Post by Mr.HoRrOr on Apr 2, 2012 18:17:23 GMT -5
Plot:Remake of the Uruguayan horror film where a young woman troubled a childhood trauma, visits her family’s isolated summer home with her father and uncle. But they soon learn they are not alone in the house.
Cast:
Elizabeth Olsen
Eric Sheffer Stevens
Julia Taylor Ross
My Thoughts:Shhhhhh...it's, boring!
Review:I fell into the trap once again. What trap is that you ask? The trap of buying into the hype of an "indie horror movie" I've never seen before. The remake of Gustavo Hernandez's spooky supernatural horror flick, "Silent House"...had been hyped up by plenty of genre fans and sites alike. Thus going into the film, I was very excited about what was to come. After it was all said and done? Well...I can think of atleast 5 more exciting activities than seeing this movie.
"Taking a shower", "playing bejeweled", "ping pong", "eating breakfast", "going to the dentist". Oh yes, it's THAT, bad! "Silent House" stars Elizabeth Olsen as Sarah. A young woman with hidden childhood trauma. To try and get over her "phobia"s, she heads to her family's isolated summer home with her father and uncle to do renovations. But soon, it becomes apparent that someone or something else, is in the house with them. Yeah, and it's called one big..."TROJAN HORSE"! Ya know, "Silent House" reminds me of some other horror films I've seen.
Where some people either crash, stowaway, or break into, a place where they shouldn't be. Only to have a mysterious assailant pick them off one by one. Films like "Silent House" need genuine chills to fully work. If you're gonna keep people on the edge of their seats with a movie about people trapsing around a large house for 85 minutes. You have to "build-up", the fear. Let it build slow and strong. And then at the end, WHAM! Terror and havoc ensues! "Silent House" instead just seems to run on fumes from the very beginning.
Watching the movie, from the very start. It seems like nothing is scheduled to really "happen" here. The character of Sarah for starters. Played by Olsen, is just "vanilla" to the max! She's not very pretty, well. She's not ugly. But certainly not super-hot. First of all. Second, she seems just aloof, and uncharasmatic. Just a typical, average, girl. There's nothing about her that makes me care or want to care about her predicament. She just seems like a victim waiting to happen. Like eventually, she'll be killed by whatever "maniac"...is lurking in the attic.
Or wherever he's lurking. Her uncle and father are about as interesting as a wet noodle. And when you have characters this disinteresting. You kind of hope a puppy or kitten cameo in the movie. So you can have some sort of living, breathing entity to root for. And yes, there have been horror films I've watched in the past where the characters were so boring or obnoxious. That I was relegated to pulling for the dog or cat to be the sole survivor of the movie. "Silent House" is another one to add to the list. The film spends its early moments setting up three of the most boring characters ever.
And then making one interesting move. In introducing us to Sophia. A long-ago friend of Sarah's. Who may or may not be the mysterious "occupant" of the house. And Sophia has that "she could be crazy beneath the surface" look going for her. Hidden under a mask of..."aw...she looks like the girl next door". But then the question becomes, would the films directors be smart enough to exploit this plot cog, and then see it through? I won't spoil that, but let me just that this movie by the middle. Will have you tapping your feet and fingers in annoyance.
Uttering to yourself that you wish "something" would happen already. But oh something does, "eventually" happen. When Sarah's relatives begin turning up dead inside the large, and darkened...(for cheap scares purposes and it couldn't be more obvious) summer house. Sarah, being a girl in a horror movie. Of course, decides to solve the problem of the growing body count by running around the house with a lantern squealing, screaming, yelping, and sobbing like she just saw a huge rat in her kitchen. Apparently, she's also mysteriously been locked inside the house by our "mysterious assailant".
So she's double-f'ked! She does manage to escape the house at some point during the craziness. Only to run into someone outside, who agrees to assist her in figuring out what's going on. Rather than calling police or anything, ya know...smart. And by this time, I was just so enraged by this movie. Little did I know though, the biggest slap-in-the-face...was yet to come. Because we've got a third act to wrap up folks! And when this movie reaches its big "twist" ending. It's truly, a disaster! Although I am sure the filmmakers thought they were being smart, and clever.
Because the conclusion to this film, is in the vein of how a lot of horror/thrillers are tailored these days. Particularly the mainstream ones like "Dream House" for example. In the end, I have not see the original "La Casa Muda". Something I intend to do in the near future. But I can safely say the remake, which I have experienced. Is a disaster! An epic fail, of epic proportions! Is Olsen to blame?
No not really. I cannot say for sure how good or bad, or gauge how terrible or perfect of an actress she is. With a script this bad? To be honest? Dakota Fanning couldn't even have saved this film if she were starring in it. "Silent House" is a movie that was made simply to cash-in on the foreign horror remake craze. I wonder if it ever had any real 'direction' at, all.
Positives:The introduction of Sophia gave a ray of hope to a fast-falling film.
Negatives:The Sophia angle did not turn out as it should have. Olsen was tapped to carry this movie. Yet the script was flawed from the jump. It's kind of like telling someone to deliver a package to a particular address. Only the address is located inside a town where every house has the exact same house numbers on the mailbox.
There's just nothing scary, exciting, thrilling, chilling, or even rmeotely cinematically beneficial about this film. And the third act up to the ending is just as retarded as retarded can get. Also a lazily chopped-up cliche of previous genre-bending horror/thriller of recent.
Overall:Half a star out of four.