Dead Silence

2007

Horror1h 29m

Budget

$20,000,000

Domestic Box Office

$16,809,076

Worldwide Box Office

$22,382,047

Synopsis

Every town has its own ghost story, and a local folktale around Ravens Fair is about a ventriloquist named Mary Shaw. After she went mad in the 1940s, she was accused of kidnapping a young boy who yelled out in one of her performances that she was a fraud. Because of this she was hunted down by townspeople who in the ultimate act of revenge, cut out her tongue and then killed her. They buried her along with her "children," a handmade collection of vaudeville dolls, and assumed they had silenced her forever. However, Ravens Fair has been plagued by mysterious deaths around them after Mary Shaws collection has returned from their graves and have come to seek revenge on people that killed her and their families. Far from the pall of their cursed hometown, newlyweds Jamie and Lisa Ashen thought they had established a fresh start, until Jamie's wife is grotesquely killed in their apartment. Jamie returns to Ravens Fair for the funeral, intent on unraveling the mystery of Lisa's death. Once reunited with his ill father, Edward, and his father's new young bride, Ella, Jamie must dig into the town's bloody past to find out who killed his wife and why. All the while, he is doggedly pursued by a detective who doesn't believe a word he says. As he uncovers the legend of Mary Shaw, he will unlock the story of her curse and the truth behind the threat from a rhyme in his childhood: if you see Mary Shaw and scream, she'll take your tongue. And the last thing you will hear before you die...is your own voice speaking back to you.

What is the budget of Dead Silence?

"Dead Silence," a horror released in 2007, was directed by James Wan and stars Ryan Kwanten, Amber Valletta. The production budget was $20,000,000, placing it in the mid-budget range for horror productions of its era.

Key Budget Allocation Categories

While specific budget breakdowns are not publicly available, typical cost drivers for a horror production like this include:

Practical Effects, Prosthetics & Makeup: Horror productions invest disproportionately in practical effects , prosthetic applications, animatronics, blood and gore effects, and creature suits. A single hero creature suit can cost $50,000 to 200,000.
Atmospheric Production Design & Cinematography: Creating dread through environment is essential. Abandoned locations must be secured and dressed, lighting rigs designed for shadow and tension, and sets built to enable specific camera movements and reveals.
Sound Design & Score: Horror is arguably the most sound-dependent genre. Foley work, ambient textures, frequency manipulation, and jump-scare stingers require specialized sound designers working with unconventional techniques.
Production: Filming took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in October 2005 and concluded May 2006 The setting for the film's story, the non-fictional suburb of "Raven's Fair," is situated at Badley Bridge and goes by the name "Raven's Fair Town Sign".

What were the major cost factors in Dead Silence?

Several factors contributed to the overall production costs of "Dead Silence."

Practical Effects: Practical Effects, Prosthetics & Makeup is one of the primary cost drivers in horror productions of this scale.
Atmospheric Production Design: Atmospheric Production Design & Cinematography is one of the primary cost drivers in horror productions of this scale.
Sound Design: Sound Design & Score is one of the primary cost drivers in horror productions of this scale.

How Does Dead Silence's Budget Compare to Similar Films?

At $20,000,000, Dead Silence sits in the mid-budget range. Here is how it compares to productions with a similar budget:

12 Years a Slave (2013): Budget $20,000,000, Worldwide Gross $187,000,000
21 Grams (2003): Budget $20,000,000, Worldwide Gross $60,427,839
3 Ninjas Kick Back (1994): Budget $20,000,000, Worldwide Gross $11,798,854
A Guy Thing (2003): Budget $20,000,000, Worldwide Gross $17,400,000
A Most Violent Year (2014): Budget $20,000,000, Worldwide Gross $12,007,070

The median budget for wide-release horror films in the 2000s ranges from $30 to 80M for mid-budget to $150M+ for tentpoles.

Dead Silence Box Office Performance

"Dead Silence" earned $16,809,076 domestically and $22,382,047 worldwide at the box office. Against a production budget of $20,000,000, the film showed modest profitability in theatrical release.

A film typically needs to earn approximately twice its production budget to cover marketing and distribution costs. For "Dead Silence," that break-even threshold was roughly $40,000,000. With worldwide earnings of $22,382,047, the film fell short of that threshold but recouped its production costs in theatrical release.

Production Budget: $20,000,000
Worldwide Gross: $22,382,047
Net Return: $2,382,047
ROI: approximately 11.9%

At 11.9%, "Dead Silence" returned its production investment but margin was tight after marketing and distribution costs.

Dead Silence Production History

Lakeshore Records released the soundtrack of Dead Silence on March 20, 2007. The CD contains 31 tracks, the first track being the song "We Sleep Forever" performed by American rock band Aiden (despite not actually being featured in the film itself). The rest of the CD is taken up by Charlie Clouser's film score.

Awards and Recognition

N/A

Critical Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 21%, based on 84 reviews, with an average rating of 3.90/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "More tasteful than recent slasher flicks, but Dead Silence is undone by boring characters, bland dialogue, and an unnecessary and obvious twist ending." On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 34 out of 100, based on 15 reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.