Dead Silence (2007)

	Directed by: James Wan	COUNTRY USA GENRE Horror NORWEGIAN TITLE Dead Silence RUNNING TIME 90 minutes
	Produced by: Mark Burg Gregg Hoffman Oren Koules
	Written by: Leigh Whannell

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Jamie Ashen	Ryan Kwanten
Ella Ashen	Amber Valletta
Det. Jim Lipton	Donnie Wahlberg
Henry Walker	Michael Fairman	½
Marion Walker	Joan Hensey
Edward Ashen	Bob Gunton

Review

Here is the highly talented Aussie filmmaking duo of James Wan and Leigh Whannell's follow-up to the brilliant Saw (2004). With the studios still not finished milking the egged tool, so to speak, Dead Silence is welcome proof that Wan and Whannell have some new ideas up their sleeve. Unfortunately, they aren't as fresh as they were three years ago. My main objection with Dead Silence is neither Wan's ability as a storyteller nor Whannell's cleverness, but simply the lack of new thinking and inventiveness. Thematically, the film is fascinating enough, and it has some real eeriness, notably in the theatre flashback scene and in another segment I shall not mention, but the majority of the scares and plot developments remain too conventional to make seasoned horror viewers jump in their seats. Some useful acting spices the film up, especially by Donnie Wahlberg, who goes full Mickey Rourke with his Detective Lipton.