Shudder-day: Mute Witness (1995)

 A Film I watched for one weird reason (which I'll explain later).

Did it turn out to actually be a good Movie though?

Let's find out...

The Film begins with a woman being murdered by a masked man.

Her death is then comically drawn out and we learn that this is actually a Film.

As silly as that bit was, the key thing is that our Lead- Billy- is Mute and does the Make-up FX work for a Russian-based Slasher Film.

She ends up being locked in the Studio for the night and wanders onto two men from the Film Set earlier shooting what turns out to be a Snuff Film.

Oh nos!

She has a tense and prolonged bit where the duo are both not chasing her, but also right behind her the whole time.

It works quite well, as the Cuts are disguised nicely and it seems to flow as one long pursuit/not pursuit.

She's saved at the last moment and they call the Cops.

The men hide the evidence well, making the Cops think that it was all just them 'testing out effects' for the Film.

Nobody ever asks where the woman they killed is, which should be a red flag.

The men later report to their Boss.

He drives up in a Car (we later learn that he's called The Reaper).

It is...Sir Alec Guiness?!?

He tells them that they won't get paid as long as there is a living witness- mute or otherwise.

Living Witness- Mute or Otherwise was the rejected Title.
It was already taken.

As such, the men come for her!

Can she defend herself?
Can a Cop save her?
Who can she trust?

To find out, stream it now.

No joke- this is actually quite good.  Whoever wrote the Title blurb on Shudder describes it as an 'underseen Thriller.'

Yeah, that's apt.
If it took me this long to find it, that says plenty!

One thing that this Film does really well is build up suspense when it comes to the Lead.  She's really emotive, really relatable and you really root for her.

What's kind of funny about that is that the Actress- like most of the Cast- is Russian and also not Mute.  Playing 'Billy' meant that she emoted through ASL and body language.  It's a good way to get around not casting a native English Speaker to play American.

The curiosity factor here is obviously Guiness' appearance here.  It's officially his last Film appearance before his death in 2000.

I guess you can't always pick your last Film.

All in all, the Film is a hidden gem.  The Plot isn't amazing, but the tension and Direction elevate it quite well.  As opposed to this odd bit of promotional art for the Film.

A legit well-made Film with a unique pair of hooks- the Mute Lead and the Fish Out of Water Setting.  Outside of its place in Film History, I actually liked it!