Dead Silence

It plays better than it reviews — the watch lands harder than the write-ups suggest.

• “The dialogue isn't ridiculous, and sometimes it's witty: A cynical cop (Donnie Wahlberg) doesn't buy Jamie's theory that the doll had something to do with the murder: "The mystery toy department is down the hall. This is the homicide department."”

  Kyle Smith, New York Post · 63

• “Boasts nothing new under the sun, but it does provide a few decent scares.”

  Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter · 50

• “This new movie is a more credible, less grisly act of filmmaking , but it's a less compelling exercise. It doesn't have the ruthless moral reasoning of the first two "Saw" pictures, however grotesque and specious that reasoning was. But it does have a plot that revolves around a ventriloquist and her demon doll.”

  Wesley Morris, Boston Globe · 50

• “Again coaxing the worst imaginable performances out of his actors (see also: Cary Elwes and Danny Glover in "Saw"), Wan casts charisma-free unknown Ryan Kwanten as a young married man whose small-town past catches up to him.”

  Scott Tobias, The A.V. Club · 50

• “Terrified of puppets? Enjoy being scared? Then you'll be half-satisfied with Dead Silence, a rote horror pantomime.”

  Scott Brown, Entertainment Weekly · 50