Review: The Silence (2012)

(aka Das letzte Schweigen)
Release Date: Available on BD/DVD (Europe) now.
Country: Germany.
Written by: Baran bo Odar and Jan Coster Wagner.
Directed by: Baran bo Odar.  
Starring: Ulrich Thomsen, Katrin Sass, Wotan Wilke Mohring and Sebastian Blomberg.

There's something infinitely intriguing to us about movies involving serial killers and kids. No, we don't hate kids, and there's nothing entertaining about watching them die in creepy or violent ways on film, but these movies always get to us none the less.

It's most likely because most people have kids in their lives whom they love (or at least like), and the idea of them disappearing or worse is a haunting one to entertain.

Horror movies are supposed to get into our heads and make us feel helpless and fill us with dread. Is there anything more dreadful than the thought of a child being raped and murdered?

In the Summer of 1986, sweet little Pia is riding her bike along some deserted-ass German country road, when she is raped and murdered in a corn field by a creeper, while his creeper friend watches. They throw her bike in the cornfield (?!?), dump the body in a nearby lake, and then they part on bad terms, thus dissolving their creepy friendship.

Peddle, bitch, peddle for your life get some help!

23 years later, sweet little Sinikka rides off on her bike, and never returns home. Her bike is found in the same cornfield where Pia was done in by the creeper duo. There's no body this time tough to say whether the girl is dead or alive, and so the hunt is on to find he before it's too late! Unless it already is, then, the hunting is pretty much in vain. Still, the hunt is on!

Young girls really have to learn to ride away from strangers.

The police in this town apparently suck, because after 23 years they have nothing on the original case, and here they are with the same predator doing the exact same thing to another girl. Is Sinnika alive or have they merely to find her discarded body? Will the Cops get their shit together and figure out how to use DNA and fingerprint evidence properly? Far be it from me to ruin things for you, but suffice it to say that European films seldom end on happy notes.

The clown knows. Somehow, he always has.

The Silence is a sleek, quiet little movie that delivers on a subtle level. This isn't a typical whodunit type of flick, rather it shows the effects of tragic events on the victims families, the cops who investigate them, end even the pedophile perpetrators themselves. There wasn't much here that made us jump out of our seats in fright, but there's plenty of dread and tension that kept us unsettled and off balance. It's really more of a creepy drama, than any sort of police procedural. whatever way you look at it though, it was an effective movie.

The movie looks beautiful as well, showcasing the gorgeous German countryside through the eerie lens of the movies events, which just adds to the creepiness of it all. It's all tightly paced and suspenseful, and kept us interested until it was over. Just the idea of predators at large living among us is enough to give us the willies.

Aah, memories.

Weren't the one guy's prints on the bike? How could they not at least suspect that there were two killers all along, with DNA evidence from one, and fingerprints on the bike from someone else? I'm just saying, it could have at least been a theory or something...

WTF, man...

The pedophile aspect of this movie was just unsettling; flashbacks of two grown men watching kiddie porn together, sharing a young girl together, watching kids play together, talking to kids in their neighborhood like they're all friendly and innocent... it really makes you wonder who you live next door to.

Dudes like this are out there, so hide your kids.

There's really next to nothing gory in this movie, aside from whatever level of gore a corpse brings to a film.

Creepy.

Young girls should never go for bike rides, especially along deserted roads near cornfields.

Creepy Dad Alert!

If you like movies that mess with your emotions and disturb you in subtle, yet effective ways, then The Silence is definitely one for you. It's light on gore and action, but has atmosphere and suspense to spare. It's available on BD/DVD pretty much everywhere but America, so if you're able to rent or buy it, then definitely check it out.

B

Since there aren't really any Hotties in this movie, we offer you some pics of Diane Kruger to fill that void, because she's both German and hot. You're welcome.