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Dead Silence

Play trailer Poster for Dead Silence R Released Mar 16, 2007 1h 29m Horror Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
21% Tomatometer 82 Reviews 51% Popcornmeter 100,000+ Ratings
After his wife meets a grisly end, Jamie Ashen (Ryan Kwanten) returns to their creepy hometown of Ravens Fair to unravel the mystery of her murder. Once there, he discovers the legend of Mary Shaw (Joan Heney), a murdered ventriloquist whose eerie presence still looms over the town. As he desperately digs for answers, Jamie encounters the curse that took his wife's life and threatens his own.
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Dead Silence

Dead Silence

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Critics Consensus

More tasteful than recent slasher flicks, but Dead Silence is undone by boring characters, bland dialogue, and an unnecessary and obvious twist ending.

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Critics Reviews

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Nicholas Barber Independent (UK) Dead Silence is a guilty pleasure, especially if you have a gottle of geer beforehand. Sep 13, 2023 Full Review 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 fails to generate much suspense. Dec 3, 2007 Full Review Adam Smith Empire Magazine For the love of Chucky, avoid this insipid attempt at reviving the killer doll horror. Rated: 1/5 Jul 27, 2007 Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy A wan Wan offering. Rated: 2/4 Apr 1, 2023 Full Review Stephanie Archer Film Inquiry Dead Silence is a solid horror film and a look into the early works of James Wan and Leigh Whannell. And while it might have become a bit dated along the way, it is still a brilliant horror film to terrify. Apr 17, 2021 Full Review Joe Lipsett Bloody Disgusting Dead Silence has a lot of good qualities (the production design, the menagerie of creepy dolls, great makeup effects when folks lose their tongues/jaws), but overall this film has a huge debilitating weakness: it is dull as f*** Feb 22, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member I don’t get how this movie has such a low rating. It’s a really effective horror movie with a cool production design. Mary Shaw was a super creepy villain and the twist at the end shocked me the first time I watched it Rated 4 out of 5 stars 10/14/24 Full Review Julie W It wasn't great, it wasn't awful. Decent amount of jump scares, the makeup effects are scary. All those dolls are always creepy. No better or worse than most other horror flicks. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 09/25/24 Full Review Deontae D Good movie, From the writers and director of saw, It is kinda creepy, I remember my mom had this on dvd, It was scary seeing it for the first time, And almost at the end you can see the jigsaw doll from saw on the ground, That's cool though Rated 3 out of 5 stars 09/17/24 Full Review Alayla W This movie is chilling, thrilling and down right scary to the core. From the nursery rhyme made to fit the movie to the twist ending the send chills down ones spine. Well made movie indeed. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 08/28/24 Full Review Jacob B This movie is not as bad as critics, and even its own creators, would have you believe. True, it's not great, there are some silly aspects and the performances from most of the actors are generally competent but nothing special but I can't say Dead Silence was a boring film to watch. James Wan was probably right when, looking back on the film, he admitted that people were expecting "the next Saw" and not the ghost story we ended up getting instead. I figure having Donnie Wahlberg playing essentially the same character from Saw II doesn't help. But yeah, I actually have a soft spot for this movie. The set design is really good, the lack of noise from where the movie gets its title appropriately leaves you with a sense of dread, there are genuinely chilling moments and a decent twist ending. Wan did a really good job with the atmosphere making for some truly memorable locations such as the Grand Guignol theatre. All in all, an underrated horror film that's not as awful as the different kinds of horror stories from behind the scenes (i.e. studio interference) would have you believe (though I'm sure Leigh Whannell's original script was most likely a stronger story) and can even be regarded as a spiritual predecessor of sorts for Insidious and The Conjuring. Because...you know...the whole haunted-house aspect, malevolent ghosts and the presence of creepy dolls Rated 4 out of 5 stars 08/14/24 Full Review Partha G Best movie of James Wan till date...this movie is a masterpiece..It deserves a sequel more than any other movies made by James Wan...movie was scary as hell.. Environment and BGM were mind blowing...Climax was shocking and best part of the movie. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/07/24 Full Review Read all reviews
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Dead Silence

Dead Silence: Official Clip - Kill Billy Dead Silence: Official Clip - Kill Billy 1:33 Dead Silence: Official Clip - Now Who's The Dummy? Dead Silence: Official Clip - Now Who's The Dummy? 2:16 Dead Silence: Official Clip - Sleeping with the Enemy Dead Silence: Official Clip - Sleeping with the Enemy 2:35 Dead Silence: Official Clip - Our Family's Curse Dead Silence: Official Clip - Our Family's Curse 2:06 Dead Silence: Official Clip - Attack of the Killer Dolls Dead Silence: Official Clip - Attack of the Killer Dolls 2:05 Dead Silence: Official Clip - Mortuary Massacre Dead Silence: Official Clip - Mortuary Massacre 2:33 Dead Silence: Official Clip - The Perfect Doll Dead Silence: Official Clip - The Perfect Doll 2:55 Dead Silence: Official Clip - It's a Boy Dead Silence: Official Clip - It's a Boy 2:32 Dead Silence: Official Clip - White As A Sheet Dead Silence: Official Clip - White As A Sheet 4:08 Dead Silence: Official Clip - The Story of Mary Shaw Dead Silence: Official Clip - The Story of Mary Shaw 2:47 View more videos
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Movie Info

Synopsis After his wife meets a grisly end, Jamie Ashen (Ryan Kwanten) returns to their creepy hometown of Ravens Fair to unravel the mystery of her murder. Once there, he discovers the legend of Mary Shaw (Joan Heney), a murdered ventriloquist whose eerie presence still looms over the town. As he desperately digs for answers, Jamie encounters the curse that took his wife's life and threatens his own.
Director
James Wan
Producer
Gregg Hoffman, Mark Burg, Oren Koules
Screenwriter
Leigh Whannell
Distributor
Universal Pictures
Production Co
Twisted Pictures, Universal Pictures, Evolution Entertainment
Rating
R (Horror Violence and Images)
Genre
Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 16, 2007, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 19, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA)
$16.5M
Runtime
1h 29m
Sound Mix
SDDS, DTS, Dolby SRD
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)
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