Mute Witness (1995)

Man, sometimes you get lucky on a tight little thriller.

Mute Witness (1995)

Well sometimes you take a chance on something based on a great cover, recommendations from people and it just plain pays off. This is a tight, effective slasher thriller that's also weirdly funny at times. Basic plot, Billy Hughes (Marina Zudina) is a makeup artist on a cheapo slasher film being filmed in Moscow. Her sister is dating the director, obviously working on one of his first films and dealing with not speaking both Russian or sign language (important as Billy Hughes as mute). 

Naturally, there's a murder where Billy is the only witness and she has to escape the killers from a late-night movie set (I thought I was being SO clever noting to myself that this very effective chase felt like something out of WAIT UNTIL DARK only to see that other people have made the same point). Suddenly we're in a murderous spy thriller (of course, there is a mysterious diskette that everyone wants). 

It's a good thriller with lots of twists and turns, but what makes this better (besides Marina Zudina's damn effective performance; she's so expressive and smart) is that it's so weirdly...funny at times. Evan Richards and Fay Ripley play the director and Billy's sister and they have a running bickering in the movie that really keeps it from getting too grim (at one point they have to deal with Billy's downstairs neighbor, who keeps thinking the various beatings and murderings happening upstairs is a loud party, and their physical comedy in the moment is just wonderful).

This is a damn weird gem that I'm so glad I took a chance on. It's confident and a little goofy but also has some seriously well-shot thrills (that escape scene toward the beginning is legit great). Very much worth your time on either the Arrow disc (which has an excellent essay by Michelle Kisner about mute women in movie) or currently on Shudder.

★★★ 1/2 / ★★★★★

1995 - Written and directed by Anthony Waller