The main selling gimmick for Silent House, is the fact that it’s made to look like it’s shot in real time. The movie is 88 minutes long and whatever happens during that time, is all you get. In reality, the film does have hidden cuts in it, but they are disguised nicely, so you do get the feeling of one long shot. I’ve never seen the original Uruguayan The Silent House, so I had no notions of what to expect going into the movie, besides the aforementioned real time style. At first, I was put off a little by the shaky cam and shoddy acting from the father, but once the story starts moving along at a good pace, we get several scenes that stir up an effective chill. Plus, the movie keeps throwing some curve balls your way, that will make you intrigued to see how it all ends.
Short nitty-gritty plot description from IMDb is as follows: Trapped inside her family’s lakeside retreat, a young woman finds she is unable to contact the outside world as events become increasingly ominous in and around the house.
I won’t go into too much of what Silent House is about, as I think it would be wise to go into this movie blind, much like I did. I can however tell you, that the movie doesn’t stick to just one theme and instead, has you wondering if this is a ghost story, or some crazy home invasion. If you do decide to watch this movie and want to know more about it after your done, check out this link, but only after you’ve finished, as it completely spoils everything about the movie, but offers up some interesting theories and will have thinking of the movie in a completely different light. Alas, I’ve almost said too much.
The biggest surprise to come out of watching this movie, was Elizabeth Olsen (she’s old enough for me to say she’s extremely cute). I was completely blown away at how fantastic she was in the movie. I enjoyed her terrified performance and the fact that she goes through several different emotions throughout the run time and every single time she sold her character completely. I was invested in her and wanted to see her through this safely. As for the others in the movie, they do what they have to do, which is minimal to say the least. Adam Trese, who plays the father, was awful. I couldn’t stand his acting and he always had this strange smirk on his face in most scenes. He came off as low rent to me. Thankfully, this movie really is a one woman show and Olsen excels tremendously.
I rather enjoyed Silent House and the way it skirted through different styles of horror genres. One minute it was a ghost story, the next it was a thriller. It had me wondering what the hell was going to happen next and I certainly had moments where I felt a tiny bit scared (like I’ve said in other reviews, don’t judge me). The reason for me liking this movie as much as I did, could very well be the fact that I went in with low expectations and was expecting a been there done that ghost story. Instead, Silent House decides to spin a web that is different enough, for me to highly recommend you checking it out. Now to watch the original to see how it stacks up.
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