With his new seriesThe Fall of the House of Usherarriving on October 12th, the buzz aroundMike Flanagan’s “Flanaverse” has seldom been stronger. Although he’s recently garnered more attention as the mind behindThe Hauntinganthology serieson Netflix, the director has an impressive filmography of chilling horror flicks, fromOculustoDoctor Sleep. While many of his projects venture into the supernatural through haunted houses, haunted mirrors, or just haunted people, Flanagan’s best work, 2016’sHush, uses a less-is-more approach to tell a harrowinghome invasion storythat’s made even more terrifying by its grounded realism.
Written with hiswife and frequent collaboratorKate Siegel,Hushtells the story of Maddie Young, a novelist who is forced to live her own horror story when a masked intruder arrives at her isolated forest abode. We learn early in the movie that Maddie contracted bacterial meningitis as a teenager which resulted in permanent hearing loss and vocal cord paresis, so she communicates using American Sign Language and lip-reading — it also means that she cannot hear her adversary coming. When her neighbors and only people even remotely close by, Sarah and John (played by usual Flanaverse playersSamantha SloyanandMichael Trucco), are viciously murdered by a crossbow-wielding killer credited simply as “The Man” (John Gallagher Jr.), Maddie has to outwit her adversary and use every tool at her disposal to help her last through the night.
Mike Flanagan Wanted to Make ‘Hush’ a Totally Silent Film
The idea forHushstemmed from Flanagan wanting to write a film with no dialogue, and Siegel reflecting on thefear of somebody trying to break into your home. The pair spoke with Bloody Disgusting about the importance of sound design, particularly in horror films, and how making their protagonist deaf provided unique opportunities and challenges.Flanagan briefly considered makingHusha totally silent movie, but then quickly realized that taking away all sound would leave the audience to instead focus on all the distracting sounds around them, be it creaking seats or crunchy popcorn. Furthermore, knowing the power of sound design, he knew that it would be nearly impossible to build tension without audio. Throughout the movie, the sound design oscillates between what the intruder can hear and what Maddie can, emphasizing how much Maddie must rely on her other senses, and how she uses this to her advantage.
Sound Design is an Important Character in ‘Hush’
A great example ofHush’s impeccable sound design is in the film’s first scene. The movie opens with Maddie cooking up a storm in her kitchen, and a hearing audience is privy to all the chopping, pouring, and sizzling sounds that fill the room as she dices onions and pours herself a generous glass of white. The audio is almost ASMR-level satisfying, and we’re immediately shown how much Flanagan can do with virtually nothing. Withhis artful direction, meal prep becomes a tantalizing symphony but also a vaguely threatening display of the corkscrew and sharp knives that will later be used as weapons. The scene is then powerfully juxtaposed when we close in on a shot of Maddie and are given an auditory glimpse into her silent world.
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The use of sound (and lack thereof) later shows how the Man perceives Maddie as an easy target due to her deafness, as he taunts her by scraping his bloody knife against her windows and using Sarah’s corpse to knock on the glass. The movie’s sparse dialogue also turnsHushinto anamazing, underrated example of “Show, Don’t Tell.”For example, at the start of the movie, almost all of Maddie’s doors are unlocked, which we soon learn as she races around locking them to prevent the Man from getting in. This not only tells us that Maddie is generally not a fearful person, but also that she had absolutely no inkling that something like this could happen. Similarly, when the Man kills Sarah, he stabs her numerous times even after she’s already dead, which tells us that he’s not just a killer but a needlessly cruel and violent one. All of these simple things work together to provide character development where dialogue can’t.
‘Hush’s Home Setting Contributes to the Movie’s Frightening Realism
Just as the sound design works to emphasizethe realistic feel ofHush, the movie’s setting does the same. The action takes place almost exclusively inside Maddie’s house, save for a few scenes that occur outdoors as she tries to escape. The confines of the home not only make the movie feel claustrophobic and stressful but also frighteningly realistic, as it feels like something that could happen to us.
The realism of the movie is also reflected in Maddie’s injuries, as the Man shoots her in the leg with his crossbow and later crushes her hand when he jams it in a sliding door.Maddie is greatly affected by these traumatic injuriesand her internal monologue (which speaks with an adult voice despite her losing her voice as a teenager) reassures her as well as the audience that if she doesn’t kill her intruder in a timely manner, she is going to bleed out. While in many horror movies characters can inexplicably go on for hours after being stabbed and slashed by their antagonists,Hushpresents the very realistic dilemma that if she doesn’t get medical help, Maddie will die.
‘Hush’ Is Mike Flanagan’s Best Work
Hush’s climax, in which the Man finally enters the house, features the film’s best use of sound, as it becomes a weapon that Maddie can use to defeat her opponent. In a totally badass move, Maddie uses her own blood to write a message on her sliding door, daring the Man to come in. She then goes to wait in the bathroom armed with a knife, and the Man opts to enter through the window behind her. As he taunts her, she remains oblivious to his advances until she feels his breath against her neck, and she quickly turns and stabs him in the arm. She then escapes to the kitchen where she attacks the Man with insecticide to the eyes, effectively taking away one of his senses, before using her super-powered smoke alarm to disorient him with its incessant, loud blaring, and bright lights. When he overpowers her and begins to strangle her, she grabs the only tool left at her disposal, a trusty corkscrew lying on the floor, and stabs the Man in the side of the neck. At long last, the battle is over, and the sound of the trusty smoke alarm continues to ring throughout the scene.
While Mike Flanagan has consistently proven thathe is a master of the paranormal,Hushremains his best work through its deceptive simplicity. There is no otherworldly threat inHushbut rather one man wreaking havoc on innocent people just because he can, and Flanagan and Siegel breathe new life into the age-old home invasion story in this powerful survival tale. Through its understated approach, brilliant performances, and unique sound design,Hushremains Flanagan’s most impressive project and a haunting reminder to lock your doors at night.
