Dead Silence

Dead Silence
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	James Wan
Produced by	Mark Burg Oren Koules Gregg Hoffman
Screenplay by	Leigh Whannell
Story by	James Wan Leigh Whannell
Starring	Ryan Kwanten Amber Valletta Donnie Wahlberg Michael Fairman Joan Heney Bob Gunton Judith Roberts Laura Regan
Music by	Charlie Clouser
Cinematography	John R. Leonetti
Edited by	Michael Knue
Production company	Twisted Pictures
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	March 16, 2007 (2007-03-16)
Running time	89 minutes 92 minutes (Unrated cut)
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$20 million
Box office	$22 million

Dead Silence is a 2007 supernatural psychological horror film directed by James Wan and written by Leigh Whannell, the creators of Saw. The film stars Ryan Kwanten, Judith Roberts, Donnie Wahlberg, and Amber Valletta.

Jamie Ashen (Ryan Kwanten) and his wife, Lisa (Laura Regan), receive an anonymous gift of a ventriloquist doll called "Billy". While Lisa is playing with Billy, a figure approaches her, causing her to scream. Jamie finds her dead with her tongue cut out. After Jamie is released from custody by Detective Jim Lipton (Donnie Wahlberg) due to lack of evidence, he spots inside Billy's box a mysterious message about "Mary Shaw", a ventriloquist from his hometown, Raven's Fair.

At Raven's Fair, Jamie visits his estranged, wealthy and wheelchair-bound father, Edward (Bob Gunton), and his much-younger wife, Ella (Amber Valletta), for information regarding Mary Shaw. Dismissing them as superstitions, Jamie arranges for Lisa's funeral with the help of a local mortician, Henry Walker (Michael Fairman). Jamie meets Henry's senile wife, Marion, who tells him of the danger of Mary and her puppet, Billy. After burying Billy, Jamie is confronted by Detective Lipton, the latter still doubting Jamie, and forces him to dig up Billy.

Henry tells Jamie about Shaw. Shaw (Judith Roberts) was a famous ventriloquist who was publicly humiliated when a boy, Michael, pointed to her moving mouth. Michael disappeared some weeks later, and his family blamed it on Shaw, whose last wish was to have her body turned into a dummy and buried with her 101 dolls. Henry, then the young son of the local mortician, saw Shaw (having been executed by Michael's family) rise up, but Henry was spared thanks to his having kept his mouth shut. This is because Shaw only takes her revenge by killing those who scream. Jamie finds out that Michael, the first victim, was his great uncle; the Ashen family were the ones who killed Shaw by cutting out her tongue, and she has been seeking revenge against their entire bloodline by killing them the same way.