary Shaw and her dummies mostly look
good or at least good enough. But those really are Wan’s strong areas, nothing
to do with actors and character.
The
cast has some very good actors; they’re just not good in this movie. Ryan
Kwanten is given little to work with and puts out little effort in return. Most
of the people in this movie don’t do all that well with their roles, they just
all look kind of bored. The only part that somehow works is Donnie Wahlberg
delivering his gruff cop lines with a bit of knowing cheese. It’s clear that
Wahlberg is having fun and makes his part stand out in a movie filled with flat
characters and actors struggling to stay awake.
There’s
not a lot to recommend here. There are better ghost stories that deserve your
time.
4 out of 10
