DoorintoSilence

Door into Silence (1991)

The movie opens up with a man visiting a grave while a typical Louisiana funeral goes on in the background. The man’s name is Melvin Devereux and he leaves the cemetery to head home from a business trip in New Orleans. But every road he tries to take is either flooded or blocked by construction equipment. If that weren’t enough there is this strange woman that acts as if she knows him. Melvin can’t remember ever meeting her, which he finds strange. Also along the way Melvin is tormented by a hearse that appears to be carrying a casket with his name on it.

I’ve been waiting for many years to check out this movie, mostly because it was Lucio Fulci’s last movie. I’ve heard mixed reviews about this movie, but I have to be honest it is far from the worst movie that he made towards the end of his career. The story here is very thin and easy to figure out. In fact I think they give way too much away to the audience in the first five minutes, which kills any real chance that the movie had to build any tension, much less have a twist ending that pays off. Door into Silence is one of those movies that I figured out early on and sat watching for an hour to get to a predictable ending. I also have to say that this story would have worked much better as a 30 minute short in some sort of anthology than it does as a feature length movie, because by the end the movie feels stretched too thin. John Savage is pretty good in the role of Melvin Devereux, but the rest of the cast is a bit rough. The mysterious woman and the hearse driver are both less than stellar and chew thru the scenery, which also doesn’t help the movie create atmosphere.

I also think that the movie has a very strange vibe to it. Other than some language Door into Silence has a made for T.V. movie feel to it. There is a combination Jazz and Synth soundtrack that seems like it was pulled right from some catalogue of music and doesn’t always fit what is happening on screen. Again some of the acting is weak in that sort of I cast who ever was hanging around the set that day kind of way. I mean check out the bar scene where Melvin confronts the hearse driver and tell me what you think. On a positive not some of the camera work is really stellar. There are several clever shots using rearview mirrors and the windows of the car to frame shots.

Here is the deal with Door into Silence. It isn’t a great movie, but it is far better than many of Fulci’s later movies. Because of that and because this is his last movie I think that it is a must own for all Fulci fans. And while I’ll not be revisiting it like Zombie or The Beyond I’ll still happily keep this one on the shelf with my other Fulci flicks. For more information on this title and the other awesome releases from Severin films check out their website at http://www.severin-films.com/

2 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer