Review of Silent House

Silent House is a 2011 (released in the UK in 2012) independent horror film, directed by Chris Kentis and Laura Lau. The plot focuses on a young woman named Sarah (Elizabeth Olsen), who is terrorized in her family vacation home whilst she is there cleaning the place up with her father and uncle. The film is a remake of the 2012 Uruguayan film 'La casa muda' (The Silent House), which was allegedly based on an actual incident that occurred in a village in Uruguay in the 1940s. The films marketing was aimed at the fact that it was filmed in real time, and was edited so as to appear as a single continuous shot (similar to Alfred Hitchcock's 'Rope' in 1948).

Before I jump straight into this I am going to say that I am rubbish when it comes to watching horror flicks in the cinema, I'm fine when they're on the TV, but honestly, in the cinema I am a complete coward (has to be admitted). Obviously the best thing about this movie is that it was filmed to give the impression of real time, so as much of it as possible was filmed in one shot, which would be very difficult to do, not just in the case of filming, but it would be really tough of the actors, especially the lead role, in this case Olsen, because in any other movie, you'd do maybe a dozen or more takes, and they'd pick the best one, whereas in a scenario like this, nearly the whole film is one take, that's a lot of pressure and I think Olsen pulled it off fantastically. If she did slip up at any point she pulled it back and really sold it for me, she was excellent. Now back to the method of filming; I think the method of creating a sense of rel time worked really well, at first it looked a bit iffy because it looked very shaky as it followed Olsen around (it just looked like bad camera work), but as the film progresses you realise that it blends in with how the story is being told, and even something as simple as a shaky camera creates a sense of realism. Also the beauty of doing one continuous shot is that in order to preserve the realism, special effects are kept to a minimum (maybe even none at all), no CGI, just the right noises made at the right time. The whole thing is gritty, it's like all the modern computer work has been stripped back and has left nothing but a pure product of good acting and filming. It almost gives off the feeling of a found-footage movie, without the need for a running commentary to explain everything that is happening. So a wise choice by the directors on that one. It definitely creates a sense of realism which is difficult to create in a horror flick.

I've already mentioned how the acting is top notch, but that doesn't make a brilliant movie, in my opinion, it is the story that lets it down. It begins the way many horror films do, i.e. really slow, nothing much happening, and then slowly building up to something big. The problem is with this one, is that it just keeps building and building, an building, you keep anticipating a jump which doesn't happen! You'll get one decent jump scare (that's another thing, the atmosphere may build up a good scary vibe in the cinema, but the scares are all jump scares), and then you're left waiting for what feels like ages (which is surprising because it's quite a short film). Admittedly the story does pick up a bit near the end, it even takes a turn in a strange and slightly disturbing direction (honestly ' The Cabin In The Woods' didn't have a twist as good as this). By the end you don't quite know how to react to what you've just seen, you find yourself replaying the whole movie in your head trying to piece things together.

That's basically all I can say on this film without giving too much away. It was never going to a hugely successful film. It's good, in the sense that it looks good, and the acting's good, but the story does let it down, because even though it picks up near the end, there's a good chance it'll have lost some of its audiences interest by then. Basically if you're a film fan, and are interested in how films are made, then go check this one out, because the whole real time and one continuous shot method works well and it is a really interesting way to do it. It's the type of method that would only work with a horror. Like most independent movies, it wouldn't have had a huge budget, so this method of filming is a suitable substitute to pricey visual effects. It has a nice, gritty feel to it that can only be appreciated in the cinema. I'd give this film a 6.5/10.

I know that's a low rating, but like I said, if you're interesting in seeing different ways of filming and presenting a story on screen, then go check this film out. It's definitely worth your time.