Horror Society
Oh, Silent Scream. What a torn review you are about to receive. This film was a good hack and slash film, but also had a great deal of absurdity. So I’m actually not sure what my overall opinion of the film is. Silent Scream is currently available on FEARnet On Demand for free. Maybe after reading this review you’ll go take a look and decide for yourself.
Anyway¦
Silent Scream follows, A group of college students travels to the cottage of their psychology professor Barren in an isolated island as a reward of their teamwork in the research of Barren. They expect to spend the weekend with lots of sex, but a serial-killer turns their party in a nightmare.
This horror film is fronted by Melissa Schuman, who is most recognized for being a member of the platinum selling (though short-lived) girl group called Dream. Melissa also appeared in another horror film, The Hollow, alongside Nick Carter in 2004. She is joined on-screen by Scott Vickaryous (Boston Public and Breaker High), Shanti Lowry (The Game), Hollywood stuntman Tobiasz Daszkiewicz, The Maury Show’s sexy expert private eye Carey Torrice, Michael McKiddy Paranormal Burbank), and Michael Kinney (Degrassi). So, for the most part 1990-2004 sitcom stars! I kid, I kid. They all actually did a pretty decent job considering the budget of this film.
Here’s how I’ll break down this film: the good, the in between, and the bad.
The Good: As I mentioned above, Silent Scream is a good hack/slash film. Besides the actors I listed above, the rest of the cast is just cannon fodder who die in gruesome ways. My two favorite deaths were face in fire pit and a girl ripped in two. The crew on this film was very good at getting interesting angles. I give the most props to the director of photography, though. I really enjoyed the final three characters who made it to the end. I was rooting for them, until the end. I always enjoy when characters decide to fight back instead of just standing there and screaming and getting sliced to pieces. There were a few good fight scenes and chase scenes in this film to keep the pace of the film moving.
The In Between: There is a definite subplot/subgenre in this film. And it’s love. So there is a lot of sappy shit you wouldn’t normally see in indie horror films. It takes you a little out of the moment when the two main characters are somewhat poetically discussing love. I mentioned film making second above, so I’ll mention it second now. The film definitely had a low-budget quality to it, but that can probably be chalked up to the type of camera they used. Could I use a better camera? No, not right now¦ The last thing that I was iffy on was that the killer in Silent Scream looks exactly (and I mean exactly) like the killer from Urban Legends. I would say almost a direct rip off, even though I know new and inventive costumes for killers are running out these days.
The Bad: All of the this portion have to do with dialogue and production. I hated the way the scenes were sliced, continuously going from past to present, past to present, past to present; day, night, day, night, day, night. I hated the way everyone talked during the fight or death scenes. You want to get me? Come on, gimme what you got? I’m not afraid of you, let’s go. I ate pancakes today, what did you have? You’re not going to kill me, I’m Superman! Ok, the lines weren’t that terrible, but at times they were borderline. Speaking of the chase/fight scenes, I hated the background score. It made me want to take out glow sticks and dance along to the bad techno feel of the track. I also just really hated the ending. There is a surprise twist and it was so bad I just kind of tuned out the last five minutes¦
Even after reading my review over, I’m still on the fence. I’ve seen a lot worse and I’ve seen a lot better. That’s why I’m leaving it up to you. Watch Silent Scream on FEARnet to see where your opinion lies.
