Now’s the time when most people go looking for interesting scary movies to watch, and Christians who want to get in on the festivities often have a hard time participating without feeling like they have to compromise. The reason I’ve done a review of this movie in particular is that it’s quite a rare find – a horror movie that just focuses on the scares and doesn’t throw in a lot of the junk that typically turns Christian audiences away. There’s no sex, nudity or profanity in this movie. Foul language is extremely mild, and is absent for most of the film. It doesn’t even get involved in occultic references like many horror movies do. It is still a horror movie, so it is… um… horrific. Which in this case is all you need. It’s a horror movie that I actually feel that I can recommend to Christian friends without it weighing on my conscience (I mean, assuming they want to watch a horror movie).

The main fear that will be played with, if you choose to watch it, is the fear of dolls – which I have – which is why I was particularly interested in watching this. The secondary fear is more obvious but less prominent, which is the fear of silence. These two fears are often played on simultaenously, so if you have both fears then you’re in for a real treat. But at one point the movie touched on a third fear which came as a surprise, and which I can’t warn you about without a (SPOILER ALERT). If you have a fear of clowns then this movie might make you crap your pants.

(END Of SPOILERS)

Overall, this film had the strong feel of a classic ghost story throughout. It felt like a really good story you’d tell around a campfire, but told in the form of a two-hour movie. Parts of it that may be upsetting or offensive (or even nonsensical) to some viewers make more sense if seen through that lense.

Unfortunately, for a film about ventriloquist dummies, people expecting it to have a sense of humour will be disappointed, although the detective provides some down-to-earthness. As per the genre, you can expect death, blood and gore to be a part of the story. It’s missing an overall cheery tone.

As I said, the movie doesn’t get involved in occultic references. There is an interesting opening line about old world beliefs regarding the dead, which skilfully sets the tone for the whole story.

So, yeah, Dead Silence is a rare occurence, being a movie I feel I can actually recommend to fellow Christians …Christians who want to get scared half to death.

And now to quote my favourite line from the film…

“Beware the stare of Mary Shaw. She had no children, only dolls. Um… Something, something, scary… Something, something, BOO!”