A Quiet Place: Silence Speaks Volumes

Every year, during blockbuster season, a movie comes along that totally cleans up at the box office, much like “Get Out” did last year.

And John Krasinski’s new horror film "A Quiet Place" seems to be following that trend. The mere premise of the film itself is pretty creepy — monsters have taken over the world and hunt anyone they hear. This means that all vocal dialogue is stripped away and all that is left is a family, desperately living in complete silence, trying not to become the ominous creatures’ prey. Most of the dialogue is communicated through ASL, but the silent premise of the plot is actually pretty ingenious.

Most horror movies aren’t known for their clever banter but that’s part of why they’re so great. Before audio, horror movies relied on atmosphere and imagery to convey their horrible concepts — something that modern horror movies like “Hush” and “Don’t Breathe” tried to emulate. But, as exemplified in "A Quiet Place," silence can be a great tool for building extreme tension. The lack of visibility from the movie’s monsters also helps create a crazy ominous atmosphere where the viewer is so afraid of what’s to come, even if they don’t know what it is.

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