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Mute Witness

“Mute Witness” often shows up in DVD bargain bins - and the release offers no extras at all - but this low-budget thriller packs plenty of nail-biting moments.

Here’s the set-up: a trio of American filmmakers go to Russia to shoot a slasher film. One night, make-up artist Billy Hughes (Marina Sudina) gets locked in the warehouse studio and, in trying to find a way out, she stumbles across another production – a snuff film. She manages to elude the murderous filmmakers until her friends come back (one of the most tension filled sequences I’ve seen in a long time), but she’s not out of danger. No one believes her story.

It doesn’t help that Billy is mute, incapable of speaking at all. She can hear fine, a fact that is often forgotten by all but her sister Karen (Fay Ripley). When Billy finally talks authorities into investigating her claims, the killers convince the cops it was all special effects make-up. When one policeman finally seems to believe her story, Billy’s not sure she can trust him.

Sir Alec Guiness, by the way, is the only “name” star in the picture; the story goes Sir Alec shot his scenes years before writer-director Anthony Waller completed the film, and Guiness’ name does not appear in the credits.

“Mute Witness” is by no means a perfect film, but its twisty-turny plot leaves you wondering, until the very end, whether Billy will survive – or end up the star of another snuff film.

Written by: Auriette Lindsey

Reviewers Rating: 8.5
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