It may seem like the killer-doll market has already been monopolized by a certain red-haired fiend named Chucky, but "Dead Silence" is bringing this classic horror subspecies back to life.

Well, "back to life" may be an exaggeration, since the film doesn't really have anything new to offer, but in today's market of gore-heavy and special-effects driven horror films, "Dead Silence" is a fairly nice surprise.

The film centers on the oldtime legend of a ventriloquist named Mary Shaw. Mary was killed by a mob of angry villagers who cut out her tongue before murdering her - just like any real mob would do. Now she lives on through the puppets she was buried with, vowing to kill every descendant of the men who killed her.

In order to stop her, Jamie (Ryan Kwanten, "Flicka") returns to his childhood town of Raven's Fair. Along the way he's pursued by Detective Lipton (Donnie Wahlberg, "Saw II"), the standard Hollywood prototype of a cop with a quirk (his: inexplicable constant shaving). Detective Lipton is convinced Jamie is responsible for the murder of his wife, and doesn't believe in all of these "ghost stories." Cue standard-horror fog machine.

For once, however, a horror film boasts a fresh gimmick. This one's main strength lies in its occasional removal of all sound - they don't call it "Dead Silence" for nothing. At these points there's a certain feeling of dread, often missing in many of today's mainstream horror films, although it does seem a bit unnecessary to beat the audience over the head with hundreds of shots of pseduo-menacing puppets. We get it - they're freaky.

"Dead Silence" is from the creators of "Saw," so it's almost certain that there will be some type of crazy twist at the end. If "Dead Silence" doesn't disappoint in this regard, however, it's due mostly to the fact that it's absolutely ridiculous.

For the horror buffs in the crowd, this innocuous little film will be predictable and routine. For everyone else, there are plenty of the classic "gotcha!" moments and stereotypical characters that you shovel your money toward week after week. That said, for my part, I've had worse Saturday afternoons.

Rating: Two stars out of five

Dead Silence
At Quality 16 and Showcase

Universal