Review of The Silent House (2010) by Matt M — 14 Mar 2012

SPOILERS!!!!

Okay, so I would like to ask filmmakers to PLEASE STOP with the it-was-all-in-his/her-head / he/she-was-really-the-killer-the whole-time twist ending. It hasn't been original or clever for years now, and it just serves to ruin everything that led up to it. Take, for instance, The Silent House (La Casa Muda). The director managed to establish a pretty good amount of wonderful atmosphere (despite a really slow start) only to piss it all away by revealing that the protagonist is actually suffering from some sort of dissociative identity disorder. (This flies in the face of logic as the movie, shot to look like one continuous take, barely ever leaves her P.O.V.) As far as I'm concerned, it pretty much just says, "By the way, all the stuff you cared about didn't really happen, so you've just wasted an hour or so. As if that's not bad enough, after the end credits roll, the movie KEEPS GOING for another five minutes for no good reason. I think I'll be avoiding the remake despite thinking Elizabeth Olson is a promising talent.