Movie Review: SILENT HOUSE Makes A Whispering Impact

Based on the Uruguyan film La Casa Muda, directors Chris Kentis and Laura Lau take viewers on a journey through the inner psyche of a tortured young woman named Sarah who finds herself trapped alongside her family in an abandoned home in SILENT HOUSE.

Brought to life by up-and-comer Elizabeth Olsen, Sarah's nonchalant but albeit inquisitive persona is brilliantly captured on-screen by the single-camera shot film reminiscent of the The Blair Witch Project.As the film sets in motion, it seems promising, as viewers are welcomed to join in and discover the identity of an unknown intruder targeting the innocent family composed of Sarah, her father, John, interpreted by Adam Trese and Uncle Peter played by Eric Sheffer Stevens. Quickly, emotions jolt as the patriarch of the family falls victim to the elusive killer. As the cat and mouse chase ensues the viewer is enticed, second after second, until Sarah's climactic escape from the house of terror.

Unfortunately, it is at that moment, that the film takes a drastic turn to the worse. After being rescued by her uncle, Sarah returns to the home and resumes her duty to catch the killer and once again escape. The momentum falls flat as the realism in the sequence of events begins to falter. Suddenly through brief photographic revelations and Hitchcock-like sequences subliminal messages of incest and child molestation are presented without proper development in the script.

The film goes in and out of illusion and realism, making it difficult to follow the original premise. At the end, a shocking twist is revealed but the resonating impact is sub par and hard to believe.

Bottom line, 'Silent House' delivers the goods but with a lackluster ending.