Silent House (Panting Actress)

I keep on seeing Elizabeth Olsen as a victim of a cult or something -- this is before watching much of the film (Martha Marcy May Marlene or 4M ... not really) -- while flicking through the channels.  Her film is one of various that repeatedly is on cable like a real bad teen vampire spoof that is sort of anti-funny.  At first, thought she was one of the Olsen twins -- she does look like them -- but it turns out she is their younger sister.  Olsen does have acting chops and is blessed with having the chance to show them off recently in a bunch of films where she acts up a storm in various genres.

Silent House is not a problem because of her personally -- I agree with various reviews (see, e.g., Rotten Tomatoes) that suggest she does a good job with the material.  It is just very annoying material.  One review notes rightly enough that it "has enough material for 25 good minutes" and that the charm of her "screams and panting wears off" after awhile.  For me, it was about five minutes.  Olsen's character is terrified after about five minutes or so once the film gets into gear (with implications she has some unclear "issues" early on, but that's typical in these sorts of thriller/horror flicks) and really it seems a tad premature.  She does terrified well, but a little of that goes a long way. 

The film has a gimmick where everything is like in one continual take, which is not really novel or anything (Hitchcock did it in Rope, but that had more you know, plot), but it basically amounts to her stressed out as she runs around the house a lot.  I basically fast forwarded the damn thing after a half hour or so, figuring there was some point to all of this.  There is a certain charm to the film technique and seeing things through her singular point of view. Still don't think there is enough here for a full length film.  It would have been better as a short subject.  The "tell" doesn't improve matters really.  It is actually a bit confusing, which is okay, since it is meant to be symbolic or something. If it wasn't so borrringggg....

Anyways, liked her enough to reserve two more of her films, including that one I keep on flicking past on cable.  This one has a commentary track, but the film itself annoyed me enough that I skipped it.