Dead Silence (2007): Collector’s Edition [2 Disc 4K UHD/Blu-Ray]

I think with the massive reputation James Wan has built, as well as the large success he’s had with genre films, the modern horror icon’s weaker works have aged well. “Dead Silence” was initially considered one of Wan’s lesser genre fare, but in light of a lot of his contemporary entries, “Dead Silence” has come full circle. It’s now become a somewhat underrated genre gem, and I think in spite of its obvious flaws, it’s another of James Wan’s ace horror films.

After his wife meets a grisly end, Jamie Ashen returns to their creepy hometown of Ravens Fair to unravel the mystery of her murder. Once there, he discovers the legend of Mary Shaw (Joan Heney), a murdered ventriloquist whose eerie presence still looms over the town. As he desperately digs for answers, Jamie encounters the curse that took his wife’s life and threatens his own.

“Dead Silence” is arguably the prototype for what would inevitably become the horror icon Annabelle. Director Wan really hones in on what makes ventriloquist dummies and dolls so horrifying, from their uncanny valley, to their hidden lore. Mary Shaw is a very imposing and terrifying horror villain with an interesting Modus Operandi. She’s able to consume or kill her victims only if she elicits a scream from them. And the way Wan and writer Leigh Whannell create her, it’s tough not to at least offer a sudden gasp at her presence. “Dead Silence” is primarily a mystery that deals heavily in to folklore, and urban legends, it’s a lot of what would be the key to the success of “The Conjuring” movie series (and its spin offs).

In spite of that, there are some baffling twists here and there, including a bizarre supporting performance by Donnie Wahlberg. That said, “Dead Silence” is a fun and creepy horror tale with a climax that I think hits pretty damn hard, when all is said and done. It’s no secret that James Wan is a fan of big twist endings, and “Dead Silence” packs a good, quite memorable one. If you didn’t respond to “Dead Silence” back in 2007, I recommend giving it a second shot.

The new Dead Silence Collector’s Edition is a 2-Disc set that comes with the standard Blu-ray edition. The Unrated cut is only found on the standard Blu-ray edition as are the bonus features. Masters of Puppets is a fifteen minutes interview with director James Wan who starts with some of his personal inspirations like Sam Raimi, and George Romero, and speaks about meeting Leigh Whannell in film school, and how he sought to make “Dead Silence” a modern Hammer film.

Dead Assignment is a twelve minutes interview with writer Leigh Whannell, who adds more to the film school anecdote saying they were stuck in a school full of prestige film people and he and Wan met because they were horror geeks behind closed doors. No Children, Only Dolls is a twelve minutes interview with ventriloquist dummy creator Tim Selberg. He starts with what he was into and how he landed the gig. Selberg has props on hand and goes over details of his creations/characters and how they work and his inspirations. It’s a great look at the process of these horrifying dummies.

There’s an alternate opening to the movie, as well as an alternate ending, three minutes of Deleted Scenes, and a vintage Making Of clocking in at twelve minutes. There’s the six minutes long featurette Mary Shaw’s Secrets about the titular villain of the piece, and the four minutes Evolution of a Visual FX, exploring the subtle but great CGI behind Mary Shaw and the various monsters. Finally, there’s the original theatrical trailer, in HD.