Every decade has its ups and downs when it comes to cinema, no matter the genre. Horror fans love to loft on high the output of the ‘30s & ‘40s, the ‘70s & ‘80s, and the more recent decades. More often than not, however, the 1990s are labeled as the worst decade for the genre. Not only that, but ‘90s horror tends to be written off as a whole, beyond a handful of undisputed classics. The purpose of Exhumed & Exonerated: The ‘90s Horror Project, is to refute those accusations by highlighting numerous gems from the decade. Stone cold classics will be tackled in this column from time to time, but its main purpose will be to seek out lesser-known and/or less-loved titles that I think deserve more attention and respect from fans. Let the mayhem begin!
MUTE WITNESS
Directed by Anthony Waller
Screenplay by Anthony Waller
Produced by Richard Claus, Marina Kapustina, and Anthony Waller
Starring Marina Zudina, Fay Ripley, Evan Richards, Oleg Yankovsky, Igor Volkov, Sergi Karlenkov, and Sir Alec Guinness.
Released on September 15, 1995
Billy Hughes (Marina Zudina) is a mute FX specialist working for a cheap slasher film production in Moscow, Russia. Her sister Karen (Fay Ripley) is an assistant to director Andy Clarke (Evan Richards), who also happens to be Karen’s boyfriend. They are all fish out of water, working overseas on a low budget production in a country where communication between them and the cast & crew is hard, given the language barrier.
After a shooting day ends, Karen and Andy go home to begin dinner, while Billy stays behind to find one last prop for the next day’s shoot. She intends to head on over to her sister’s place after she finishes up, but is accidentally locked in at the studio by the janitor. Billy attempts to call Karen, but due to the ruckus of Andy’s cooking, she has trouble getting ahold of anyone. She doesn’t seem too worried, however, as she patiently chills out in her makeshift workshop.
Upon hearing some commotion downstairs, Billy goes to see what’s up in the hopes that she might be able to get out of the building. She discovers that two members of the crew are clandestinely shooting what looks to be a porno on the film set. At first she smiles, shaking her head as she secretly watches for a bit out of sight. To her horror, however, it becomes clear that this isn’t any normal porn shoot. They’re making a snuff film and the girl subject is brutally murdered right in front of Billy’s eyes.
Naturally anyone caught in such a scenario is sure to accidentally make some noise as they attempt to sneak back out. This sets off an ever-escalating chain of events that spiral wildly out of control as the film goes on. Sex, murder, corruption, secrets, lies, twists, and a healthy dose of black comedy are all dished out frenetically as this Hitchcockian thriller races to its pulse-pounding climax!
Did I sell that last sentence well? I hope so, because what Waller created here was a fantastic thriller in the vein of Alfred Hitchcock and the best efforts of Brian De Palma. Mute Witness is a raucous and delightfully over-the-top roller coaster of murder, mayhem, and laughs from start to finish. Simply put, it’s pretty much a masterpiece. As a result, it’s a crying shame that it has never garnered the attention and admiration that it so rightfully deserves.
While Waller absolutely apes both Hitchcock and De Palma, he also manages to bring his own sense of style to the proceedings. He whips out almost every narrative trick in the book when it comes to a thriller of this type; utilizing classic murder-mystery tropes and wildly-stylized photography at every turn. From the slasher movie-aping opening to the left-field turns of the finale, Waller is absolutely in his element and firing on all cylinders every step of the way.
As much as I could go on about his mastery of the classic “Hitchcockian thriller”, it’s really the humor that makes this film stand out more than anything. Every scene is positively dripping with black comedy, causing the viewer to be busting a gut at all of the horrible and unlucky events constantly occurring to both Billy and especially anyone in her vicinity.
In many ways, Mute Witness would make for the perfect double-feature companion to De Palma’s Blow Out. That film similarly toys with movie magic and filmmaking, although it has a decidedly crueler tone and outcome than this one. In that way they infinitely complement one another, for you could have your soul crushed by Blow Out and then have it uplifted again by watching Mute Witness immediately after.
This film is probably most famous for containing the final on screen performance of Sir Alec Guinness. His scenes were actually shot in 1985 when Waller happened to come across the great actor while on a trip. Waller held onto the footage for almost a decade and eventually found a way to incorporate what he shot into this thriller. Guinness’ role amounts to an extended cameo, appearing in only two scenes, but he works well within the context of the film itself. I just wish his role wasn’t the film’s main claim to fame. Mute Witness should be lofted on high for its quality as a top-notch bloody thriller, with Guinness’ cameo simply being the cherry on top.
I wish I could go into further detail about how much I love all of the the twists and turns that the plot takes, as well as how they all incorporate a bit of old school movie magic in various different ways, but I don’t want to spoil it. Just know that if you have not yet seen it, it is way more than just a “style over substance” thriller and you owe it to yourself to track the film down. While it has yet to hit Blu-ray (fingers crossed that it does eventually), you can still easily find the DVD online for less than $10 (in many cases, half that).
As for those of you who have seen Mute Witness? Well, then perhaps it’s high time you popped it in again and reminded yourself about how it is still one of the greatest thrillers of the 1990s. The ‘90s were filled to the brim with thrillers, but not all that many so firmly had their toes dipped into the horror genre as this one. It’s a shame that Waller’s career was virtually killed in its tracks after his next effort, An American Werewolf in Paris (1996). I haven’t seen the few films he made after that, nor have I dared to revisit Paris. Perhaps it’s high time I did both?
Regardless of what he made after Mute Witness, director Anthony Waller deserves praise for so perfectly knocking this film out of the park. It is beautifully shot, expertly plotted, and wonderfully performed from start to finish. Seek it out this winner when you have the chance. I think there’s a good chance that you will have a lot of fun with it!
Up Next: Popcorn (1991)
Previously On…
Species | Mute Witness | Popcorn | Wishmaster | Alien 3 | Cast A Deadly Spell
Disturbing Behavior | The Sect | The Addams Family