Netflix Review: Hush (2016)

"Hush is the best Blumhouse movie that we've seen in forever."

(aka The Stranger.)
Release Date: April 8th.
Country: USA.
Rating: R.
Written by: Mike Flanagan and Kate Siegel. 
Directed by: Mike Flanagan.
Starring: Kate Siegel, John Gallagher Jr., Michael Trucco, and Samantha Sloyan.

A few years back, director Mike Flanagan gave us Oculus; a movie that we really liked (read our review HERE), and that marked him as an up-and-coming Horror director.

With Hush, I think it's safe to say that he's arrived.  

Maddie is a deaf-mute who spends her time living in a beautiful, isolated country house, writing novels. When a masked nut-bag shows up on her porch one night (literally), intent on killing her after he's terrorized her a bit first, she's forced to do whatever she can to survive, even though she's cut off from the world, and not able to hear anything that he does.

An intense game of cat-and-mouse ensues.

"I'M RIGHT BEHIND YOU!"

Hush was as intense of an 80-minute stretch that we've spent in front of a TV in some time. There were a few moments of "Don't do that!" or "Why would you do that?" like there are in any Thriller of this type, but man did this one ever deliver the goods. Considering the fact that it was made on a micro-budget (we're guessing less that $1 million), that's a pretty impressive feat.

It's the script that makes this one so great. Hush takes some chances with its storytelling that work really well, It gave us a really likable main character to cheer for and worry about, it gave us some mean-spirited and nasty kills scenes and gore, and it ended in pleasing fashion, without some shitty jump-scare or a "Oh, there's going to be a sequel" moment. It was tight, honest, and engaging, which is exactly how we like our Thrillers. And women.

YEAH, WE SAID IT.

Kate Siegel did a great job playing a seemingly helpless victim turned Final Girl. What's even more impressive is the fact that she co-wrote the script with director Mike Flanagan. She's obviously multi-talented, and both sides of that talent really shone through in this movie. We've been fans of John Gallagher Jr. ever since his run on The Newsroom, and to see him play completely against type as a sadistic killer in this one was impressive to watch. He's only going to get bigger and better as his career goes on.

***MILD SPOILER*** The one issue that I had with Hush involves the killer, and how I wish that he would have left his mask on. John Gallagher Jr. did an excellent job at playing creepy without the mask, but it looked so damn cool!

"YOU GOT SNAPCHAT?"

There are some wickedly nasty kills in this one, and plenty of bloody injury to go around as well. That finger in the doorwall scene...

YEAH, THAT WAS OUR REACTION TOO.

Nope.

There's a moment towards the end of the film where Maddie types something on the computer that for some reason, just got to us. It was a small but powerful moment, which we won't spoil for you here, but a simple as it was, it had all sorts of emotional impact.

Nice touch.

DON'T JUDGE US, MADDIE!

Hush is exactly what a Home Invasion Thriller should be; tight, intense, bloody, and devoid of too many cliches and tropes that would kill the vibe. Not that it's perfect, or isn't familiar in some ways, but it's executed so well that we didn't care about it's lesser points.

If you have Netflix, then you should check this one out asap. Alone. With the lights off.

B+

Hush is streaming exclusively on Netflix.

Kate Siegel, Samantha Sloyan, and Emma Graves are in this.