SincereFinest
disgusting, overrated, pointless
Catherina
If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.
Scott LeBrun
The appealing Russian actress Marina Zudina plays Billy Hughes, an American makeup effects artist working on a slasher film being shot in Moscow. Also on the crew are her sister Karen (Fay Ripley) and Karens' boyfriend Andy (Evan Richards, "Society"), the director of this little epic. One night, Billy is accidentally locked inside the studio after hours. Soon, she stumbles onto the filming of an honest-to-God snuff film. And when these cretinous filmmakers suspect that they've been witnessed, they start relentlessly pursing poor Billy.Admittedly, writer / director Anthony Wallers' movie is at its most absorbing in the early going. It begins on a hilarious note, with a hammy actress overdoing a death scene to the point of absurdity. And Waller doesn't take too long to plunge his leading lady into danger. Some of his action and suspense scenes are *very* riveting, and you're on the edge of your seat (to use an over-used phrase) rooting for Billy to escape the villains. Fortunately, Billy *is* a resourceful character. One of the nicest touches happens when Waller uses special effects trickery to make a hallway seem to stretch out endlessly, as Billy is on the run.But Waller lessens the effectiveness of "Mute Witness" by having the plot get less interesting as it goes along. When a cop character named Larsen (Oleg Yankovskiy) is introduced, it's just not the same when our heroine is given some sort of assistance. Waller does manage to make Larsen continuously ambiguous, as you keep wondering what side he's on. And Waller turns Karen and Andy into goofy comic relief characters; Karen, at least, is proactive and fairly resourceful herself, but Andy is such an incompetent idiot that you keep hoping that the bad guys will kill him off.The pacing is effective for a while, and the filmmaking pretty slick. Zudina is wonderful in the lead, and receives strong support from Ripley and Yankovskiy. Richards is okay, but again, his character is annoying. Igor Volkov and Sergei Karlenkov are spooky as the bad guys. There's a real joy in seeing the "special guest star" who pops up in two scenes as criminal mastermind The Reaper.Even with its flaws, "Mute Witness" is so damn good during its better portions that it still comes recommended.Eight out of 10.
cworld14-989-991707
I tend to chew on a fingernail or two during great fights and great movies and that doesn't happen very often. Not saying this movie is an all time classic but it is indeed a supreme nail biter and should have a place among great suspense movies. I gave it a vote of 8 just because I wanted to do my part to get this movie over the current 6.8 rating and up to a solid 7 where it deserves to be. I found this movie on a single list of top 100 best suspense movies of all time while searching the internet for same. I had no real expectations about this title but wow, this low budget movie delivers big time. Name another movie made for $2.000.000 that delivers even 10% of the thrills and chills. It feels like an American movie shot overseas even though it is a joint effort from Russia | UK | Germany. There are no over the top gore scenes and only one or two gratuitous nude scenes which for me is a big plus. I don't mind a nude scene in its place or a little blood letting but many of todays so called horror and suspense movies have absolutely nothing to offer except some weird competition to see who can be more creative (grosser) at removing body parts. Todays movie goers are lazy, they don't want to think or use their imagination, they just want everything laid open in front of them and explained down to the last detail. They have to see the knife in slow motion entering the body from every angle to be entertained. If a character says " they found her head in a hat box" I don't have to see the head, thank you, I do have my own imagination. I see many reviewers calling this director a Hitchcock wannabe but who in the business wouldn't want to be compared to a great director like Hitch. I see this guy closer to Brian De Palma with his quite, nerve twisting pace. I promise you this movie will have you on the edge of your seat almost from the title screen and constantly guessing whats coming next. SEE IT!
nycritic
A couple of years before SCREAM spoofed the slasher/horror genre with savvy, self-conscious young things knowing every trick in the book of what to do and not to do in a precarious situation, a little movie produced in Russia hit the theatres without any grandiose pretensions.This movie was MUTE WITNESS. Starring a cast of unknowns (except an extremely brief cameo by Sir Alec Guiness whose scenes were purportedly filmed eight years prior to the actual filming of this movie), it told the story of a mute make-up artist, Billie, who is working on a film on location in Russia produced and directed by her sister's boyfriend Andy. She is unaware that the set has closed when she goes to retrieve her belongings and inadvertently stumbles onto a porn shoot that becomes extremely bloody. Overcome with horror she alerts the murderers of her presence, a chase ensues, and finally she is rescued by Andy who take her home as they alert the police. The trouble is... there is no body, no evidence that anything of the sort took place. Even so, a mysterious inspector seems to be on Billie's side of the story....And to say more would be criminal. MUTE WITNESS is the kind of film that demands a scrutiny of viewing similar to the most intricate, clever thriller because as much as it is a convoluted thriller, it's one that pays its dues to movies like WAIT UNTIL DARK and the best of Hitchcock in its choice of camera cuts, deadpan humor, Americans reacting in foreign countries where they are powerless, and nail-biting suspense until it seems something must snap. Even if the story does become a little too implausible due to the fact that the story arc suddenly becomes the focus of an even greater conspiracy, the film succeeds in not trying to trick the audience with cheap shots (for example the sudden appearance of a person on camera accompanied by a crashing swell of violins) but with the fear of the unknown and that death is only a shadow away. Very smart.
Philip Van der Veken
At first this movie really had my full attention. I'm not saying this was an original movie, like I had never seen before, but it sure had something to offer that really appealed to me. It's a pity that it all went wrong in the second half of the movie.Billy Hughes is a mute make-up artist who works on an American slasher movie that's being shot in Moscow. One fine evening she witnesses the making of a snuff movie in the studio where her crew works. Now she has to try to escape from the murderers (Russian people who work in her film crew), to stay alive and to convince the authorities that the murder that she witnessed is real.I like to watch good thrillers and I'm a fan of European movies, because most of the time they pay more attention to the character development and the story. Even though this movie sometimes reminds me of a Hitchcock movie and even though it has a European cast and director, it can't convince me all that much. It has some good potential, but somehow they have messed it up and made it look like a mediocre Hollywood movie. The story is quite original, the locations are nice, but it is the acting that doesn't always do the trick. I'm not saying the actors are bad, but they aren't great either. I guess there are people who really love this movie, but I'm certainly not one of them. I give it a 5/10.
