Why I Saw It: My understanding is that Hush was a side project of Flannagan's while making Before I Wake. He wrote this with his now wife and star of the movie, Kate Siegel. I think that's important when considering this movie. This is basically them playing. Similar to the Cloverfield movies, it's Flanagan thinking "here's a nifty idea/gimmick. Let's explore it some". In this case, it's making an intruder movie with a deaf character. And, that aspect of it is great. Flanagan does a great job in a mostly wordless role. John Gallagher Jr. (speaking of Cloverfield) handles himself well as a villain with absolutely no stated motivations. And that's a good thing. For this movie, I don't really care why he's killing people and trying to get in the house. Flanagan makes great use of the set. He shoots the hell out of that house. Nothing about Hush is revolutionary. It's a successful experiment, tightly edited, and entertaining.
Why I Wish I Hadn't: The thing I love about Oculus is that it doesn't rely on characters doing dumb things. People doing dumb things is the main thing I dislike about most scary movies. Smart people can be scared too. Siegel's character isn't dumb. Gallagher's character is. That's where not knowing his backstory is maybe an issue. I don't really know what's motivating him, so I don't know his "rules". He has a crossbow, not a gun. Why? Because the movie needed him to have something with range that doesn't kill Siegel, I guess. Once he gets in the house, he doesn't kill her from the bathtub. He waits for her to have a chance to strike back, ultimately leading to his death. So, maybe that's it: I need to know what game he is playing. Without that, I don't know which choices are inconsistent or calculated.
Oh, and did I just miss the point early on where they mention that the glass is that strong? I spend most of the movie trying to figure out why he wouldn't just break a window.
Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend
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