Mute Witness (1995)

I don't know how this film went unnoticed for so long.

I saw this film on TV, i was flipping through the channels and came across this unexpectedly well made film. i missed the first, probably , 10 minutes, but that does not matter..this film literally gripped me, it is a real spine chiller.

The absence of well known actors in the film adds on to the effect,u do not know what to expect from the actors because they are new. U never know when they will get killed or what they are up to. so it is all the more tense.Even though there are many new faces their performances were top class.

The filmmakers play with your mind, just revealing enough gore to make imagine the rest. The shock, fear, horror and helplessness are also brought out well by characters in the film.

The well written situations n twists,fast camera movements, slick editing and superb direction makes it an excellent suspense thriller. This film actually switches between the genres - horror and suspense thriller leaving the viewer clueless and tensed. Undoubtedly comparable to Hitchcock.

I could not even move from the TV even during the commercial breaks .. i was the helpless MUTE WITNESS to this superb film.

Fmovies: I couldn't stop watching this movie, though it was far past my bedtime.

Comparisons to Hitchcock are deserved -- this thing really plays with you. It walks a wonderful line between real, immediate suspense and a dark, distancing humor. Like many of Hitch's heroes, our doe-eyed mute witness has innocently stumbled into something truly horrific -- and we are taken on quite a ride with her, at turns identifying totally and feeling her fear, at turns watching in thrilling suspense as she is placed further in jeopardy.

The filmmakers have put in a lot of tender care in working this out. Right from the opening shots, they engage and challenge you to determine what is real and what is fabrication; who is to be trusted and who is a monster. The plot twists and turns unpredictably. Suspense is created with a combination of carefully chosen camerawork, imagery, music -- but most simply THE EYES of the characters, which sends raw fear right into you.

A warning: there is some frighteningly real gore, as well as some nudity. The horror scenes are done in an emotional way that make them far more scary and disturbing than in any teenage-slasher pic.

And a teen-slasher pic it AIN'T. The characters are quirky and feel like real people, for one thing -- a couple (including the heroine) you may even find endearing as I did. There will be no mistake you're watching a movie made for grown-ups. I mean, Alec Guinness is in it, briefly, and you know he didn't NEED the work!

Pop this in the VCR some night when you can't sleep. . . and don't want to, yet.

An American film crew are based in Moscow with Russians making up much of the actual crew outside of the main elements. Andy is the director with his girlfriend and her mute sister Billy as makeup artist. One night after a shoot Billy finds herself locked in the large building being used as the main studio. She comes downstairs having heard a noise to find two men making a porno film that quickly becomes a snuff film before her eyes. Billy flees the men but finds herself with no evidence to back up her claim. Meanwhile the shadowy figure behind the murder plans to cover all loose ends.

I have managed to miss this film everytime it has come on TV and everytime it was in a cinema. The closest I got was taping it once but it started late and I only got 20 minutes. Happily I finally got my video skills together and caught it late the other night. I had heard average reviews of this and only hoped that it would be enjoyable – which it was.

The plot starts simple (mute girl in peril) and builds later into a bit of a wider conspiracy. The first half of the film is it's strength, real terror, genuine tension and thrills. The actual murder is horrible and shot well to let you imagine more than you see. The following pursuit is also excellent and very well directed. The second half of the film is still very enjoyable and tense but never reaches those heights again. The plot opens up to a wider conspiracy and shadowy figures and it looses much of it's tightness as a result. The film is still very good mind you and is much better than a lot of large budget thrillers.

It isn't scary but it is very thrilling. The director makes plenty of good shots to help crank it up a notch when needed, however his script does falter at the final few hurdles Zudina is good and does really well as the girl in peril. She can't scream or cry and has to carry her fear in her eyes which she does well. Ripley and Richards are more there for comedy value but do help lighten the tone. The rest of the cast are anonymous chasers and don't have too much presence, but the director has done such a good job with the tension that they don't need to be monsters, only men. Guinness is OK I guess. It's interesting to have him in such a film but did no one else notice how badly redubbed he was. It was clear he had redone his lines in a studio – the sound quality was to crisp compared to other's dialogue and it didn't match with his lips as it should have done – shame.

Overall I enjoyed this film. For the most part it is simple, tight and very effective. Great tension. All the cast really put their fear in their eyes rather than relying on screams etc to convey it. The second half of the film dips a little as the plot gets a bit baggy and slightly less convincing but by then you should be sold and it's energy carries it over some bits that drag a little. Overall a really good little thriller.

Mute Witness fmovies. Billy Hughes is a mute young lady working for make-up on a cheap horror picture being filmed in Moscow by an American director. One night Billy gets locked in the movie studio. Later that night she hears that someone might be in the building and goes to check it out. That's when she stumbles across a woman being brutally murdered, while being filmed. After escaping the clutches of the murderers, Billy informs the authorities, only to be red-faced when the men show it was an act. Billy knows what she saw and soon her life is in turmoil again from underground figures that believe she has something of importance.

I don't know how this heart-pounding sleeper passed me by, but I thought it was a much older flick. There's one thing though, it's got to be one of the most jarringly, and intense thrillers I've seen in quite a while. It's just a great suspense builder and mostly everything clicks into place! The first half of the feature is surprisingly gripping with taut sequences that have your heart in your throat and clouds us with an atmospherically foreboding environment of alienation. Underling this is a humorously wicked black streak. Faults do pop up in the story, as it does lose that furious grip it held so early and goofy humour (or better putter comic relief) between Fay Ripley and Evan Richard's characters is a hit and miss affair by being too forceful. In the long run, it probably could have done without. Despite some cringe moments, this aspect didn't hinder my enjoyment of it. For me, the soft ending they decided to go with just didn't feel right.

The interestingly mysterious premise was eerie to the bone and packed some unsettling goods. So multi-facet was the context and its thrills, there was something fresh to how this all plays out and the nervy jolts and unbearable tension are weaved into a range of sudden plot turns and twists. Really, they made superb use of the novel idea of this disability and to handicap the situation, by staging it in a foreign place where not too many spoke English and so we are caught up in the confusion too. The delicate Marina Zudina gives a harrowing portrayal of the American mute girl Billy. The way she able to display the erratic emotions through her eyes and actions gave it some gruff and believability. Director Anthony Waller shoots the flick in a rather stylish, well-timed and skillful manner, without loosing that grimy look that eventuates from its rigid surroundings and a powerfully airy music score persistently nags at you. The only real name to make an appearance was small cameo part by Alec Guinness. The performances by the cast were all fine, especially the nail biting turns by Oleg Yankovsky and Igor Volkov as the Russian murderers.

This riveting feature that's mostly made up of unknowns, is way better than your average dark thriller. Highly Recommended.

I went into this film expecting a slasher, and while Mute Witness does take influence from said style of film-making, this is much more than just your average slash flick. There are a number of thrillers that focus on a certain disability - blindness is more common (Blind Terror, Wait Until Dark, Cat o'Nine Tails to name a handful), but the implications of having a mute lead in a thriller such as this are well portrayed, and actually integral to the plot as the fact that the lead character can't speak is often the reason why she finds herself in dangerous situations that would be easy for anyone else to get out of. Our mute witness is Billy Hughes, a make-up artist working on a horror film production at a studio in Moscow. She finds herself locked in after hours one night, and after attempting to phone her sister for help, she stumbles upon what at first appears to be the making of an illicit sex flick, but soon turns out to be a snuff movie! She tries to convince the authorities of what she's seen, but finds that no one believes her story...

Recently Hostel made the headlines for showing snuff movie making in a foreign country, but this film did it first and actually does a better job. It's maybe not quite as nasty as Eli Roth's opus, but the gore is more effective, and since director Anthony Waller (who went on to direct one of my favourite modern thrillers with 'The Guilty') implements a good sense of humour into the proceedings, Mute Witness is both sufficiently gory and fun to watch. The director certainly has a talent for crafting suspenseful thrill rides, as this one never stands still. The plot is put into action quickly, and Waller constantly introduces plot twists which give a big helping hand to the overall entertainment value of the film. The acting isn't bad for a B-movie, with young performers Marina Zudina, Fay Ripley and Evan Richards delivering good performances. The atmosphere is gritty, and the Russian locations are suitably unfriendly, which helps the film to retain a foreboding atmosphere. Overall, Mute Witness is a much better film than you might expect it to be. The plot flows well, and the atmosphere and tension are spot on.

In Moscow, the clumsy director Andy Clarke (Evan Richards) is making a slasher movie in a studio set with Russian and American cast and crew. The responsible for the makeup is the mute Billy Hughes (Marina Sudina), who is the sister of Andy's girlfriend Karen Hughes (Fay Ripley).

One day, Billy needs to find a mask for the shot on the next day and she stays after hours in the studio set seeking out the object. However, the janitor locks her in the studio alone and Billy cannot find a way out.

When Billy sees light in the studio, she accidentally witnesses the Russians Arkadi (Igor Volkov) and Lyosha (Sergej Karlenkov) making a porn snuff movie and brutally killing a woman. Billy succeeds to escape, but the police officers do not trust on her. Further, the powerful Russian mafia chases her believing that Billy has a diskette with evidences against the mobsters.

I saw "Mute Witness" eighteen years ago and I loved this film. Yesterday I saw it again, now on DVD, and it still is a great film that combines thriller and horror with black humor in a plot with many twists. The director Anthony Waller masterly raises tension and relieves with black humor, startling the viewer and then making him or her laugh. Unfortunately the conclusion is a little disappointing but it is worthwhile watching this wonderful little film. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Testemunha Muda" ("Mute Witness")