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A young woman (Elizabeth Olsen) returns to her childhood home only to find herself stuck in the house with a violent intruder, among other things. Suspense escalates as the mystery of the events transpiring begin to unravel. Suffice it to say that the less said the better as the film is best experienced with zero background other than the basics. As if often the case with horror, "Silent House" is more than it presents itself to be. While not glaringly original (and somewhat predictable on account of some heavy handed use of tropes and hints), "SIlent House" does manage to excel in a few spots that make it stand out from it's peers.
First off, directors Lau and Kentis' approach to the filming immediately sets it apart as the audience is treated to a simulation of a continuous single take. The seams of the edit are cleverly hidden by the almost guerrilla-like approach to filming which, in turn, gives the entire affair a real-time urgency. In a sense, the film manages to walk the line between a found footage film and art school horror. Though that might sound pretentious, it really does wonders for the tension and curiosity that the movie manages to stir up as it progresses as it limits what you know to the direct vicinity of our main character.
Therein lies the biggest issue I had with the movie. It's relatively easy to figure out what the resolution is going to be based on what information is fed to us relatively early on. And though this didn't rob it of the tense moments and nice buildup, I did find myself wanting a surprise that I knew was not going to come. Sure enough, the "reveal" was as I suspected and that was a bit of a letdown. Not because it's a particularly bad one but because by then it had become an obvious one.
That critique aside, the film does manage to build up to a nice steady boil. Olsen is absolutely key to selling what is going on and she pulls it off with no trouble. In short, her reactions credible and her confusion and fear palpable. She's excellent. So much so, in fact, that at one point the predictability of the outcome made the movie less about that and more about how she was going to sell it. Did she deliver? Absolutely.
The movie is as misleading as it's approach. While it might seem to be a haunted house flick at first, it quickly takes on the guise of a home invasion movie for the bulk of the picture. Needless to say, that is also a ruse and attentive viewers will see the psychological horror miles ahead. That being said, there is a lot to enjoy in the experience. It has moments of nail-biting suspense, a deadly atmosphere, some technical prowess, and, of course, the wonderful Elizabeth Olsen doing her damndest to pull it all together...and succeeding.
"Silent House" is definitely worth a watch if more for the promising buildup and stellar acting than the ultimate outcome which feels like it could of done more. Nevertheless, it is a solid flick. 7/10.
