Silent House

Supposedly, this movie was all on one reel. And perhaps that was the downfall of the whole movie. The worry of the cinematography. Still, we have Elisabeth Olsen to take us through the suspenseful story, of a girl trapped in a house. The windows are boarded up. Its light out, yet dark inside. And why in the world would she ever lock the front door? Is the question that bugged me through out this movie.

Although, I do find Elisabeth Olsen quite talented. However, do we really know Sarah? Should we care about Sarah? Sure, from the very first scene, we can see this girl likes a little danger. She's out on a rock in the water, just sitting there. She comes back to the house when she sees her father drive up. Her uncle is inside working on the lakehouse that is shared with other members of the family. However, its been vandalized. Windows knocked out and now boarded up.

You notice the tension too, between the Dad and his brother about selling the house. There is tension between Sarah and her Dad too. According, to him, she just isn't doing enough. So the uncle drives away. The door gets locked. Soon they are in the dark. Noises start to happen.

This is definitely a very suspenseful film. Creepy, to say the least. Yet, the film seems so doomed, very soon. Its only 88 minutes long. Yet at times, its an awful lot of time for the viewer to endure.

This film is based on a remake a low-budget 2010 Uruguayan film (La Casa Muda) which also includes its main gimmick: filming the entire movie in one (supposedly) unbroken, continuous take. The orginal not only is full of suspense but it unveils its dark secrets too. Its hard to say if the original was that amazing, too. Some will dismiss it while others find it particularly disturbing.

As in this movie, there is a lot of slow going suspense throughout the film. Panting, deep breathing, and crying from the main character as she is all alone trapped in the house with someone. We have very little to go on about the three main characters. But perhaps, there is a lot more than meets the eye. It also depends how you like your horror.

This film was directed by Chris Kentis and Laura Lau. These two have worked on Open Water and Grind, together.

STORYLINE: 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.

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