Silent House

The husband-and-wife directing team of Chris Kentis and Laura Lau are determined to confuse and confound viewers here, beginning with the title—because there is nothing silent about the creaking, groaning floorboards of the titular haunted lake house. Sarah (Elizabeth Olsen), who spent summers here as a child, now returns to help her father (Adam Trese) and uncle (Eric Sheffer Stevens) prepare the property for sale. We first glimpse troubled Sarah perched on rocks above the lake. After walking back to the dark, dilapidated house, she turns on a battery-powered lantern (the electricity is not connected). Sarah is obviously nervous and jittery, dodging cluttered, dust-covered furniture, but then there's a knock on the door from Sophia (Julia Taylor Ross), a mysterious playmate from the past, who stops by on her bicycle. Only Sarah doesn't remember Sophia and is relieved when she leaves, at least until she realizes that something else is lurking within and that she's now trapped in the locked house. Meticulously choreographed by the directors to appear as one continuous shot from scene to scene, the real-time format here quickly grows tedious. Inspired by Gustavo Hernández' spooky Uruguayan film, La Casa Muda, the filmmakers utilize Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window popping flashbulbs and his Rope cinematography tricks to disguise edits but there is still too much foreshadowing, although Olsen is convincing as a hysterical scream queen. Unfortunately, the forced gimmicks dilute rather than enhance this horror thriller. Optional, at best. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by co-director Chris Kentis and screenwriter/co-director Laura Lau, and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is the BD-Live function and bonus DVD, digital, and UltraViolet copies of the film. Bottom line: a decent extras package for a disappointing chiller.] (S. Granger)