Hush
Directed by: Mike Flanagan
Release Date: 2016
Two years after this film's release, I had the opportunity to watch this film during the month of Halloweentober. Maddie, played by Kate Siegel, is a deaf-mute who has to fight for her life against a home invader. I don't watch a ton of home invader films because I always think about Funny Games or Cape Fear (both films I have yet to see, neither original or remake) and I am utterly disturbed by the concept. These aren't films I feel the need to watch unless I am a fan of the director. However, I kept hearing positive reviews from this one and I wasn't disappointed.
The story starts simply enough. Maddie is cooking and her neighbor, Sarah, is coming over for a bit until her boyfriend arrives. We know Sarah is visiting because Maddie and Sarah were chatting on the computer. After some signing (this film really made me want to learn ASL), Sarah runs off and Maddie cleans up. What Maddie doesn't hear is Sarah banging on her glass door because this masked killer is trying to murder her and ultimately does so by stabbing her multiple times before her body slumps to the ground. Masked killer drags her away so when Maddie (if she sees anything out of the ordinary) does decide to look outside, she isn't alarmed. Unbeknownst to Maddie, while she was throwing out the trash, the Masked killer has retrieved her phone and that's when she knows she's under attack.
The action begins quickly, which made for an effective viewing experience. I felt as anxious and scared as Maddie did throughout the film. I kept thinking what I would do in a situation like that. How I'd probably get myself killed. What is never revealed, like in the original Halloween is the Masked killer's motive, which didn't upset me. Some people are demented, sadistic, and just want to hurt. We could have filled in the blanks here with why he wanted to kill Maddie, considering he didn't know who she was at all, but why? That's not fun. Ultimately, this story is about survival (like all horror films, well, most of them anyway) and how even if you can't hear, you can still dodge a killer.
Kate Siegel, who co-wrote this film with her husband Flanagan, did a magnificent job at carrying this film without uttering a word. Her ability to exhibit fear and emotion through her facial expressions was enough. The choice to heighten the tension with mostly sounds reminded me of my favorite Buffy The Vampire Slayer episodes, "Hush" in which the Big Bad arrives by stealing everyone's voice so when they attack, no one can scream. In a way, the masked killer was like "The Gentleman" in "Hush" except the Big Bad on the show was able to be defeated by sound, where that wasn't the case with the masked killer in this film.
While I don't purposely seek out home invasion pictures, I was glad to see this one (finally). I recently watched the Netflix show The Haunting of Hill House and was pleasantly surprised to see Siegel on the show (also directed by Flanagan) and loving her performance as well.
Should y'all see Hush? Yes! It's not as gruesome and long (thank goodness) as some of those other home invasion pictures I've mentioned and the acting is solid. Check it out! It's currently streaming on Netflix.
The story starts simply enough. Maddie is cooking and her neighbor, Sarah, is coming over for a bit until her boyfriend arrives. We know Sarah is visiting because Maddie and Sarah were chatting on the computer. After some signing (this film really made me want to learn ASL), Sarah runs off and Maddie cleans up. What Maddie doesn't hear is Sarah banging on her glass door because this masked killer is trying to murder her and ultimately does so by stabbing her multiple times before her body slumps to the ground. Masked killer drags her away so when Maddie (if she sees anything out of the ordinary) does decide to look outside, she isn't alarmed. Unbeknownst to Maddie, while she was throwing out the trash, the Masked killer has retrieved her phone and that's when she knows she's under attack.
The action begins quickly, which made for an effective viewing experience. I felt as anxious and scared as Maddie did throughout the film. I kept thinking what I would do in a situation like that. How I'd probably get myself killed. What is never revealed, like in the original Halloween is the Masked killer's motive, which didn't upset me. Some people are demented, sadistic, and just want to hurt. We could have filled in the blanks here with why he wanted to kill Maddie, considering he didn't know who she was at all, but why? That's not fun. Ultimately, this story is about survival (like all horror films, well, most of them anyway) and how even if you can't hear, you can still dodge a killer.
Kate Siegel, who co-wrote this film with her husband Flanagan, did a magnificent job at carrying this film without uttering a word. Her ability to exhibit fear and emotion through her facial expressions was enough. The choice to heighten the tension with mostly sounds reminded me of my favorite Buffy The Vampire Slayer episodes, "Hush" in which the Big Bad arrives by stealing everyone's voice so when they attack, no one can scream. In a way, the masked killer was like "The Gentleman" in "Hush" except the Big Bad on the show was able to be defeated by sound, where that wasn't the case with the masked killer in this film.
While I don't purposely seek out home invasion pictures, I was glad to see this one (finally). I recently watched the Netflix show The Haunting of Hill House and was pleasantly surprised to see Siegel on the show (also directed by Flanagan) and loving her performance as well.
Should y'all see Hush? Yes! It's not as gruesome and long (thank goodness) as some of those other home invasion pictures I've mentioned and the acting is solid. Check it out! It's currently streaming on Netflix.
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