The Silent House

The Spanish have been leading the way in horror movies in recent years. Rec and the Orphanage are two examples of great horror's which makes it all the more disappointing that The Silent House is such a poor film.

This the story of Laura and her dad , Wilson who are asked to do up an old house but it soon becomes clear that this is no ordinary house and that things are not what they seem.

The best thing about this film is that it's only 80 minutes long. I don't know if i would have got to the end if it was a normal length film. This starts really well . It is suspenseful and has the feel of a Blare Witch type movie. There are very long scenes without breaking away , following the girl around this spooky house but then the film changes. It starts to become confused ( as i was) and far too clever for it's own good and instead of becoming a good old fashioned haunted house move it changes direction - for the worse. I was annoyed by this film because quite clearly it never had an ending to start with. The director snatched defeat out of the jaws of victory.

Boasting 'one continuous take', yes, this is another hand held offering, "based on actual events" joint. It takes a little while to get going, as do most in this genre, but with a running time of 76 minutes, its not too long before the $h1t hits the fan.

Part spooky house film, part psychological thriller, The Silent House attempts to add something a little different to the sub genre. And for the most part, I think it succeeds.

On the other hand, the clichés are all there, a haunting childlike nursery rhyme score, enough spooky imagery to last a couple of halloween's, and even the old "don't go upstairs" warning! But all in all, it's really quite well done.

The film asks more questions than it answers, which kinda bothered me, but I'm guessing the 'actual events' may shed some light on the story, if there is indeed any actual events…

This was pretty much what I expected it to be, a fun pop corner. So crank the volume up high, and enjoy the ride.

"The Silent House" is supposedly based on true events.However the most interesting aspect of the film is that "La Casa Muda" was made for roughly $6,000 and was filmed in one long continuous 72-minute take.The film delivers lots of gloomy and sinister atmosphere as the main character Laura wanders alone through the rooms and corridors of the titular silent house.Laura comes to this house with her father and suddenly terrifying things begin.Upstairs is a mess,don't go there."The Silent House" resembles a little bit Jaume Balaguero's smashing horror hit "Rec".I certainly enjoyed very gloomy atmosphere of "The Silent House".Unfortunately the characters are one-dimensional and the behavior of Laura is often questionable.Still "The Silent House" is worth checking out.7 photos out of 10.

There are few aspects the spectator should take into account before watching this film: it is an eight-thousand-dollar movie, filmed in a -seemingly- one continue shot,within four days and using a hand-held high-definition digital single-lens reflex camera. In this respect, it was the first feature film to be made in this way. What it is more remarkable is the fact that the film was produced in Uruguay, a small country in South America, with a three million population and a growing yet still incipient film industry.However, the experiment proved to be a very successful experiment. According to the producer, Gustavo Rojo and the director, Gustavo Hernandez, the film was never meant to reach an international audience. A few weeks after they uploaded the teaser on youtube they received offers from Cannes and USA's film companies. The film has received since then an overwhelming international acclaim, and it has been remade in USA. Although critics and reviewers usually point out some inconsistencies in its narrative, the film does not pretend to resolve them. If you do bear in mind these details before watching the film, you will probably leave the cinema more amazed than scared.

I like horror movies . . . a lot. I don't care if they're daring & original or formulaic. If they're made well, I enjoy them. That being said, if you don't like the daring & original type (Blair Witch Project, REC, Paranormal Activity, Cloverfield, etc) you may not enjoy this one as much as I did. Sometimes these types of movies fail miserably (District 9). This one was excellent. The word that kept coming to mind as I watched it was 'creepy'. And the Polaroid flash sequence was one of the most frightening movie-watching experiences I've had in hundreds of horror flicks.

I actually read one review on this site where the viewer didn't like it because it didn't give a clean answer to questions that arose from the plot twist. Really? Seriously?? If you feel the way this reviewer did, you may want to stick with any of the Final Destination incarnations. There is certainly nothing challenging in there. All tied up with a nice bow on top.

Unfortunately, as with Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Silent House will undoubtedly be dumbed down and ruined when it goes through the Hollywood cookie cutter machine. Do yourself a favor . . . again, as with GWTDT, watch the original, subtitles and all!