Hush

Today's horror flick was Hush, a film that has been staring at me from Netflix for what seems like years and many a person has recommended to me. Maybe it's the seemingly gimmicky premise (a deaf woman (Maddie) becomes stalked by a killer) or the fact that if enough people tell me to do something I tend to want to do it less (yeah, I'm that guy), but I've resisted watching Hush for awhile. I'll be honest, I figured it'd be Genericville, USA.

Well, paint my ass red and call me Sally; Hush is pretty damn good! It's a refreshingly original and unique take on the slasher genre, and in fact I think even consciously works to subvert what we often think of as "slasher." I mean, look at that mask on the killer. Classic, seen-before slasher. Well, suprisingly, the killer loses the mask in the first half hour of the film, creating a very human and truly realistically scary slasher. By humanizing the killer you humanize the genre; a real, human killer is far more terrifying than a masked and superhuman creature (I mean, don't get me wrong, I love me some Michael Myers and Jason Voorhies, but realistic they are not. Well, maybe in the first Halloween a bit). 

Hush is immensely claustrophobic, both in sound and surroundings. You often feel deaf as the viewer right along with Maddie. Despite being in the middle of the woods, Maddie is trapped in her house with the killer prowling and toying with her outside; we feel trapped right along with her. This is what the best among the slasher genre are able to accomplish, and Hush lays claim to a spot among the best.

Above all else though, what I appreciated about this film was the strength found in Maddie. This movie adheres to the "final female" slasher trope, but, unlike most final females, Maddie proves to give the killer far more than he bargained for. He picks Maddie because of her seeming weakness due to the fact that she's deaf, but she proves to be far more than her handicap. Maddie fights back, and hard.

Hush breathes fresh air into the often tired slasher genre and provides a new, quality voice. By unmasking the killer they inject a humanity that the genre has been asking for. 

9.5/10