“Silent House”

Directed by: Chris Kentis and Laura Lau
Screenplay Written by: Laura Lau and Oscar Estevez
Produced by: Eva Diederix, Thomas Fatone, and Adeline Fontan Tessaur
Genre: Horror
Starring: Elizabeth Olsen, Adam Trese, and Eric Sheffer Stevens
Featuring: Nathan Larson
Running Time: 86 minutes

I am not one for horror films. I get absolutely nothing out of them, and they have no point to them other than being a jumble mumble of crap that is extremely manipulated to give the movie that special horrifying effect. I do have to give their producers props for managing to get me to hide behind a pillow for 99.9% of the entire movie though. I do indeed watch the ending which is made mostly of credits, thanking the lord that those 100 minutes are O.V.E.R!

It is a typical Saturday night, and there is absolutely nothing to do, so my friends and I pull into the K-store to rent a movie. As always they want to watch something horrifying and supernatural, and that something this time was called “Silent House”. All lined up on a couch in the late hours of the night with a TV that was in black and white, we watched this complicated and dynamic movie. Scenes were filled with horror, dramatic effects, and flashes of strobe lighting. The plot encompassed a riveting and undeniable theme that draws one in, daring the audience to find a greater meaning. I finally found what I was never looking for, a horror film that depicts a theme beyond the typically ridiculous and stereotypical horror film. 

“Silent House” takes place in an old vacation house belonging to the character, Sarah’s, family and it contains an unforgettable past. Even with a past of abuse and sexual assault, she has managed to wash it out of her brain until a series of events bring back what she had tried so hard to forget. A younger girl resembling herself shows up and brings forth horror and painful memories. After grabbing a drink, Sarah proceeds to tour the house of her past. Strange things begin to happen, including her dad strangely joking around and slamming her arm in the door leading her to find pictures that are quickly confiscated by her uncle. She wonders what they hiding from her. Shattering noises begin to echo through the old house, noises from her father, crying in pain. All the doors and window are locked, and she has get away from the invisible intruder. With the intruder in hunt, she manages to escape to her room where under the bed a child scares her half to death, and strangely resembles her when she was young. She finally manages to escape and find her uncle who races into the house with Sarah in close pursuit. He manages to lose her and she looks for him running down the stairs with blood covered hands and finds her uncle and dad laying on the floor. The intruder finds her, but she escapes making it to her family's aid. Little did she know the intruder was her. A rush of memories from the pictures of her and her father “playing a game” leaving bruises come flooding back. With a jolt of anger she picks up a sledgehammer smashing her father. Next was her uncle until he pleaded and she left out of the ironically unlocked door.

The thing that makes this movie so riveting and a must see is the fact that the main character might possibly have been intoxicated causing her to imagine an intruder, when in all reality she was an intruder. She was an intruder harassing and manipulating her father and uncle for the ungodly things they had done to her or in her, uncle's case, watched happen. She was unknowingly reliving her past with the girl under her bed who was a hallucination of herself, and the box of photos her uncle and father had taken in years past. “Silent House” is a movie about a girl seeking revenge for her past and rightfully so. As my title reflects, I finally found a horror movie that has captured a real story.