Website and Trailer for James Wan's Dead Silence

Whatever you may think of the original Saw film I don't think that there's much doubt that it marked writer-director James Wan as a significant talent to watch. A clever writer who clearly knows and loves his chosen genre Wan also served up notice with Saw that he knows his way around a camera, serving up some shocking imagery that was also surprisingly well shot on a miniscule budget. The big question then became if you gave this guy some time and a bit of a budget, what could he do?

Dead Silence is what he could do. Perhaps recognizing that straight up survival horror was a dead end street Wan has had only finge involvement with the Saw sequels instead devoting the bulk of his energy to this, what looks to be an enormously bloody ghost story revolving around a murdered ventriloquist and her horde of demonic dolls. Pure camp or a return to the eighties slasher aesthetic? It could go either way based on the core idea but the trailers now available on the website make it pretty clear that Wan is playing it straight. The much underused Donnie Wahlberg is in the lead but let's be honest here: the dolls, the blood, and Wan's editing and cinematography skills are the real stars. And damn, this thing looks fantastic ... watch for all the desaturated shots. Very nice. The nod to Wan's earlier creation is also worth a chuckle ...

Dead Silence Website (rated and unrated versions of the trailer streaming within)