"Hush" Movie Review

by James Southworth
Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

Horror films have been labelled a dying genre for the past few years, and I can see why. They don't tend to make as much money in the box office as other genres, and it's often very hard to find good horror movies among the garbage pile of other ones. But, as a horror film fan myself, it's a very rewarding experience when you can find one that's good, or even better, excellently executed. That's the case here with the film "Hush" directed by the relatively new Mike Flanagan (who created the clever psychological thriller "Oculus"). This film revolves around what on surface level sounds like a typical, even cliche, premise for a horror film: a woman is hunted by a psychotic killer in a secluded area with no way to escape. However, Flanagan takes this relatively tired concept and turns it on its head to create a really clever and terrifying film.

Right from the beginning of the film I was captivated. The first few minutes of the film started with no dialogue as the main character Maddie (played by Kate Siegel) is doing seemingly menial tasks like cooking, texting, and most curiously, calling for her cat by simply shaking its food bowl. It was hard to figure out exactly what was going on until some dialogue ensued- at least it did from Maddie's neighbor Sarah. The viewers find out soon enough that Maddie is actually deaf and mute. This was where this film immediately got me one hundred percent invested. When do you see a deaf main character in a horror film, or any film for that matter? I'm not even sure if this premise has been created before (at least in the horror genre). In addition to the interesting idea of Maddie being deaf, Flanagan does a great job of making a sympathetic character out of her. She's a likeable, hard-working author who cares about those around her and is having trouble with this boyfriend that we never meet named Chris. Within the first fifteen minutes or so of the film, Flanagan creates a fleshed out character who we could root for to outsmart her killer.

I'll admit, I was excited to see what would be done when the killer arrived. I could see a lot of potential in what could be done with a deaf character in this type of situation. To my great delight, Flanagan embraced all facets of what he could do with Maddie, and more. A lot of the moments in the movie are completely silent. Dialogue is very sparse, and the movie feels very intimate as it's mainly focused on just Maddie and the nameless killer in a secluded space. This hinders the viewer from a whole lot of spoken cues. Much like Maddie, we have to be focused on the movie in a much more visual perspective, and the added advantage of having some noise cues. Flanagan's visual style, much like in "Oculus", is so cleverly executed to creating scares. He uses shadows and lighting in ways that one would not normally see them. Camera angles are used to create unsettling moments and some unique perspective shots. There is also some parallel structure with Maddie writing on one of her doors. I won't reveal how the writing changes, but let me just say it was absolutely delightful in its execution.

While technical style and a unique plot are great for a horror movie, the most important part of any horror movie is the deliverance of its scares. Pretty much all of the scares in "Hush" are delivered perfectly. Throughout a majority of the movie, an intense score plays in the midst of the permeating silence which creates a lot of chilling moments. A lot of scares come in the way the killer plays mind games against Maddie, and they always work. You can tell Flanagan is in his element whenever he's doing psychological work. Speaking of which, the scares had a much better pay-off because we were able to have a smart protagonist in a horror movie. Instead of always criticizing the character for her idiocy (thereby making the scares predictable) we are never expecting what scare will hit us next because we think the move Maddie is making is the right one(but often the killer is just as smart as her). The only moments I would say when the scares sometimes miss is in the more bloody moments of the movie (thankfully the bloody moments are sparse). Some of them really hit home (like a terrifying moment where Maddie's hand is broken) but others are just too over the top (like the killer's murder of their first victim). But still, the scares work very effectively for the majority of the time.

There is only really two characters whose acting really matters in this movie, and thankfully, both of them give great performances. Kate Siegel as Maddie is a real joy to watch as one of the most sympathetic protagonists I've ever seen in a horror movie (her character is almost on the level of the protagonist in "The Babadook" and I freaking love that movie, so that's the highest of praises from me). She gives affectionate life to her deaf character, making her character very well-rounded and someone the audience can root for. Siegel is relying on her expressions throughout the whole movie, and her expressions speak more volumes than words could. That's a testament to Siegel's skill as an actor, and I hope she will get more roles after her incredible performance here. John Gallagher Jr. was just as good in the role of the killer. He was able to be just as menacing a character without his mask on, which was an impressive feat since he didn't look all that frightening at first. A lot of his menace came from expressions as well, but the dialogue he had was my favorite in the movie. All of the black humor came from him, and it was hard to not at least chuckle when he delivered a line that was just so frightening but funny at the same time. He also managed to keep his character a mystery the whole time- we never know his motivation for killing or why he was even in such a secluded area (and the fact he didn't have a name added to the mystery). This made his character three dimensional in a different way from Maddie.

An excellent movie, the only reason "Hush" doesn't get five stars from me is because some of the more bloody scares weren't as effective and a few members of the ensemble cast were not as good actors as the leads (but they weren't in the film long, so it was hardly a big detractor). Overall though, this movie is simply superb and is even better than "Oculus" as far as Flanagan's films go. I really hope this director continues to get deserved fame for his films, because we really need more horror creators like him. I would definitely recommend "Hush" for anyone who enjoys horror movies- and even if you don't, this is just a great movie in general.