Runtime: 86 minutes
Directed by: Chris Kentis/Laura Lau
Starring: Elizabeth Olsen, Adam Trese, Eric Sheffer Stevens, Julia Chan, Adam Barnett
From: Universal
You know, I didn’t even like the original film… years ago I saw and reviewed The Silent House, a Uruguayan “horror” film shot in one take which had some buzz yet I thought was pretty putrid. Practically all of it left my mind long ago so it took reading my own review to recall why it sucked so bad. I’ll compare in a bit but while I’ll start watching movies for Spooky Season real soon, this isn’t a part of that list which I post each November 2 or so—even though some started at the beginning of the month and some retail stores already have Halloween decorations up.
The general idea is the same: a young woman is w/ family members at an old homestead in the middle of nowhere which is being renovated, until things go wrong—and it is in faux one take like Birdman. Like with the original, the format they chose is a real hindrance. At first I would say that this wasn’t as boring, but then there’s a long stretch which felt interminable.
To compound the problem, it is just as dopey and nonsensical, with a final act plot twist that I recall was the same as in the original, and like with The Silent House, its execution doesn’t make that twist work. The camera work in TSH I don’t recall either… here, it could be nauseating as it’s all handheld, even if someone is running. Some will enjoy that the focus is always on Elizabeth Olsen, but not even her talents could save this when you hardly know anything about her character.
Ultimately, the gimmick is a hindrance in a story with a twist that many will not like, whether it be because of what the story turns into or the nature of the swerve. It’s a point that will be upsetting to some and elaborating any further will be a massive spoiler. Ultimately, Silent House a remake which doesn’t ruin the foreign original as the OG product was bad to begin with… but doesn’t really improve on the original either.
No comments:
Post a Comment