I wonder how many people are kicking themselves right about now? After years of slavish-devotion to the franchise that surrounded Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, and the disturbing countdowns to them becoming legal, it turns out younger sister Elizabeth Olsen may turn out with the career worth watching. Last year she was constantly surrounded by buzz thanks to the independent Martha Marcy May Marlene and now we’re getting the trailer for her next picture: a horror thriller titled Silent House.

Admittedly, I’m not the horror guy here, but I’m really torn on the movie based on this trailer. I suspect Olsen could be a decent scream queen, especially as we see her shriek out so often in this footage, which outlines the basic premise of the story: based on  real events, the movie plays out in real-time, showing what happened to a young woman and her father at their lake house. Whether that threat is supernatural or human stalker is hard to determine from the trailer, but whatever it is, it has Olden’s character spooked big-time. The film is a remake of La Casa Muda and has been adapted for the states by Chris Kentis and Laura Lau, the makers of Open Water. I’m a bit concerned that the plot is almost too similar, at least based on the trailer, to one of the worst horror flicks I’ve spent money to see in theaters, The Strangers. I can also already tell from the trailer that the cinema verite style is going to bug the hell out of me, particularly the shakey-cam. For example: what is Olsen screaming at in the last shot of the trailer? I’ve run that sequence three or four times and I’ll be darned if I can figure it out. Does that mean the threat is supernatural or that I just can’t keep up with the dizzying camerawork?

I have no doubt our own Doc Rotten will be all over this and some of the names in the trailer’s testimonials are horror critics who I respect, so it could be a lot better than my concerns make me think it could be. Whether I see it or not, it’s another example of how Elizabeth Olsen is taking the movie world by storm. Forget about the twins; it’s time to focus on the younger sister.

The Trailer:

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