Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 05/06/2008 Run time: 91 minutes Rating: Ur

Billy in Dead Silence inevitably recalls other possessed dolls such as those in Devil Doll, but he is an entertaining dummy nonetheless. As a variation on evil-doll films like Child's Play or Puppet Master, Dead Silence stars a dummy who isn't a killer himself but a vehicle for a vengeful ghost. Previously owned by Mary Shaw, a ventiloquist who was murdered by local Ravens Hill villagers for kidnapping a boy to turn him into a human puppet, Billy houses Mary Shaw's spirit while she gets revenge on all those who killed her. Jamie Ashen (Ryan Kwanten) unravels Billy's mystery after Billy is delivered to his door to claim Jamie's wife's life, since she is pregnant with Jamie's son. Mary Shaw aims to obliterate his entire Ashen clan, since they were partially responsible for her death. Plot, from there, teeters on the ridiculous, as Mary (via Billy) rips peoples tongues out left and right. Jamie's futile attempts to stop Shaw's ghost result in his discovering a gruesome secret about his brutal, abusive father. Writer Leigh Whannell and director James Wan, of Saw, made this almost comical film about 101 dummies, all relatives of Billy's, who are slaves to their sadistic creator. With many direct references to '80s horror films, and a soundtrack theme song almost exactly like Phantasm's, Dead Silence's charm banks on its lack of computer-y special effects rather than its originality. Billy's sly violence is creepy but funny, making for a relatively lighthearted horror film that won't traumatize as much as it makes one chuckle. —Trinie Dalton