Read Mixed User Reviews for Silent House

4

TheDRauchAug 28, 2012

Myself rating 'Silent House' would be kind of unfair. The let down ending was spoiled to me and my attention wandered throughout most of the film. I was not frightened at any point and spent most of it playing Alchemy on my phone and onlyMyself rating 'Silent House' would be kind of unfair. The let down ending was spoiled to me and my attention wandered throughout most of the film. I was not frightened at any point and spent most of it playing Alchemy on my phone and only occasionally glancing at the movie. Elizabeth Olsen is pretty admirable, doing one straight cut for an-hour-and-a-half where she hyperventilates for most of the second half. In comparison, the other men in the film portraying her father and uncle fizzle in her presence. The first half is recommendable (of course, only if you have no knowledge of how it ends), but 'Silent House' gradually descends into an absurd let down that could have been better than standard horror movie execution.… Expand

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4

StevePulaskiJan 25, 2013

Silent House proposes an interesting gimmick, which is to shoot an entire film in one take, providing us with the unblinking view of our main characters' lives, but then unfortunately fuels it with one of the most tedious, mundane, repetitiveSilent House proposes an interesting gimmick, which is to shoot an entire film in one take, providing us with the unblinking view of our main characters' lives, but then unfortunately fuels it with one of the most tedious, mundane, repetitive storylines in a blue moon. The story here is so unfit to work alongside an impressively genuine gimmick that it distracts the viewer and we are left to solemnly hope that we will see this gimmick illustrated more efficiently in the near future.

Our story is set with Sarah, played by Elizabeth Olsen, a woman working with her father (Adam Trese) and uncle (Eric Sheffer Stevens) to repair a rather decrepit countryside home that lacks electricity in order to churn a healthy profit. Call it the American Dream. Until Sarah discovers that the house seems to be able to crank out ominous noises and strange quirks, she feels frightened to even be in the home. Call it the American scream.

The remainder of the film consists of our desperate heroine, wandering around in this strange little locale in the middle of desolate nowhere as she explores the attic, the upstairs, occasionally being a victim to a loud, abrupt noise that not only serve as her misfortune, but ours simultaneously, when we discover this is all the film has to offer in terms of scares.

What we get as a storyline isn't too deep, but rather an awkwardly put together assembly of odds and ends that do nothing but accentuate unusual horror movie logic than can not be explained. Sarah, her father, and her uncle arrive at the home rather late in the day, and plan to spend the night there and rise bright and early to continue working on the house. Why didn't they just rise bright and early the next morning, drive to the home, and spend the whole day working on it? What's the attraction to sleep in a creepy, dilapidated, barely-standing home in the middle of nowhere? Also, when Victoria has the ability to finally leave the house, in the middle of the film when she finds her uncle arriving home, why doesn't her and her uncle stay outside and drive away, seeing as there is no cell phone reception. To give the film a runtime over eighty-minutes, that's why.

Elizabeth Olsen is apparently on a path clearer than the ones her two twin sisters, Mary-Kate and Ashley, took, I often hear. Here, she is performing an obligation. An obligation that nearly requires her to perform in a low-budget horror film that will provide her with bread on her table, a film under her belt, and hopefully enough recognition to advance her to other, more sufficient projects.

At several points, I was reminded of the film The Woman in black, released a few months before Silent House. That film was made with a true sense of detail, artistry, and successfully mimicked that of a Hammer horror film. What is lacking here is the element of detail, as we are given the same cardboard setting to stare at for the entire eighty minutes of the film and nothing truly ever comes to life as it did in that film. I felt consumed by the setting there. Here, I felt manipulated by it.

Silent House's idea of using one long, continuous take was predicated off the fact that the original Uruguayan film, La casa muda this is remaking used the same little gimmick. What it succeeds in is giving us a real-time look into Sarah and her situation. One almost hates to belittle the effort of the filmmakers and cast, who definitely needed to adjust to the idea of having a "cue" when to walk on screen, take place, and most likely possessed the thought of doing something incorrectly, ruining the one-take design. It's too bad what we're given is a real-time look into a character in situation not worth watching.

Starring: Elizabeth Olsen, Adam Trese, and Eric Sheffer Stevens. Directed by: Chris Kentis and Laura Lau.… Expand

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6

MovieReviewsJun 11, 2014

Despite having some flaws, the different style of filmmaking makes a noticeable impact on the viewer, suspense wise, having different levels of tensions that doesn't reveal the story until the complex, somehow disappointing third final act.Despite having some flaws, the different style of filmmaking makes a noticeable impact on the viewer, suspense wise, having different levels of tensions that doesn't reveal the story until the complex, somehow disappointing third final act. Sarah is struggling in this movie to survive, and that is why the ending actually disappointed some people, the ending made a huge payoff, while having the rest of the 80 minutes (first and second acts) useless, just when the twist is revealed it falls flat and disappoints in patterns. Otherwise, it had the potential of being a memorable movie but just fails. Elizabeth Olsen is great in this movie, pulling off mainstream terror and showing off remarkable acting capabilities. The movie has some digestible everyday flaws, but the filmmaker's distinctive way of presentation makes the movie more provoking as you leave it.… Expand

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6

horcrux2007May 18, 2015

I just felt like watching a random movie on Netflix today, so I chose Silent House. There's not much to say about it... it's reasonably intense and creepy throughout. My biggest problem is that the payoff is pretty bad and kinda confusing. II just felt like watching a random movie on Netflix today, so I chose Silent House. There's not much to say about it... it's reasonably intense and creepy throughout. My biggest problem is that the payoff is pretty bad and kinda confusing. I think this movie is sort of well-known because the whole thing is filmed in a single shot. That really added some good suspense to many scenes in the film. It's nothing great or anything memorable, but Silent House is a pretty good if you have 88 minutes to spare.… Expand

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6

attachecrimeAug 31, 2012

Not a bad little film. I think the weakest part of the film was the dialogue. The dialogue was clunky, unbelievable and inappropriate for the characters, it was very oddly written. The supporting cast was also not very good. Overall, niceNot a bad little film. I think the weakest part of the film was the dialogue. The dialogue was clunky, unbelievable and inappropriate for the characters, it was very oddly written. The supporting cast was also not very good. Overall, nice cinematography, nice pace.… Expand

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4

bigfoot6463Mar 20, 2012

Im only giving this movie a 4 because the story line was good. The rest goes down hill. The bad acting from the father and son was as bad as it gets and destroys the movie plus the fact that the movie was not put together well at all. ThisIm only giving this movie a 4 because the story line was good. The rest goes down hill. The bad acting from the father and son was as bad as it gets and destroys the movie plus the fact that the movie was not put together well at all. This movie could have been a block buster. What were they thinking???? Do not waste your money on this movie, it wont be out long anyway. wait for it to come on tv. Even then you will be disappointed. Not the worst movie I ever saw but is in the top 10 of the worst movies I ever saw. My girlfriend embarrassed me with her snoring. Lucky for me there were only 6 people in the theater.… Expand

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5

JTKelleyAug 10, 2012

This is more acting reel material for Elizabeth Olsen than anything else. She's a revelation, but a garbage script riddled with expository dialogue and a poor supporting cast drag the film down.

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6

ShiiraApr 1, 2012

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A crime photo begets the crime scene, that's the function of the unforgettable last shot in Roman Polanski's Repulsion, where after an exploratory pan across Helen's apartment, the camera revisits and lingers upon an old family snapshot, bringing into sharp focus the dissonance behind this distinguished-looking bloodline, whose smiles suddenly seem put-on, as if this display of unconditional familial bliss, in actuality, is hiding a conspiracy. You see the manicurist as a young girl looking off to the side with terrified eyes, commonly presumed by many to be trained on the old man seated in his chair, the manicurist's father. But on closer inspection, does the focal point of the young girl align with the old man, or is Carole attending to some malevolent presence in the black and white photo's negative space? From a kitchen window, Carole(Catherine Deneuve) observes the abbey across from her older sister's flat, and it's the positioning of the nuns, in which the filmmaker relegates the chaste women(out getting some fresh air) to the diegetical margin that seems conspicuous, since it alludes somewhat to the old picture, because like the unseen presence that scares Carole, the nuns are off to the side. In Silent House, Sarah(Elizabeth Olsen) uncovers repressed memories of sexual abuse at the hands of her father(interestingly, he has a biblical name), whereas Carole, quite possibly(in which the nuns are meant to suggest more than her wish to join a convent), was molested by a higher "father", a priest, whose religious denomination could be described as a "silent house", when the subject turns to pedophilia. After all, the male figment that greets Carole at night in her bed looks nothing at all like her father. The would-be rapist, potentially, is the same man who, years ago, damaged a little girl irreparably, resulting in a grown woman rendered celibate due to her fear of sex, and furthermore, abhors sex outside the sanctity of marriage, which is why Carole(the Catholic) judges Helen(the lapsed Catholic) harshly for her affair with the married man, the older sister's part-time live-in lover. Sarah, on the other hand, had a boyfriend, somebody that inspires John to say, "Princess, he doesn't deserve you," an ex who wants to reunite with his comely daughter. As it turns out, this fatherly concern, this obligatory bit of paternal love, so seemingly unremarkable, is the wrong kind of love, a latency that manifests itself at the crime scene, Sarah's childhood home, where the haunting is atypical for it being steeped in physiognomy instead of the usual metaphysical phenomena. Once it becomes clear that the dry rot has metaphorical properties that exceed its corporeality, the Polanski film rears its sex-hating head, because the dry rot is part of the same psycho-architectural language as the cracks that Carole projects onto the apartment walls. Since Sarah, by virtue of the short conversation she has with dad about her love life, we know the woman has gone on dates, whereas the French wallflower thwarts a persistent suitor at every turn. It doesn't mean, however, that Sarah is any more social than Carole, as evidenced by the pained expression in which she receives a hug from Sophia, an old friend, and the fact that this college-aged girl doesn't attend school, choosing instead to work for John's house restoration business. Sarah's aversion to being touched, quite possibly, is a clue as to why things didn't work out with the beau. Maybe, similar to Carole, she can't get intimate, repulsed by a man's touch since her first sexual relationship was a grossly inappropriate one. Silent House, a remake of Gustavo Hernandez's La Casa Muda, differs from the 2010 Uruguayan film in that Carole may be less innocent than her counterpart, Laura, since the new film fleshes out the apparition of a girl from the original into Sophia, all grown up, a young woman who may have been victimized not only by Sarah's father, but Sarah herself, an exploited girl who may have played the role of her father's collaborator, a suggestion made valid by the fact that she is still working for John, albeit now for a legitimate enterprise, and not child pornography. Unlike Neil(Joseph Gordon Leavitt) in Greg Araki's Mysterious Skin, Sarah forgot about the abuse. Brian remembers, though. Similar to how a youth baseball coach employs Neil to lure other boys, Sophia may have been recruited by Sarah, in which both children were under the specter of a sinister man. Brian, growing up, fosters the notion that he was abducted by aliens, thereby transmuting Mysterious Skin into a faux science fiction film. Likewise, Silent House is not a horror movie. The subject in both films are deposited in a speculative genre piece as a filmic salve to deal with, and, ultimately, postpone the inevitable bombshell that there are no aliens, or in Sarah's case, things do not go bump in the night by their own volition.… Expand

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6

raultrivinoJan 3, 2016

La película no es mala del todo, tiene una tensión constante, pero lastimosamente no llega a asustar mucho, por lo tanto no esperen estar con los nervios de punta todo el tiempo, la trama consiste en una muchacha que con su papá y su tíoLa película no es mala del todo, tiene una tensión constante, pero lastimosamente no llega a asustar mucho, por lo tanto no esperen estar con los nervios de punta todo el tiempo, la trama consiste en una muchacha que con su papá y su tío quedan encerrados en una casa antigüa y hay una extraña entidad que los están persiguiendo.

Algo curioso de la película es que es una gran toma y no tiene cortes de cámara o edición, por lo tanto lo hace algo curioso pero a veces puede incomodar sobre todo en las que corren y se mueve mucho la cámara,

Las actuaciones son normales, no es algo destacable ni tampoco lo hacen de todo mal, y pues tratan de darle un giro dramático al final pero es algo que sea nuevo o impactante, creo que es para verla en netflix una tarde de domingo cuando no hay nada mejor que hacer.… Expand

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6

atabeyordekciAug 19, 2021

A girl is trapped inside her family's lakeside retreat and becomes unable to contact the outside world as supernatural forces haunt the house with mysterious energy and consequences. (6)

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