Silent House [Blu-ray]

I saw this movie last night on pay per view in my hotel and I only watched it based on the merits of young Elizabeth Olsen, after being very impressed by her fine performance in "Martha, Marcy, May, Marlene". Quite frankly I didn't know what to expect and my expectations were not that high. I've seen lots of indie horror movies that try real hard but end up falling short on the chills, often resorting to haggard, old plot devices to try and scare the audience. I am not easily scared and the vast majority of horror movies coming out today, fail, time and time again to scare me to any great extent.

Such was NOT the case with "Silent House". This movie pulls you in from the opening frames with Elizabeth Olsen sitting on a rock by the ocean. Miss Olsen is classically beautiful and is proving herself to be a very talented actor. As she is drawn into the big, dark, sinister house, there is an overwhelming feeling of dread that permeates this atmospheric little chiller and the viewer is soon gripped as Miss Olsen's character is terrorized by bumps in the night, fleeting shadows, ghostly images and the knowledge that after her father is attacked and rendered unconscious by an unseen assailant, she is not alone in the big lonely house, then the spine-tingling suspense gets kicked up several notches to full out terror. But this is just the beginning. As the tale unfolds we are served up a very troubling plot twist that leaves the viewer stunned.

Elizabeth Olsen, the younger, as yet less famous, but (in my opinion), more talented sister of twin child stars Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen is a rising star and I hope to see her more in the future. She has all the potential to become a Hollywood A-lister as you will see when you watch "Silent House."

I happened to catch the original Uruguayan Silent House just by chance flipping through channels on late night TV. I was captivated. I'm a complete Horror freak, and the movie kept me on the edge of my seat the whole way through. I LOVED the continuous camera sweep (ala Russian Ark), and the acting was superb. I don't scare easily, and I rarely jump at the typical scares in horror flicks, but this movie got the best of me a few times. After watching it, I immediately logged on to Amazon to order the original Uruguayan movie.

Sure as anything, I soon found out that there was a US remake coming out. As far as I'm concerned, there is very little talent in Hollywood, and it's a common trend to just remake popular movies to cash in on their success. I was very skeptical, but because I loved the original, I decided to give it a try. I was not disappointed.

Elizabeth Olsen is not of the same strain of her twin sisters who have ridden the wave of their childhood fame for being cute babies. She actually acts in Silent House, and very well. Even though I had seen the original, and I knew what to expect, I still jumped...several times.

Excellent acting, a great creepy story, and wonderful camera work. Naturally the pompous Hollywood director thought he could improve on the original version by slightly changing the storyline (the Uruguayan version was fine the way it was), but even with the changes, the movie was excellent. From the acting, the creepy basement scene, to the music used to set the mood...excellent remake of an already great movie.

I suggest watching both to compare.

A young woman who is moving out of an old home with her father begins seeing and hearing unexplained things. She is extremely frightened as she runs from whatever or whoever may be lurking. Featuring the highly talented Elizabeth Olsen, this movie is quite scary up until the final minutes when the story takes an unexpected turn. This is when the film loses something, but it does distinguish it as more than just a standard horror film. I found the movie very frightening and unpredictable. Liz Olsen is such a talent, she is able to project true fright throughout, and the film is able to maintain this until the surprising conclusion. Overall, this is a solid effort in the horror genre.