Set Visit: Dead Silence

The name James Wan might not mean anything to
the masses just yet, but for the core horror fan, it means the kool Aussie
dude behind the tight genre bitter pill that was SAW. Being that I loved SAW to
severed pieces, I’m really looking
forward in seeing how Wan’s Studio follow up to it named DEAD SILENCE
(formally known as “Silence”) will turn out. I’m expecting great
things! The film was written
by Wan and Leigh Whannell (also of SAW)
and it stars
Ryan Quanten, Donnie “Hangin Tough” Walhberg and hotties Laura
Regan & Amber Valetta and will finally come to life in theatres
on March 23rd 2007.

JoBlo/Arrow in the Head were invited to the DEAD SILENCE set in
Toronto, Canada a while back and the good news is, from what I saw, it looked like the lad
won’t let us down. What’s Dead Silence about? Read on!

SYNOPSIS:
Newlyweds
Jamie (Ryan Kwanten) and Lisa Ashen have established a new life for
themselves far from their hometown of Ravens Fair – a sleepy, near-forgotten
blip on the map haunted by late-night whispers and ghost stories from
generations past. But when his wife is gruesomely murdered, Jamie
reluctantly returns to Ravens Fair for the funeral, intent on unraveling the
mystery surrounding her death.

Once back under his family’s
roof, reunited with his ill father (Bob Gunton) and his father’s new young
bride (Amber Valletta), Jamie begins to explore the creepy town and
encounters the legend of Mary Shaw, a famous murdered ventriloquist whose
presence still casts a spell over Ravens Fair. Himself, the lead suspect in
his wife’s murder, Jamie is forced to dig deep into the town’s bloody past
for answers, where he soon uncovers the truth behind the curse that ended
Lisa’s life…and threatens to take his as well.

DAY
1: On our first day on the DEAD SILENCE set, I and a group of happy go lucky
journalists were brought onto a “Mansion” set and what a Mansion it was!
Think old school, think Hammer, think classic, think creepy as shite! It was there
that we got to witness one specific scene being shot.

The scene itself took
place in a bedroom. The bedroom had a spooky, “kiddy room” feel to it with a bed and a plane
mobile hanging over it from the ceiling. In the bit, we see a window and rain falling outside of it. Then a woman’s shadow looms in
and has a conversation with “somebody” that’s in the room. Although I
couldn’t tell you what was said in the scene (the dialogue was way too low),
it was strikingly beautiful visually. I got Bava and Argento’s Suspiria
flashbacks over here!

DAY 2: Day 2 was interview day
(where one actor actually revealed to us one of the film’s biggest
twists…bummer for us… I still remember it) but we also got
to visit the “doll filled attic set” where hundreds of dolls, doll
heads on spikes, doll parts and old books (about dolls of course) were
staring back at us…brrr!

Furthermore, we got to see the ventriloquist dummy (ies)
that will be used in the film as the lead baddie (see above). His name in the film? “Billy”. The
always affable and up front James Wan took time off his hectic shooting schedule and
joined us on the attic set to talk DEAD and SILENCE shop and here’s what he shared
with us:

Click
here for our interview with James Wan

Stay tuned to the site for interviews
with stars Amber Valletta, Donnie Wahlberg and late Twisted Pictures Producer
Gregg Hoffman

VISIT THE
DEAD SILENCE SITE AND SEE ITS TRAILER HERE