10 Horror Movie Twists That Made No Sense
3. Dead Silence
Fair to say that James
Wan has made up for his first contribution to horror cinema in this past
decade. With three Conjuring flicks under his belt, as well as a trio of
Annabelle spin-offs and a rapidly-expanding cinematic universe which could
rival Marvel, the director has established himself as an unstoppable force in
the genre. Along with the likes of Jordan Peele and super-producer Jason Blum,
he’s become that rarest of beasts—a bona fide blockbuster horror helmer.
So, let’s dig up his first horror film and roast its awful ending.
Dead Silence follows Jamie, whose wife has been murdered by a possessed ventriloquist’s dummy, as he tracks down the evil ventriloquist trying to end his bloodline—it’s scarier than it sounds, trust us.
At least, most of the movie is scary enough, with the spooky dolls and creepy atmosphere showing hints of Wan’s promise to come. But the flick’s twist is a mess which we can’t sign off on even if The Conjuring still keeps us awake after every re-watch.
After vanquishing the evil Mary Shaw and her army of creepy dolls, Jamie discovers that human bodies can be, er, used as ventriloquist dummies too. So it transpires that half the film’s cast were actually—bear with us here—ventriloquist’s dummies being piloted by a vengeful ghost. How Jamie didn’t notice everyone around him had been dead for some time is impossible to know, but obviously he wasn’t the brightest hero in cinema.