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Ryan Kwanten, Amber Valletta, Donnie Wahlberg, Michael Fairman, Joan Heney ... see more see more... , Judith Roberts , Julian Richings , Bob Gunton , Laura Regan

Saw duo James Wan and Leigh Whannell re-team for this chilling tale of a widower (Ryan Kwanten) who returns to his hometown to unearth clues about his recently departed wife's untimely death. In the q... read more read more...uiet town of Ravens Fair, children taunt one another with spooky stories about a ventriloquist whose mind was ravaged by insanity. Mary Shaw was a popular entertainer until she was accused of murdering a young boy. Subsequently hunted and captured by the vengeful townspeople, Mary's tongue was cut out before she was mercilessly killed and committed to the earth in the company of her handmade collection of vaudeville dolls. In the years that followed, the town seemed to be haunted by those ghastly puppets. After mysteriously disappearing from Mary's grave, the menacing figurines would sometimes be glimpsed by the damned in the dead of night -- their appearance consistently foreshadowing the death of whoever laid eyes upon them. Entire families were found slaughtered, their tongues brutally torn from their mouths in a sickening scene that eerily recalled the execution of the elderly ventriloquist. Newlyweds Jamie (Ryan Kwanten) and Lisa Ashen (Laura Regan) both grew up in Ravens Fair. Now, following Lisa's inexplicable death, Paul has returned to the pair's hometown in order to say his final goodbyes and find out the truth about his wife's enigmatic demise. After being reunited with his ailing father (Bob Gunton) and the aging man's pretty young bride (Amber Valletta), the grieving widower will finally uncover the shocking truth behind the curse that has plagued Ravens Fair for as far back as he can remember. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Flixster Users

57% liked it

212,195 ratings

Critics

20% liked it

74 critics

R, 1 hr. 30 min.

Directed by: James Wan

Release Date: March 16, 2007

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DVD Release Date: June 26, 2007

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Stats: 17,757 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (17,757)

  • helpahorse
    September 30, 2011
    helpahorse
    I kinda liked it...though I'm probably in the minority. I'm terrified of puppets/dolls coming alive, so this movie freaked me out. I've watched so many horror films and I'm not phased by anything...except puppets/dolls. Ever since I was a kid, I thought they were just so fucking ... read morecreepy. So this movie definitely scared me more than most of the horror films I've watched. I thought it was pretty decent. And damnnn Ryan Kwanten...every time his gorgeous Australian accent slipped through....I loved it.
    The characters were fairly underdeveloped, and it was kind of predictable, but whatever. It was a pretty good B-movie. The pacing seemed a little fast for my taste, maybe that's why the characters weren't developed as well. But other than that, I can't complain. The twist at the end was cool. I'd watch it again.
  • CloudStrife84
    August 23, 2011
    CloudStrife84
    There are two things in this world that creeps the hell out of me: the first being clowns and the second being evil puppets. Terrifyingly enough, this movie has both! Now, I'll be honest here and say that I didn't expect much out of this film. In fact, I was but a word of discour... read moreagement away from skipping it altogether. But I'm very pleased that I didn't, because this was so much better than I first gave it credit for. In similiarity to Insidious, it's a very atmospheric production, with spooky, nightmarish settings, enveloped in mist and spine-tingling tension. Although the characters are one-dimensional and pretty brainless in their actions, there's a lot to love about the movie in terms of scare factors and excitement. All-around, the directing is superb, and it feels like one of those old-school horror movies that I used to watch as a kid. Surely not to everyone's taste, but if you like Kwan's other films, then you'll probably enjoy this one as well. And did I mention how seriously creepy it is?
  • Deano78
    August 8, 2011
    Deano78
    A creepy horror film with a high production value and good cast. There might not be a high enough body count for some, or for it to be classed as a slasher anyway. However it does have a spooky atmasphere with the creepy dolls. Not the most original or scary film, but at least it... read more tried something new and different, among the endless carbon copy horrors being released these days. I have to add for a horror film the photography is great, you really can tell the attention to detail in every shot, from the angle, framing, lighting and colours. You don't notice that in many horror films!
  • phubbs1
    July 18, 2011
    phubbs1
    Well I gotta admit this did sort of spook me which did surprise as I was expecting another silly killer doll film much like the Puppet Master series. Instead we have an intelligent chiller about a curse from a dead woman back in the 40's who was accused of killing a boy and was m... read moreurdered by the local townsfolk in revenge, thus she returns from the grave to wreak revenge on descendants of the townsfolk using her beloved dolls as a kind of terror calling card and a way of getting to her victims.

    Doesn't sound too great I know but its actually a really decent horror with plenty of little jump moments and allot of nice imagery and visual spookery from dark eerie houses, hallways and graveyards to the ever popular and unnerving close ups on sinister doll faces along with creepy moving eyes.

    A nice cast help the film along with lead Ryan Kwanten (looking abit like Pat Swayze) being a likeable innocent detective of the mystery, Michael Fairman playing the old coroner warning of the impending dangers, Donnie Wahlberg as the tough take no crap police detective and Bob Gunton as Kwantens father. The whole film just moves along really well and has clearly been directed and put together with some care and attention, this isn't just a sloppy horror flick, a nice twist in the tale completes the story wrapping it up in a nice chilling bow :)
  • murphmann93
    June 23, 2011
    murphmann93
    One of the creepiest and most frightening films I have ever seen! A must see!
  • MovieGeek13
    April 3, 2011
    MovieGeek13
    Dead Silence exemplifies why more actually means less when it comes to horror. I don't understand why big studio horror films have to create this over the top atmosphere to make things scary. In one particular shot, it isn't enough to have the camera peering down a dark hall. The... read more hall has to have windows and curtains flapping about in the wind, as the obvious spotlights peer in through each window to simulate the moon shining through. Or a character sleeping in a run down motel where the blood red vacancy light keeps flashing through the window; that would be really annoying in real life. It's like the filmmakers are trying to scream to you: this is creepy!!!
    Shame because the film's concept reminds me of the urban legends I used to hear as a kid, either from my parents or the camp councilors trying to scare you over the camp fire. I enjoyed Dead Silence overall, but more so as a B-movie. Some of the scares were effective, despite being predictable as hell. Director James Wan uses darkness and low key light as effectively as some of the best Asian horror filmmakers like Hideo Nakata and Takashi Shimizu.
    Ryan Kwanten is very likable as the protagonist, and the short roles played by Bob Gunton, Amber Valletta, and Michael Fairman do their part in establishing the deranged world of Raven's Fair. Except for Donnie Wahlberg, who hams up his part as the thinks-he's-smarter-than-he-is cop so much that the character seems very out of place for the serious tone that the film establishes.
    Lots of flaws. Lots of things to admire. I can't recommend Dead Silence. But I can chalk it up to a guilty pleasure.
  • fb733768972
    March 21, 2011
    fb733768972
    Alright, I am going to be brutally honest here, Dead Silence is dumb, laughable, but if you forget that, it does have a few scares that are not too cliche if you think about it. It is hard to create a horror flick with originality these days, but this film does try. My huge compl... read moreaint here is that it is produced from the people who made the SAW franchise, and it literally feels like they took the entire story of Child's Play, hid the evidence and threw in a shit-load of SAW twists. The movie starts off extremely stupid and has no explaination and I was ready to turn it off, but midway through the film, I actually found myself mildly interested at what was going to happen next, but that does not make it a good film in any way. The thing that really made me quiver was the ending, oh wait, yeah it was pretty much SAW. I watched this movie for what it was, and if you are faint at heart, then you will enjoy this film. It's mindless, poorly acted and stupid, but it has the tone that a horror fan would devour upon. Dead Silence is definitely below average in the horror genre, but I had some fun with it!
  • ythelastman89
    October 25, 2010
    ythelastman89
    If I were afraid of dummies, this would be extremely effective and truly scary. As it is, i'm not. There's nothing really wrong with this movie at all, it's just not all that new or particularly interesting. The characters are fine, but it can't really save a movie from being med... read moreiocre and bland when it comes to storytelling. I think the best parts are the beginning and the origin story of Mary Shaw. I would totally recommend it to people who get freaked out by puppets/dolls, it will totally get to you.
  • TheDudeLebowski65
    June 9, 2010
    TheDudeLebowski65
    Dead Silence which was directed by James Wan, one of the two other Saw creators, writes and directs this film, which is not a remake. In the years since the year 2000, it seems that only studios want to re imagine classics and butcher those titles and sell them to dimwitted teens... read more that think that remakes are the real deal in horror, it's not. Original films will pop up here and there, and in 2007 we were given Dead Silence. Dead Silence is one scary film with a strong story line. It does indeed scare you when you least expects it, and you may not looks at Dummies the same way again. Of all the Horror films that came out in this decade, Dead Silence is one of the few that really does satisfy, but if you're the type of Horror fan that likes dumb teenager films like I know what you did last summer rather than original well crafted films like this one, skip it. This film is not for that crowd. Overall a solid film in the horror genre and quite original.
  • 3niR
    May 22, 2010
    3niR
    Freaky doll -_-

View All Dead Silence Reviews

Critic Reviews

J. R. Jones
December 3, 2007
J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader

Wan and Whannell have a carnivalesque sense of fun and a sure instinct for recycling classic horror tropes, but their characters are so flat and their plotting so listless that this low-budget feature... Full Review

Scott Brown
March 21, 2007
Scott Brown, Entertainment Weekly

Terrified of puppets? Enjoy being scared? Then you'll be half-satisfied with Dead Silence, a rote horror pantomime. Full Review

Jim Ridley
March 20, 2007
Jim Ridley, Village Voice

Dolls are innately unnerving, but the movie's semi-menacing Charlie McCarthys never live up to their potential. Full Review

John Monaghan
March 20, 2007
John Monaghan, Detroit Free Press

Armed with a decent budget, director James Wan and co-screenwriter Leigh Wannell fashion at least a dozen sequences that are spooky even while they defy logic. Full Review

Ed Gonzalez
March 20, 2007
Ed Gonzalez, Los Angeles Times

The movies have always asked us to suspend our disbelief, but Dead Silence demands our ignorance of its own derivations. A conflation of the horror genre's laziest tropes, plot angles and shorthands.

John Anderson
March 20, 2007
John Anderson, Variety

Formulaic and rather lazy exercise in booga-booga scare tactics. Full Review

Jason Anderson
March 20, 2007
Jason Anderson, Globe and Mail

The movie's uninteresting characters, boneheaded dialogue and flagrantly nonsensical narrative detract considerably from the virtues of the visual design. Full Review

Frank Scheck
March 20, 2007
Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter

Director Wan demonstrates that he's equally effective working in a more classical vein, especially with his skillful use of chilling low-key sound effects and silence in several scary sequences.

Wesley Morris
March 20, 2007
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe

This new movie is a more credible, less grisly act of filmmaking , but it's a less compelling exercise. It doesn't have the ruthless moral reasoning of the first two Saw pictures, however grotesque an... Full Review

Kyle Smith
March 20, 2007
Kyle Smith, New York Post

Saw creators Leigh Whannell and James Wan know scary: all that stuff that heebie-jeebied you when you were a kid. (Or as Entertainment Weekly would say: Dead Silence is awash with atavistic horror tro... Full Review

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  • In what 2007 does Steve Adams play a police officer in?   Answer »
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