While the awards season race hasn't quite built up around "Martha Marcy May Marlene" the way many predicted, the key role in that film was played wonderfully by Elizabeth Olsen, has the been the subject of much praise from critics and audiences alike, and marked a helluva breakout feature for the the actress. Olsen may not quite have caught on in the way other breakthrough actresses like Jessica Chastain have this year, but her name is still a popular one around Hollywood, and not just because she’s the kid sister of the “Full House” wonder twins.
And so the goodwill Olsen earned for her role in “Martha Marcy May Marlene” will lead many of us to pay attention to any project with her name attached, from the upcoming Sundance-competing indie “Liberal Arts” to the Glenn Close co-starring “Theresa Raquin.” Though there was another performance of Olsen’s that garnered some attention at this past year’s Sundance Film Festival, where 'Martha' debuted, and it’s just now receiving a trailer thanks to Yahoo.
“Silent House,” a remake of the 2010 Spanish horror film of the same name, obviously didn’t get as much recognition as “Martha Marcy May Marlene,” and we can see why. Priding itself for being shot entirely in one long continuous take, much like its foreign predecessor, “Silent House” would like to believe it’s offering you a boatload of terrifying genre work in real time. Though if this trailer is any indicator of quality, we may just write this off as Olsen getting her requisite young actress horror thriller our of the way.
Looking like a cross between “Last House on the Left,” “Strangers,” “Hostel,” and a few other genre titles, “Open Water” helmers Chris Kentis and Laura Lau appear to offer very little by way of originality for all the horror cinephiles out there. Even the trailer attempts to replicate the “Inspired by True Events” style vibe made popular by “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” franchise, though surely that can be attributed to the marketing department desperate to sell this thing. Olsen looks to be doing her best, offering some sort of reason to watch this film, but he trailer closes asking viewers to use the Twitter hashtag “#Whyisthishappeningtome” to help promote the film: really it just describes the entire grisly but dull nature of watching the trailer.
“Silent House” opens on March 9th. Watch below.