Saturday, March 10, 2012

Silent House-review

“Silent House” is a remake of a horror movie from Uruguay.  What makes it unique is that most of it is shot in a single take.  In some cases the single shot filming is an advantage, in small cases it can get annoying.  The story itself is pretty good.  The ending allowed for a twist that made it fun for people who enjoy deductive reasoning.

Sarah, played by Elizabeth Olsen, is staying at a lakeside house with her Uncle and Father.  They are working on fixing the place up in order to sell it.  As Sarah is rummaging through childhood keepsakes, a loud noise is heard upstairs. We follow Sarah as she and her family is under assault by an unknown attacker.  Can she survive the deadly assailant?

Elizabeth Olsen does a good job played terrified.  This is a good quality to have since there are long periods of time with no dialogue and her running, and hiding, or even putting furniture against the door as if she were the Blues Brothers.   She plays it off well and you can really see the terror in her eyes.

The camera also helps with the single takes.  It lends a sense of claustrophobia and limits the amount of jump scares that can cheapen the movie.  However, when Elizabeth is running and the cameraman is following I would recommend putting the camera on a track. The camera shook like a bobble-head figure on a paint mixer that made the focus act bizarre at times.

All in all, “Silent House” is a creepy movie.  It shows skilled acting and a worthwhile story.  There are good moments of suspense and it looks really skillfully made.  Elizabeth Olsen seems to be the more talented of the Olsen sisters.  I hope we can see her spread her acting wings a bit more in the future. 

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