Dead Silent

The movie uses motifs that could be plagiarized from "Wait Until Dark" (1967), a much better movie by Terence Young, starring Audrey Hepburn. "Dead Silent" is a pale paraphrase. There is nothing new here -- the hidden object in the doll, the bad men wanting it, the bad guy posing as a good guy. The disability, though, has shifted : Audrey Hepburn couldn't see, the child in DS cannot speak. But both stories hinge on the handicap. Where "Wait Until Dark" built up unbearable suspense, "Dead Silent" lets you guess the outcome, the story being such a stereotype.

Rob Lowe must have eaten up the entire budget, but I can't fault him for running with the money. Even he would have to agree, there was nothing good about this movie. Filming, editing, direction, dialogue, sets, makeup, writing, casting (especially the young girl and imposter child psychiatrist), and the story all were just the worst. I have never seen such a horrible movie. Pass this one up for any other rental selection, or find yourself shouting out vile comments at the TV. Dead Silent should be silenced for all time.

It's amazing what you can do with little money. DEAD SILENT being a low budget movie delivers its promises.

Too bad we don't see Rob Lowe more often on the silver screen. Lowe is at its best in this riveting thriller . No wonder he went from DEAD SILENT straight to the TV mega hit The West Wing .

DEAD SILENT 8 out of 10

Sputtosi Toronto.

Young Arlen Aguayo-Stewart's parents are both executed while she hides in a closet. When the authorities find her she is in hysterical silence unable to comprehend how her world has turned upside down. Her closest living relative an aunt Catherine Mary Stewart who is a doctor trying to get a staff position at a hospital.

Stewart's world is all changed now that she's had to learn to be a mom real fast. But the folks who killed her sister are now after the child. She also has a mysterious neighbor in Rob Lowe who normally I'd love if he paid attention to me. But with all that's going on does Lowe have sinister ulterior motives?

Dead Silent is a thriller in the Hitchcock tradition and Lowe had by that time played enough sinister roles to be good casting for a villain or a red herring. The parents were into some illegal business themselves.

Dead Silent is all right for the thriller genre, but it will never be rated a great one in said genre.

This movie has it all. Poor casting, slow pace, Rob Lowe slumming, you name it. To start off, the little girl was a very bizarre casting as Stewart's niece (though she really may be, for all I know) and as the child of the people we saw in the beginning of the movie. She looks adopted. Perhaps she was - and I wouldn't put it past this script to not bother telling us.

The pace of this thing is deadly. There's no acting to speak of because the characters are cardboard. Everyone acts sinister. And what is all the fuss about? When actors chased after McGuffin in Hitchcock, there was another storyline to keep them interested. Not in this movie.

One sits through this entire film feeling as if something is off. Off with the acting, off with the story, off with you for watching it. So let's have one more off - off with the TV.