There are plenty of reasons to be entirely uninterested in the arrival of Hush. First, it’s yet another tale of home invasion, a subgenre overly populated with substandard variations on the same damn story. Second, it’s from the Blumhouse stable, a production company that’s been spreading itself far too thin of late with pointless remakes (Martyrs) and dreary sequels (Sinister 2) threatening a once-strong brand name. Third, its rather unheralded premiere on Netflix suggests something of a stinker.
But it’s almost as if director Mike Flanagan, who broke out with the promising yet ultimately unsatisfying evil mirror chiller Oculus, is entirely aware of any reservations we might have and sets himself the task of proving us all entirely and embarrassingly wrong. For Hush is a hugely effective film and a much-needed reward for horror fans, understandably wearied of lazy studio product.
The setup is simple: Maddie is a deaf author, living in a remote house in the woods, settling in for the evening. She’s trying to finish her latest novel while avoiding distractions, such as calls from her ex-boyfriend. But there’s someone outside: a masked intruder with an arsenal of weapons, and Maddie has to figure out how to keep him out and then how to escape.
And, well, that’s it. But what ensues is a seat-edge battle between the pair, expertly played by the film’s co-writer Kate Siegel and 10 Cloverfield Lane’s John Gallagher Jr, that works because it’s grounded in reality. The resourceful heroine is plucky without resorting to superheroics; we buy into her reactions and thought processes as she tries to figure out how to survive.
It’s a sharp, finely tuned thriller that goes down familiar paths but with flair and skill. Flanagan doesn’t hold back on the gore, but he doesn’t rely on it. He’s a rare modern horror director who still prioritises suspense, and he frames the tense altercations between the pair to maximum effect. The film fondly recalls the sheer terror of the endlessly copied opening to Scream. Siegel’s fear feels horribly real and she posits you directly in her situation, wondering how you might fare in a similar ordeal.
It’s not without flaws. Given the territory, there are a couple of box-ticking cliches, but in a brutally efficient 82 minutes, Hush is exactly what it should be: lean, scary and skilful enough to temporarily restore your faith in the horror genre.
- Hush is now streaming worldwide on Netflix.
- This article was amended on 14 April 2016. It originally used the term ‘deaf-mute’, which is no longer current: the preferred term is ‘deaf’. This has been changed.
