Review #23: Hush (2016)


This review was originally written in October 2016.

Day 23: Hush

This movie was very, very well made. I always applaud any writer who is willing to give themselves some significant handicap when writing- having to make a compelling movie, then, about a deaf person and without being able to rely on dialogue is a big step and forced them to work that much harder to make a compelling story. It's a breath of fresh air every time a slasher film comes out that doesn't rely on the main characters being stupid- I always say, if your story is ruined by a character acting intelligently, then your story was ruined from the start.

That said, one thing I don't understand is, why did the main character never go back to get the friend's phone? She tries to get it at first, then the killer taunts her by placing it within reach right outside the window. In the many times when she knows he's somewhere else, why did she not nip over, grab the phone, and call the police? I suppose it's possible she just forgot about it, but if it were me, every single action I took would be to create an opportunity for me to get that phone. Heck, there was even the point where she specifically created a diversion by throwing a flashlight but rather than use it to get the phone, she used it to... I don't know? Nothing? I'm not really sure what her plan was.

In any case, this was an excellently-executed movie with a simple premise and no filler. I don't know if I'd ever watch it again (at least not anytime soon) but definitely a great horror film.

Rating: 9/10 Chekhov's Smoke Alarms

Protip for Anyone Who Finds Themselves in a Horror Situation: If someone slashes your tires and they're going to kill you, just drive the car anyway. You can still drive a car even with slashed tires, it's just going to do irreparable damage to your wheels (which is better than irreparable damage to your life) and it won't drive as fast or control as well as if it had intact tires. Even if they chase after you, they won't be able to keep up with you (certainly not for as long as the car can go) while you zoom away shooting sparks everywhere. Seriously. This is a tired trope and needs to be put down immediately.

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