La Casa Muda (The Silent House) (V)
| release date | September 13 2011 |
| studio | IFC Midnight |
| director | Gustavo Hernandez |
| writer | Oscar Estévez, Gustavo Hernández |
| starring | Gustavo Alonso, Florencia Colucci, María Salazar, Abel Tripaldi |
| site | lacasamuda.com |
| trailer 1 | Trailer #1 |
8 Comments
The Silent House started off strong that was filled with suffocating suspense and dread that was reminiscent of movies like [Rec.], The Abandoned, Them and The Others but when the twist is revealed it doesn’t hold the same momentum. The leading female performance was convincing and solid but the script and story is almost non existent making the whole point of the movie unclear in its motive but it seemed to me that the lead gal was rape or something and they made her give up her child and the was the one event that was haunting her in that house and made her crazy and seek revenge on the two men but it’s still not that certain to me, I don’t know. The chilling, raw atmosphere and the spooky music score and the fact that it was one continuous take is what drives this arthouse/psychological chiller and that final scene with the lead girl walking aimlessly in the field with a doll in her hand taliking to herself is one of the most haunting images from a horror movie this year. Overall it could have been better and more clear and maybe one continuous take played against it but there is a uniqueness about it and a old fashioned charm about it that makes me appreciate the less is more aspect of the film but I was just not sold by the film as a whole but I’m curious on how the remake will deliver but I’m thinking it’s not going to add anything new we will just have to see. Rent or not it doesn’t matter. More of a 2.5 out of 5 stars.
The good thing about “The Silent House”:
they made it look like it was made in one single take.
The bad thing about “The Silent House”:
they made it look like it was made in one single take.
“La casa muda” is an underwhelming kinda-experimental home-invasion/haunted house flick, that starts out extremely scary, but goes downhill pretty fast due to loads of incredibly boring scenes, mediocre acting, predictable scares and a plot, so implausible and absurd, it makes you wanna jump into the film and beat the shit out of director/writer Hernández.
Kudos to the outstanding camera work and the eerie-looking settings.
La casa muda, started of promising buth quickly went downhill to downright boring… Since i don’t like to give up on a movie i watched it all the way through but wasnt rewarded at all. I felt the ending was rushed (like explaining everything in the last two minutes) and was a total anticlimax. I’m sure the concept and the ending looked good on paper, but why make a film with at least 30 minutes of boring scenes in the middle and then rush your ‘twist’ to go on in the endcredits??
This film is truly a triumph of direction. It literally scared the shit out of me just because everything was shot in real time combined with superb sound design. No cheap scares and since this is based on a true story, the whole emotional impact towards the end makes it worthy. Some further explanations would have been welcome but we can not have it all, can we? Don’t watch it alone!
I was getting really into La Casa Muda, that is until the third act happened. The first 2/3 were fantastic as far as building tension, dread, and suspence. It’s funny because I was dying for a cigarette, but could not pull myself from the screen to go have one. Finally against my better judgement I went ahead and did so, it must have been perfect timing because the rest of the movie was not very good. Gone was the tension from the first and second acts, replaced by a cluster-fu** of ideas, and a poorly executed “twist” that **SPOILER** rendered everything I just watched pointless. For a film that strived, and succeeded in the start, to feel completely real, it was a complete slap to the face to pretty much be told what I had seen wasn’t really what happened. **END SPOILERS** Anyway it’s kind of worth a watch just for the fantastic set-up, even if it only leads to mediocre events.
Just saw the remake with Eliz. Olsen. Can someone please explain to me what this movie was about? Who was chasing who?? Left the movie totally confused. If SHE was the stalker, then how is that possible since the camera never left her for even one minute??
The movie started good, breathtaking but then the ending came and the movie turned into crap. What the hell was that about? *SPOILER* Shw wasn’t being stalked, she was stalking but WHO? *END OF SPOILER* It could’ve been a great movie, but they fckd up everything.
What a great build up to CRAP! I loved the first 2/3rds but the last 1/3 was totally wtf?? I came here to read the other reviews because I wasn’t sure what the hell happened! I really wanted to believe that the 90 pound leading lady could tie up and move those full grown men all around the house, sigh, but I giggled instead. I loved the continuous shot but I feel like it took too much from Rec, which actually ended great and super scary! Can we get the director to write a new ending and reshoot??
To be honest my expectations were low and I anticipated that I would watch the first ten minutes and turn off due to boredom…How wrong was I. However, some of the MTV generation; hundreds of short filmed shots and several camera angles mashed up every two minutes will possibly not appreciate whatâe(TM)s delivered here. This original film is based on an event that apparently happened in the 40âe(TM)s in a small village near Uruguay. The Silent House is a well made fall off the edge of your seat and cave your skull in, in the process kind of film. It makes you regularly jump in perfect timing to the point of being quite stressful, especially during a brilliant scene involving a camera. The films lighting, mainly from lanterns (see photograph above) provide just the right level of darkness and shadows to enhance the fear.
The opening tracking shot is nothing short of creative perfection. The simple setting and story is excitingly paced and even when not very much is happening, the good direction makes it riveting to watch and you want to stay with the flow of the story not knowing which corridor it will explore. Florencia Colucci plays the main role Laura very well, she must have been a nervous wreck when the film reached completion. The story follows Laura and her father into a friends home that needs to be cleared out before being sold, so itâe(TM)s their job to pimp the house as it has been empty for a while. The tension begins early on and is relentless âe” in a good way. Gustavo Hernandez, the director, has created a film that simmers and boils in all the right moments. Spanish horror is held in high regard and although a totally different story comparison, I liked this film more than I did watching ‘The Orphanage’ (2007).
I am depressed to research that this film was remade just a year later in 2011 by the Americans, who donâe(TM)t appreciate subtitled films. What a waste of industry resources and funding. bleedingfilms could have put the remakes money and resources to good use because I have many creative ideas that would have resulted in refreshing and original work, not to mention the many film companies following me on twitter and bleedingfilms.com that could benefit from serious financial assistance. Heads should roll for green lighting a remake a year after the original was made. I can reluctantly accept a remake if the original was made 15 âe” 20 years ago, but not by one year! Come to think of it, I’ve not come across a film that gets a remake in such a short timeframe. Shame on whoever is responsible for the remake, I canâe(TM)t stand others cashing in on other film works and effort all possibly due to the original being subtitled. This film is not dialogue heavy in the first place so why bloody remake something which is fine as it is? To dilute my frustration I hope reasons for a quick remake are understandable and subsequently acceptable…if only we knew the truth.
Moving on now, A Silent House gives a disturbing conclusion that is genuinely troubling, the sound and lighting are impressive. However, I was not keen on the music score, but hey, itâe(TM)s no big deal. Watch carefully and don’t switch off when the credits start rolling…Not everyone will appreciate the steady pace or care about the actual story, I think it’s fun, gripping and scary. It doesn’t run long at all and I am surprised the film has stayed with me the following day, which is some achievement compared to the usual dross available that you could settle for instead.
The definition of “horror” states that – in the context of cinema – for a film to qualify as a successful entry into this genre, it must unnerve and elicit both negative and positive (but mostly negative) emotions from the viewing audience. If this is true, then “The Silent House” is half a horror movie; momentarily, it scares and keeps the viewer on edge, waiting for whatever has the potential to inevitably happen to happen, but when regarding those emotions, I can’t say it left me with too many positive ones. My theory is that no matter how violent or depressing the movie, one can derive happy thoughts from the experience so long as they find it thought-provoking. I say this because in all honesty, it feels pretty darn good to think; so long as all that thinking gets you somewhere, to a conclusion, perhaps. In the beginning, I wasn’t sure what to think; in the middle, I was experiencing some of those “positive emotions”; and by the end, I was left with nothing but dark, cold, bitter cynicism.
My problem was this: the film has basically used a gimmick (it was supposedly shot in one continuous take, and it runs about 80 minutes in length) to hold my attention for the time that it demanded, instead of using an absorbing story and characters to draw me in. I’ll admit that it’s seldom boring, and it intrigued me from beginning to end (although that’s precisely where I draw the line); but in trying to make the film as creepy and tense as possible, director Gustavo Hernandez also forget some key ingredients. “The Silent House” could have been such an effective little chiller – and for extended but underwhelming periods of time it kind of is – had it avoided the obstacles that were involved in its making. It almost feels as if there was no written screenplay, and that the ambition alone was supposed to carry the film. The filmmakers should not have so arrogantly assumed such a thing.
The premise is incredibly simple. Laura (Florencia Colucci) and her father Wilson (Gustavo Olonso) make way by foot to an old cottage that lies on secluded ground. They intend to fix it up within the next few days for a friend of dad, who intends to sell the house soon after they finish the job. The two get to the estate a little too late for their liking, and Wilson says they’ll start up in the morning. However, they must set up camp downstairs for the time being, since the upstairs is deemed “unsafe” and “unstable”. And so they settle down on the various chairs, with the blankets that have been provided, and they try to get some shut-eye. But a loud noise disturbs Laura, prompting her to ask Wilson to go check it out. Of course, it’s coming from upstairs; and of course, that’s just where Wilson goes. When yet another noise is heard and father does not return, Laura goes looking for him and gets way more than she bargained for.
Most of the film is devoted to Laura looking around in the dark, dark house with a particularly illuminating lamp and a scythe in hand. Something must have made that noise, and clearly it’s looking to get nasty; Wilson is found dead and bleeding in no time, and we see apparitions (unseen to Laura) that could very well be his killer(s). It remains intriguing and engaging for a while, but soon gets repetitive and rather pointless. Certain scenes, such as the one where Laura happens upon strange paintings of people with literally “blank expressions”, give the film some steam; but it fails to catch fire.
The film is an outstanding technical achievement for Hernandez and his team. The production was completed in four days, and while that makes me somewhat doubt the authenticity of the single-take claims that alone sell the film, it can still be considered a mastery of cinematic technology. It certainly had me fooled, even if it was nothing more than a gimmick. The cinematography is also gorgeous, particularly when Laura’s lamp lights the way. Such a light gives off an image that lends the film a certain quality; it’s almost surreal and otherworldly. I just wish such things had been put to better use, or perhaps in a better film. They might have worked exceptionally well had the film been one of paranormal and ghostly qualities, but the twist ending reveals a true intent that is anything but from beyond the grave. Maybe if this had been a ghost story in the end, I would have enjoyed it more. All-in-all, I did enjoy a good portion of it anyways; but the twist ruined the entire experience and made me feel as if I had just wasted my time.
Nevertheless, it’s still worth seeing if you’re as big a horror fan as I am. There are some aspects worth looking into here, although I’m afraid all goodness is drowned out by the bad and the sadly mediocre stuff that comes in between. There are genuine moments of suspense, some cleverly placed jump scares, and the visual atmosphere is gold; but as I said, there are some great materials and resources here that simply belong in a film of different qualities and themes. It doesn’t help that the story is weak, the characters grossly under-developed (although the twist is supposed to sort of rectify that), and the pacing unfortunately uneven. I love a good, suspenseful horror film, but this isn’t one. By the halfway point, I was hoping that it would silence itself before I would be provoked to silence it, by turning off the DVD Player.