Every day for the month of October, Coming Soon is making a new horror movie recommendation for those eager to find a new frightening flick for Halloween. From the creepy goodness of a classy ghost story to a blood-spattered gorefest and everything in between, we’ll have something for every taste of horror. And today’s pick is…
Dead Silence
What’s Dead Silence about: Directed by horror master James Wan (Saw, The Conjuring universe, Insidious franchise) and written by Leigh Whannell (Saw franchise, The Mule, Upgrade), Dead Silence follows Jamie Ashen (Ryan Kwanten) and Detective Lipton (Donnie Wahlberg, who also starred in Saw II, III, and IV) as they investigate the gruesome and mysterious death of Jamie’s wife. After Jamie returns to his hometown, he discovers the murder — and the creepy puppet that was sent to him — could be linked to the ghost of a dead ventriloquist named Mary Shaw (Judith Roberts).
Why Dead Silence rules: Dead Silence offers genuinely scary moments with the literal use of silence and Wan’s notable horror touch, in addition to a solid plot and key players. A particularly tension-filled scene comes early on in the film, as the movie is chock-full of them, while Jamie is stuck in a hotel room with Billy the puppet. When everything goes silent and all you can hear is a breath and a giggle, when victims have their tongues ripped out and are posed in macabre family portraits, or when over 100 puppets slowly turn their heads towards a clown doll sitting in a rocking chair casually whispering to you, you know you’re in for a terrifying treat.
How scary is Dead Silence: While being known for having developed two of the biggest contemporary horror franchises, Saw and The Conjuring (on top of other works such as the Insidious movies and, of course, DC’s Aquaman), Wan’s largely underrated cult classic packs in plenty of scares from beginning to end, perfectly paced and executed with the help of many spooky dolls. Also, who doesn’t love this particularly delightful poem: “Beware the stare of Mary Shaw. She had no children, only dolls. And if you see her do not scream, she’ll rip your tongue out at the seam.”
Be on the lookout for: When Jamie and Detective Lipton discover a puppet collection in Mary Shaw’s storage area with her 101 dolls, the iconic Billy puppet from the Saw franchise is among them. Billy was also used as the name of the main dummy in Dead Silence.
Where to watch Dead Silence: You can rent the film for $3.99 at Amazon Prime Video. You can pick up your unrated Blu-ray copy of the cult classic by clicking here.
CS October Horror Movie Recommendations:
October 1 – Session 9
October 2 – Bubba Ho-Tep
October 3 – City of the Dead
October 4 – Drag Me to Hell
October 5 – Opera
October 6 – It Follows
October 7 – Chopping Mall
October 8 — The Descent
October 9 — The Vampire Doll
October 10 — Poltergeist
October 11 — Jennifer’s Body
October 12 — Grave Encounters
October 13 — Dolls
October 14 — High Tension
October 15 — The Ranger
October 16 — Sleepy Hollow
October 17 — Paranormal Activity 3
October 18 — The Innkeepers
October 19 — I Saw the Devil
October 20 — 28 Days Later
October 21 — Tower of Evil
October 22 — The Cabin in the Woods
October 23 — Green Room
October 24 — Fright Night
October 25 — Let’s Scare Jessica to Death
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