Click here!

Silent House (15)

Silent House (15)

Drama, Horror, Thriller

Trapped inside her family's lakeside retreat, a young woman finds she is unable to contact the outside world as events become increasingly ominous in and around the house.


The critical consensus

With a few hidden edits, the illusion just about works, but the on-screen action is far too ponderously slow to maintain the tension, despite Olsen’s undoubted effectiveness as a scream-queen.

**(*)(*)(*)Eddie Harrison, The List, 17/04/2012

[The film's] chief distinction is that it is shot in a single continuous take.

***(*)(*)Siobhan Synnot, The Scotsman, 29/04/2012

Technically impressive, genre-smart and nerve-shredding while it lasts, Silent House is really just a fun campfire horror tale.

***(*)(*)Jonathan Crocker, Total Film, 01/05/2012

It’s well acted but repetitive and not scary enough.

**(*)(*)(*)Henry Fitzherbert, Daily Express, 02/05/2012

Silent House does foreshadow its big reveal a little too clearly and proceeds to over-explain it once it happens, ensuring that the twist is not only easy to guess but annoyingly executed.

**(*)(*)(*)Alistair Harkness, The Scotsman, 03/05/2012

Olsen’s brilliantly nervy and detailed performance deserved a flick that knew how to house it.

***(*)(*)Tim Robey, The Telegraph, 03/05/2012

Atmospheric enough, and like the original, has a quasi-theatrical event status. But it feels like a copy.

***(*)(*)Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian, 03/05/2012

For all its technical sleight of hand, this is yet another remake that underwhelms due to a lazy storytelling approach.

**(*)(*)(*)Rob Carnevale, The Herald, 03/05/2012

Alas, the subtleties of the original have been mostly blunted in the retelling.

**(*)(*)(*)Anthony Quinn, The Independent, 04/05/2012

Loses whatever claims to individuality it once had as well as wasting the talent of Elizabeth Olsen.

Philip French, The Observer, 06/05/2012

It works as a suspense-building scare machine, given heart and depth by Olsen’s performance — though it’s still an effective exercise in misdirection rather than a strikingly original vision, and now it’s a remake of an effective exercise in misdirection.

***(*)(*)Kim Newman, Empire Online, 01/05/2012

A neat gimmick and great actress wasted through poor writing and direction.

**(*)(*)(*)Matthew Thrift, Little White Lies, 03/05/2012

Where and when?

General release. Check local listings for show times.

Comments: 0 (Add)

To post a comment, you need to sign in or register. Forgotten password? Click here.

Find a show


Search the site


Find us on …

Find us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterFind us on YouTube