There is an old ghost story in the sleepy town of Ravens Fair about Mary Shaw, a ventriloquist who went mad. Accused of the murder of a young boy, she was hunted down by vengeful townspeople who cut out her tongue and killed her. They buried her along with her "children," a hand-made collection of vaudeville dolls. Since that time, Ravens Fair has been plagued by mysterious deaths. The ghastly dolls from Mary Shaw's collection are missing from the grave.
From the writers and director of “Saw”, the new thriller "Dead Silence" features not quite an unusual plot but the refreshing part is the mixture of ventriloquism and hand-manipulated dolls with the horror genre in this movie.
Undeniably, the appearances of Mary Shaw "lifts" the audiences' mood instantly. As for her hand-made collection of dolls, not exactly evoking one’s fear factor but still viable in creating an aura of mystery in the movie. Nevertheless, the "dead silence" effect is especially notable throughout the film.
This movie portrays the old ghost story in the town of Ravens fair and the secret behind the verse "Beware the stare of Mary Shaw. She has no children except dolls. If you see her in your dream, do not scream!"...
Back in the glory days of Ravens town, Mary Shaw was a ventriloquist giving performances at the old theatre. At the height of mental derangement and with a delusion of making the perfect doll, she was being accused of the murder of a young boy, when she was mutilated by vengeful townspeople who later buried her with her entire collection of dolls. Soon after, Ravens Fair has been plagued by unsolved mysterious deaths.
As the plot develops, the above mystery surrounds the murder of Jamie's wife, the detective's investigation, the old couple living in Ravens town and the secret lurking behind jamie's father and so called step-mum.
Unraveling the truth, most of the scenes set in Ravens Fair and those in the old Theatre at lost lake continue to elude the entangled pieces of clue as the plot slowly focal on not just Mary Shaw nor her dolls but her obsession to make the “perfect doll”. In the book with schematic drawing of dolls, there is a small flap marked with the wordings "Making the perfect doll"...at its back unveils the face of a women….
In truth, the spirit of Mary Shaw manipulates every crafted doll she attempts to produce to perfection at the back room of the old theatre. As she "silenced" every of the townspeople in Ravens fair and their descendants of descendants, Jamie’s wife Lisa is merely the latest victim as the last “Ashen” in her is not spared in her brutal murder at the apartment.
Concluding with a strong twist, Jamie discovers his father's lifeless body and before he realizes everything, the scene ends with him screaming in the face of a perfected being.
I stumbled on a strange word the other day, paediophobia - the fear of dolls, apparently. It bears special significance to me because I'm one! However, despite being terrified of all manner of dolls (especially the clown in Stephen King's "It") and the fact that Chucky from the classic "Child's Play" films can sometimes make me view my sister's Barbie dolls with suspicion, "Dead Silence" does itself no favours by evoking very little fear in a self-diagnosed paediophobic like me.
Brought to you by Malaysian-born director James Wan, the man behind the commercial horror hits "Saw" and its sequels, I was expecting another blood-soaked horror thriller for the ages. However, the story deteriorates very quickly after the opening minutes.
What happens? Newlyweds Jamie (Ryan Kwanten) and Lisa Ashen (Laura Regan) receive a creepy ventriloquist doll at their doorstep one stormy night. He goes out for some Chinese take-away and comes home to a brutally dismembered wife. Soon, we get involved in the old ghost story of Mary Shaw, about a ventriloquist who goes insane. Accused of a young boy's murder, she was hunted down by vengeful townsfolk who cut out her tongue. They buried her with her 'children', a handmade collection of vaudeville dolls. Since then, the town of Ravens Fair has been plagued by death. Lisa is merely the latest victim and Jamie must unravel the mystery of the dolls before a policeman arrests him for his wife's murder.
Well, what can I say? The horror was mostly based on sudden loud sounds rather than psychological terror, which might or might not work depending on your liking. In the "Saw" films, which did slide a little as they tried to milk Jigsaw's appeal as much as possible, the suspense was present because of the disproportionate tension within a very limited parameter (most of the scenes are often extended periods in a room or corridor). Expanding the story concept outside these premises seems to lose its trademark tension for Wan, not to mention the fact that the script was very uninspired, despite the best efforts from a very able cast.
Given, "Dead Silence" is more than your average slasher fare but it thoroughly failed to scare me with a subject matter I am certified of being scared of. Maybe I'll think about it again when I see some Barbie dolls.
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