Dead Silence
Is that puppet giving me the finger?
Pediophobia is the fear of dolls. It's
a fairly common phobia that can range from small porcelain dolls to
electronic baby dolls. Thankfully, I don't suffer from that phobia.
Sure, certain dolls can be creepy looking, but I don't fall into a
heap of crying flesh whenever I see a Cabbage Patch kid. The “evil
doll” subgenre of horror is nothing new. I've even reviewed a few
like Demonic Toys and Dolls. They were most famously portrayed by
Talking Tina in The Twilight Zone's “Living Doll” and Chucky from
Child's Play. Since then, there hasn't been a new doll-based movie to
really break out into the mainstream. Maybe it's time for a doll
resurgence in horror.
Dead Silence is a 2007 horror movie
starring Ryan Kwanten (True Blood, Summerland) as Jamie Ashen. A
package containing a creepy-looking ventriloquist dummy named Billy
is anonymously dropped off at Jamie's apartment. He briefly leaves
and when he returns, he finds his wife Lisa brutally murdered with
her tongue ripped out with Billy lying near her. Jamie is questioned
by Det. Jim Lipton (Donnie Wahlberg, Dream Catcher, Saw II), but is
not arrested. Jamie goes back to his old hometown of Ravens Fair to
bury Lisa. He visits his estranged father (Bob Gunton, The Shawshank
Redemption, Demolition Man), who has just suffered a stroke) and his
new wife, Ella. Jamie confronts his father about ventriloquist Mary
Shaw, a local legend who cut out her victim's tongues. Following
Lisa's funeral, Jamie comes across Mary Shaw's grave along with the
graves of all her dolls. He reburies Billy, but Billy turns up in his
motel room, along with Det. Lipton who is still pursuing Jamie. The
next morning, Jamie steals Billy and meets with Henry the mortician
who tells Jamie about Mary Shaw's history. During a show, Mary was
heckled by a young boy named Michael Ashen. Michael disappeared soon
after. Mary was killed by his family and townspeople and her tongue
was cut out. Mary has now come back, killing the Ashen family and the
town of Ravens Fair by ripping out their tongues when they scream.
Jamie goes to the old theater where Mary Shaw lived, joined by Det.
Lipton. They find the body of Michael Ashen along with 100 of Mary's
dolls. Mary is there as well, looking to finish off Jamie. Will he be
able to stop her?
And will she use sunscreen?
For being a doll-based movie, there
really isn't much action involving the dolls. Sure, they're around,
turning their heads and moving their eyes, but that's really it. I
expected a doll to chase after people with a butcher knife or trip
someone down the stairs. Instead, we really get a ghost revenge
story. Why bother have a shitload of dolls if you're not going to
have fun with them? It doesn't have to be over-the-top like Demonic
Toys or Puppet Master, but you might as well use them if you have
them. Dead Silence reminded me a lot of Darkness Falls; the local
legend, a nursery rhyme, an adult coming back to the town he left, an
old lady seeking revenge from beyond the grave. Even the both town's
names are hilariously ominous. The story is pretty uninspired and not
particularly original. They try to go for a spooky atmosphere, but
every scene has a bland grey wash to it that makes everything look
dull and boring.
The movie was touted as being from the
creators of Saw. I enjoyed the first Saw movie, but not enough to
care about the creators. The doll from the Saw franchise is show in
the foreground in one scene, which was a nice touch. The movie
doesn't have violence anywhere near the levels of Saw. There is some
action, but it's not particularly excited. The dialogue is weak and
the characters are boring. The acting is fine, but not enough to
carry the movie. There's a few decent effects and the makeup used to
show Mary Shaw's victims actually looks pretty scary. The movie goes
for a twist ending that falls flat and is completely unnecessary. A
movie like this didn't need a twist ending and it really reflects
poorly on the rest of the film. Note to filmmakers: If it doesn't
need a twist, don't do it. Don't be M. Night Shyamalan.
Laaaaaaaaaaa!
Dead Silence leads you to believe that
you are going to be watching a movie with killer dolls and instead
gives us a typical and uninspired ghost story. I thought I was getting "Dolls" and ended up with "Darkness Falls". Why bother having all
those dolls if you're not really going to use them? The acting is
passable, but the dialogue and story just don't work. The movie is
brought down especially hard by an unnecessary twist ending. There's
a few startling moments and an overall creepiness with the dolls, but
it's not particularly scary. If you suffer from pediophobia, you
might be terrified, but if not, you'll just shrug your shoulders.
What should have been a crazy, violent romp was just a worn-out,
tired revenge story with a ghost. We've seen it all before, so
there's no need to bother with Dead Silence.
3/10
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