Silent House [DVD]

Silent House is directed by Chris Kentis and written by Laura Lau. It stars Elizabeth Olsen, Adam Trese and Eric Sheffer Stevens. Music is by Nathan Larson and cinematography by Igor Martinovic. A remake of Uruguayan film, La casa muda (The Silent House), story has Olsen as Sarah, a young woman who finds herself locked in the abandoned family home she was helping her father and uncle to clear out before it is sold. Soon Sarah finds herself pursued by an unseen assailant and she struggles to make sense of what is festering in the house.

Forget the gimmick that comes with the film, that of the use of "real time" to give off the effect of one continuous take, it doesn't impact on how you ultimately will feel about the film either way. It comes down to if you can buy into another haunted house movie whilst accepting the outcome as being worth your time. Horror fans are notoriously hard to please, even when something original happens along, such as the recent The Cabin in the Woods, a good portion of the horror faithful will remain displeased. Silent House is what it is, a hugely efficient haunted house creeper that admirably builds suspense and then shows its twisty hand. If you want fresh and exciting, and I keep seeing people write that "such and such" didn't bring nothing new to the table whilst themselves not offering up exactly what could be brought to said table, then it's very unlikely Silent House will fill your horror hungry bellies.

Coming from the makers of Open Water, it's evident that Silent House wants to have realism on its side, it's stripped back for impact, with a less is more approach to its garnering of chills. With Olsen terrific, and she is, we are asked to put ourselves in that house and be in her shoes to feel the terror. Not everyone can do that, obviously, but being able to do that considerably makes Silent House a far better movie than its lowly internet ratings suggest it is. The scares are not over done, the music score is suitably sparse as claustrophobia reigns supreme, the use of natural light impressive and the camera glides about as an ethereal observer, technically it is a very effective and well constructed haunted house picture. It's also refreshing to find the makers are able to use credible reasons for characters to be in and out of the house, this isn't about the dumb decision making so often rife over the years in this particular sub-genre of horror.

Sadly the third act is weak as the scares, tech attributes and atmosphere subside, we land in familiar territory and the big reveals, whilst thematically potent and never to be scoffed at, lack the desired impact and the film closes down more on a whimper instead of the terrified scream the rest of the film deserved. A shame, because for the most part this is a very good genre offering for those who have a bent for such spooky house doings. 7/10

No Spoilers

Reviews for this film seem a little harsh, as someone who has seen their fare share of terrible horror movies this is not a bad film. Yes the plot and style is unoriginal but it is done well. The performances are all great and even though the supremely talented Elizabeth Olsen has little to do but run about screaming till the third act her talent still shines through.
I jumped when cued and the surreal moments in the third act got under my skin and worked the appropriate horror magic.
The use of very authentic 'shaky-cam' style which starts to warp into a surreal third act reminded me of Ben Wheatly's 'Kill List' (though that particular film really is a masterpiece and it's unfair to compare any film to it).
The twist is unoriginal and is quite common in horror movies. However, having seen so many horror films that have attempted that type of twist and completely failed I can happily say that this film uses this Horror twist very well and it certainly worked for me.
This will never be a horror classic and you are unlikely to watch it a second time but when the past few years have consisted of derivative Paranormal Activity sequels and countless cheap 'found footage' films this feels relatively quite fresh and is enjoyable for a one watch movie.
The main selling point used for this film was that it was all done in 'seemingly' one take in real time. 10 years ago this would have been impressive but through found footage films and the likes of 'Buried' we are used to long takes and shaky-cam footage and have grown quite numb to this technique which lowered my appreciation of it. For me, Elizabeth Olsen really was the selling point and fans of hers will enjoy her performance in this deceptively simple horror film.

Seen plenty of creepy house films, and seen plenty worse than this. I saw this without having seen the original and not being aware of the "single shot" gimmick. So as a simple creepy house film how does it stack up? All depends on what your taste in creepy/horror/haunted house films is. If you want action and gore you will most likely be disappointed. If you like slow build up and tense atmosphere you might well enjoy it quite a lot, as I did. I thought on the whole it was very well done, and I enjoyed all the creeping about, with the jumps and scares you would expect. Lead actress was great in my opinion. Again a matter of taste but I thought she was quite charismatic and really stole the show. Camera work was great, even if the single continuous shot technique was somewhat wasted on me! Minus points for unoriginality and somewhat confusing plot towards the end. I am surprised at the harsh reviews for this film as I think is pretty classy, even if it does not bring anything new to the table. Since watching this I saw the original version which was effective but had a different tone, and overall I much prefer the remake.