Silent House
A remake of the Spanish 'La Casa Muda', Elizabeth Olsen attempts to distance herself from her somewhat more famous sisters, with this attempt at a psychological and claustrophobic horror piece.
Olsen plays Sarah, who moves into a 'new' house with her father, and soon finds herself with unsettling company, eventually unveiling home truths which are somewhat disturbing.
Knowing nothing about the original, Silent House is a perfectly respectable entry in the psychological horror genre, as it manages to create a sense of claustrophobia beautifully by posing the camera close to Olsen's body, more often than not with her facial expressions literally taking up half the screen. Supposedly filmed in one take, and with the sun setting all the while, the film maintains a sense of natural darkness wrapping itself around the house Sarah is slowly but surely being enveloped by. Excellent use of diegetic sound places the audience in Sarah's presence, and the sheer positioning of the camera delivers constant moments of genuine terror, as the mysterious beings in the house attempt to capture her.
Whilst the ending is somewhat paradoxical in the manner that it's explained, the scenes prior to the reveal are so well done that you can almost forgive the somewhat contradictory 'reveal', one which many will have seen coming, but which is nonetheless disturbing and also extremely close to home for many.
Olsen provides a stellar performance, especially in what is essentially a one-woman show. The camerawork is genuinely unique, and the sense of suffocation is at times overwhelming, but a fairly messy ending lets it down.
8/10
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