Movie review: Dead silence
The creators of the Saw franchise have always had a thing for creepy dolls and in their latest effort, Dead Silence, a ventriloquist's dummy is a real killer. The movie starts out with main character Jamie Ashen receiving the doll on his doorstep. Shortly thereafter, his wife is killed and he's the main suspect. He connects the dummy to the murder and traces it back to his hometown, where legend has it that the ghost of ventriloquist Mary Shaw will take the tongue of anyone she hears scream.
Ryan Kwanten on doing most of his own stunts in Dead Silence: "Both Donnie (Wahlberg) and myself have been up in the high-wire. Sort of all rigged up in the harness and falling. I love all that stuff. I'm not afraid of heights. I've crashed through a first floor of a building falling from like the fourth floor and down, crashing through the first and then landing in some water. And then I'm swimming around in the water for a couple of minutes trying to hold my breath and resurface again. I mean it's very, very, physically taxing, this film."
Amber Valletta on the use of silence to scare: "I think that a lot of people are scared of silence. So that's why they get in their car and they turn on the music. Or they come in their house and turn on the TV instantly. That quietness is what a lot of times people find so frightening."
The following are clips from Dead Silence:
Jamie and Lisa play with a ventriloquist doll they mysteriously receive in the mail: (Ryan Kwanten) "There's no card, no note." (Laura Regan) "His eyes look so real. Oh my god, this reminds me of that poem from when we were kids." (Kwanten) "What poem?" (Regan) "Oh you remember, come on. That old ghost story about the woman who had all those dolls. 'Beware the stare of Mary Shaw. She had no children, only dolls. Something, something, scary.'"
Jamie asks his father about the legend of Mary Shaw: (Ryan Kwanten) "Do you remember when I was a kid mom used to read me a poem. Do you remember what it was? 'Beware the stare of Mary Shaw, she had no children only dolls. And if you see her in your dreams...'" (Amber Valletta) "'Be sure you never ever scream.'" (Kwanten) "Oh you know it?" (Valletta) "It's just a scary poem parents would tell their kids to keep them in line." (Kwanten) "No, it's more than just a ghost story."
Jamie talks to a Detective Lipton about the legend of Mary Shaw: (Ryan Kwanten) "There's an old ghost story around here about an woman named Mary Shaw. She was buried with her doll collection. Now the story goes, if you ever see her make sure you never scream." (Donnie Wahlberg) "Or what? Oh... Or you end up without a tongue."
Ryan Kwanten on doing most of his own stunts in Dead Silence: "Both Donnie (Wahlberg) and myself have been up in the high-wire. Sort of all rigged up in the harness and falling. I love all that stuff. I'm not afraid of heights. I've crashed through a first floor of a building falling from like the fourth floor and down, crashing through the first and then landing in some water. And then I'm swimming around in the water for a couple of minutes trying to hold my breath and resurface again. I mean it's very, very, physically taxing, this film."
Amber Valletta on the use of silence to scare: "I think that a lot of people are scared of silence. So that's why they get in their car and they turn on the music. Or they come in their house and turn on the TV instantly. That quietness is what a lot of times people find so frightening."
The following are clips from Dead Silence:
Jamie and Lisa play with a ventriloquist doll they mysteriously receive in the mail: (Ryan Kwanten) "There's no card, no note." (Laura Regan) "His eyes look so real. Oh my god, this reminds me of that poem from when we were kids." (Kwanten) "What poem?" (Regan) "Oh you remember, come on. That old ghost story about the woman who had all those dolls. 'Beware the stare of Mary Shaw. She had no children, only dolls. Something, something, scary.'"
Jamie asks his father about the legend of Mary Shaw: (Ryan Kwanten) "Do you remember when I was a kid mom used to read me a poem. Do you remember what it was? 'Beware the stare of Mary Shaw, she had no children only dolls. And if you see her in your dreams...'" (Amber Valletta) "'Be sure you never ever scream.'" (Kwanten) "Oh you know it?" (Valletta) "It's just a scary poem parents would tell their kids to keep them in line." (Kwanten) "No, it's more than just a ghost story."
Jamie talks to a Detective Lipton about the legend of Mary Shaw: (Ryan Kwanten) "There's an old ghost story around here about an woman named Mary Shaw. She was buried with her doll collection. Now the story goes, if you ever see her make sure you never scream." (Donnie Wahlberg) "Or what? Oh... Or you end up without a tongue."
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