Amanda Berry 

Staff Writer

This year we have seen the release of many new horror movies based around the senses. “A Quiet Place” was one of the first movies in the past year that showed horror can be scary even with no sound. Many other movies followed this idea, along with Netflix originals.

One new movie, “The Silenced,” is a Netflix original with a similar storyline to “A Quiet Place.”

An epidemic of the sightless bat-like creatures breaks out through the North Eastern part of the United States and begins terrorizing and killing people.

This movie, like “A Quiet Place,” uses the concept of being silent in order to avoid the monsters. One of the main characters is also deaf like in “A Quiet Place,” but she lost her hearing in an accident a year prior to the current events.

In “The Silenced,” the family used their knowledge of how to live silent to escape their city to try and survive.

Review

While this movie uses this play on fear with the senses pretty well, there are a lot of plot holes and things that don’t add up, taking away from the spooky atmosphere.

For starters, the main character is completely deaf after losing her hearing in a car accident. She and her family learned how to sign, and she can also read lips. This also means she can still speak pretty normally since she wasn’t deaf her whole life. But, there are moments when her family is speaking to her, without looking directly at her or signing and she understands or even responds to them.

This makes no sense as it is made very clear at the start of the movie she cannot hear anything but a high pitched ringing. Another thing that really draws away from the movie is the plot line.

Most movies are broken up into three acts. Normally the second act is the climax of the movie and is drawn out so that the resolution doesn’t seem rushed. The climax in this movie, however, adds nothing to the story and is resolved within five minutes, happening at the very end of the movie.

The family makes some drastic choices throughout the film as well, with many characters dying off almost as instantly as they’re introduced. This normally would be a problem, but these characters are made to seem very prominent to the storyline, but die without much of a good enough explanation.

Overall the movie was interesting, but it was executed poorly and seemed very rushed. There were a lot of things left unexplained or details that were added that didn’t need to be included. Compared to other movies within this new subgenre of horror, it wasn’t that great.

If you’re looking for something to put on in the background while studying or want something to watch with a large group of people, this movie would be a good choice.

On the other hand, if you’re really looking for something spooky, Netflix has another original called “Bird Box,” which was a lot more creative and will for sure hold your interest.

This movie definitely ripped off “A Quiet Place” and was very hard to follow and to stay focused while watching. Although it wasn’t the best, it wasn’t the worst either and should still be given a shot if you like horror movies.

There are plenty of new movies releasing this year that use the senses to play on fear, and it’s exciting to see what people come up with. Horror movies have been lacking in the past decade when it comes to its originality and being truly terrifying, but if you’re a movie buff or a horror lover, give this one a shot and let us know what you think!

“The Silenced” is a Netflix original film, so you need a Netflix account to watch it. Grab a couple of friends, a bucket of popcorn and this movie will be a perfect way to take a break from the stress of incoming finals.

Email Amanda at:

aberry1@live.esu.edu