Dead Silence
Unrated
You scream. You die.
Every town has it's own ghost story, and a local folktale around Ravens Fair is about a ventriloquist named Mary Shaw. After she went mad in the 1940s, she was accused of kidnapping a young boy who yelled out in one of her performances that she was a fraud. Because of this she was hunted down by townspeople who in the ultimate act of revenge, cut out her tongue and then killed her. They buried her along with her "children," a handmade collection of vaudeville dolls, and assumed they had silenced her forever. However, Ravens Fair has been plagued by mysterious deaths around them after Mary Shaws collection has returned from their graves and have come to seek revenge on people that killed her and their families. Far from the pall of their cursed hometown, newlyweds Jamie and Lisa Ashen thought they had established a fresh start, until Jamie's wife is grotesquely killed in their apartment. Jamie returns to Ravens Fair for the funeral, intent on unraveling the mystery of Lisa's death. Once reunited with his ill father, Edward, and his father's new young bride, Ella, Jamie must dig into the town's bloody past to find out who killed his wife and why. All the while, he is doggedly pursued by a detective who doesn't believe a word he says. As he uncovers the legend of Mary Shaw, he will unlock the story of her curse and the truth behind the threat from a rhyme in his childhood: if you see Mary Shaw and scream, she'll take your tongue. And the last thing you will hear before you die... is your own voice speaking back to you.
Member Reviews
One Star for Donnie - pommedespace
Truly, miserably, exhaustingly bad!
Two crucial aspects made this movie watchable: 1) Donnie Wahlberg, whose performance was possibly mediocre, but seemed totally masterful in comparison with everything else we were witnessing; 2) It was only 90 minutes long. The promise of the 90 minute cut-off point was basically what kept us going.
I blame myself. I should have known what I was getting into by diving into a movie by the makers of the Saw series, who, like some kind of clown-obsessed V.C. Andrews ghostwriter will obviously be tempted to call upon and beat to death any image that scared their rapt viewers the first time, and the second time, ad infinitum.
No matter what anyone tells you about the ending (which I wouldn’t dream of spoiling in this review), the end does not justify the means here. Every aspect of this movie is so bad, so repetitive, so predictable, that it’s just not worth it for a 30 second shock at the end. While old theatres, buried family secrets, and ventriloquist dummies might be fodder for a chilling movie, the film does nothing interesting with any of it. You’re left with cobwebbed pianos, blowing curtains, bad acting (except you, Donnie), cheap jump-scares literally every 4 minutes (to which you quickly become desensitized), and so many effing dummies and dolls and clown faces that they quickly lose whatever eeriness they ever might have had.
I’ve given Dead Silence one star because I can’t give it zero, and because Donnie deserves it, even though there’s a very good chance his performance wouldn’t hold up in a third grade play…Actually, not bad - Stepha83
I expected absolutely nothing from this film, so I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed it. It's obviously not the best horror movie I've ever seen - far from it, but it had some decent qualities.
First, while it was not a very deep plot, at least it was a little different from the typical slasher flicks and overly gory movies of late.
Secondly, Ryan Kwanten and Donnie Wahlberg are both great actors, who at least made their characters tolerable.
Mostly what I enjoyed about this film was the cinematography, the sets, and the feeling of nostalgia it gave me. It made me want to watch some old Vincent Price flicks.Wow. Bad. - Jack_the_Zipper
Wow. This movie sucks. If you can get past the fact that nothing ever happens, you quickly realize that this movie is a rip off from minute one until minute 46 (wait...that's when I fell asleep). I'm pretty sure I'm not 15 anymore and this is not the Child's Play....or is it? The Ring. The Ring. The Ring. The Ring. Nah..They wouldn't copy it. Oh wait....They would....But soooooooooooooo badly. Time for me to sign out..Paint's drying. Hooray!
Member Reviews
Read All...
One Star for Donnie - pommedespace
Truly, miserably, exhaustingly bad!
Two crucial aspects made this movie watchable: 1) Donnie Wahlberg, whose performance was possibly mediocre, but seemed totally masterful in comparison with everything else we were witnessing; 2) It was only 90 minutes ...Actually, not bad - Stepha83
I expected absolutely nothing from this film, so I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed it. It's obviously not the best horror movie I've ever seen - far from it, but it had some decent qualities.
First, while it was not a very deep plot, at least ...Wow. Bad. - Jack_the_Zipper
Wow. This movie sucks. If you can get past the fact that nothing ever happens, you quickly realize that this movie is a rip off from minute one until minute 46 (wait...that's when I fell asleep). I'm pretty sure I'm not 15 anymore and this is not the Child's ...