Dead Silence (Wan, 2007)

[madali]

Dead Silence (Wan, 2007)
IMDB Link

Dolls can look scary, but a movie about them usually isn’t. Because a still image of certain dolls, in certain lighting, can be frightening, but when the dolls are forced to do anything, then the fear is gone. Dolls being still can work, dolls moving never does. Movies like “Child’s Play” worked, because it understood the absurdity of its situation.

“Dead Silence” doesn’t allow us to have fun with the movie, because it refuses to have fun with it itself. It starts off really well, with a young couple getting a mysterious box, which has a ventriloquist’s doll inside it. The doll is large and eerie, and a bit later, the husband goes out, and the wife is left with the doll. The music dies out, and she is left with the doll in a spooky silence. She gets killed, and it is done well, with very little movement from the doll. A fantastic first kill.

But as the movie progresses, it becomes more and more absurd, with the director being forced to try to make the doll become more scary. Once the doll slowly moves his eyes or pops up in an unexpected places, it becomes silly, and we can no longer be scared.

An overdone, tactless ending, with an unnecessary twist, closes off the movie, leaving the viewer with a bad taste in their mouth.

2/5

[X.]

"Child's Play" is a fucking masterpiece!

[fizz]

"Child's Play" is a fucking masterpiece!

One of my all time favourite horror series! The first 2 are masterpieces. Say, isn't there a special edition DVD for them?

[madali]

No one dislikes Child's Play!

[theoddball]

No one dislikes Child's Play!

See, that's where you're wrong.

[madali]

Whats WRONG with you.

[sacred_promises]

i just Loved Child's play as a kid..
at one point i wanted to watch all its series (loved first 3).. but now i get Goosebumps even thinking about watching it.. wonder what happened! :S

[X.]

I recommend Tom Holland's "Fright Night" and "Thinner." This guy is a genius!

[shariqq]

As a kid, Child's Play freaked me so much that I had to remove all the Smurf toys from my room!

[sacred_promises]

As a kid, Child's Play freaked me so much that I had to remove all the Smurf toys from my room!

Looool.. and i loved Smurf cartoons.. even tho it came in arabic in those days :p

[X.]

"Smurfs" in Arabic? Did you not have the glorious Ch. 33?

[shariqq]

I saw it in English too! Although, even as a kid, I found it quite wierd to have a whole community with only ONE female.

[X.]

I saw it in English too! Although, even as a kid, I found it quite wierd to have a whole community with only ONE female.

I believe Richard Kelly's "Donnie Darko" made it a point to answer this burning question: the Smurfs are asexual.

[theoddball]

Whats WRONG with you.

Nothing. Forgive me, Sire, for having a different opinion that doesn't conform with the masses.

[madali]

We do not tolerate individuality here.