**SPOILERS** Better then you would expect Canadian import that has a twist ending to it that comes as almost no surprise at all. With the killer acting so obnoxious and weird, before his identity is revealed,that you can spot him almost as soon as you see him. The movie begins with young Amanda Mayers witnessing the murder of her parents , Larry & Elizabeth, in a home invasion by two ruthless thugs that leaves her so traumatized that she loses her ability to speak. With Amanda's closest relative being her aunt third year hospital resident Julia Kerbridge she's put in Julia's care which has her parents killers zero in on the two in their attempt to recover a micro-chip, that can revolutionize the world of technology. It was that chip that Amanda's dead parents had in their possession that their killers were looking for. We also have the mysterious and handsome next-door neighbor the on and off musician Kevin Finney who seems to take a more then a passing interest in Amanda and her aunt Julia. Kevin is always hanging around the place looking for something, the missing micro-chip?. He also has compiled a massive file, that Kevin foolishly leaves out in the open for Julia to later find, on the Mayer murders.Kevin gets very friendly with both Amanda and Julia which leads him to become a target of the two killers who are trying to get their hands on the missing micro-chip that they overlooked when they murdered both of Amanda's parents. Having her niece get treated by psychiatrist Dr. Ettinger has Julia and Dr. Ettinger realize that she's hiding the secret of her parents murder, and the missing micro-chip, in her subconscious mind that if cured, and able to talk again, would reveal their identities! even more important where the micro-chip is hidden! What Julia doesn't know is that the man behind Amanda's parents murder is a lot closer to both her and Amanda that she could have ever imagined.Well acted and eye-popping photographed, looking like it's in high definition, made for TV movie has Rob Lowe as the odd man out, who also plays a mean violin, as the hero. Lowe, or Kevin, after a few false starts shows who's side he's really on as the movie leads it it's final and unexpected conclusion. The killers in the film are so determined to get the missing,or stolen, micro-chip that they so far as getting themselves exposed by hanging around Julia's apartment house and Amanda's school, where they can easily be identified.***SPOILER ALERT****Things get out of hand for the killers when the real Dr. Ettinger shows up, from a two week vacation, and you begin to realize that Amanda's life is in far more danger then you, or both Julia and Amanda, could have ever suspected. It turns out that very person who's supposed to help Amanda recover from her trauma, of not being able to speak, is the one who caused it! The film has a wild and effective final with Amanda now again traumatized, by the fake Dr. Ettinger, to the point where she can talk again. With no one suspecting who he is will it be enough for both Julia and Kevin, who turns out to be a private investigator, to get the drop on him before he does them both, together with a terrorized Amanda, in!

This movie has it all. Poor casting, slow pace, Rob Lowe slumming, you name it. To start off, the little girl was a very bizarre casting as Stewart's niece (though she really may be, for all I know) and as the child of the people we saw in the beginning of the movie. She looks adopted. Perhaps she was - and I wouldn't put it past this script to not bother telling us.The pace of this thing is deadly. There's no acting to speak of because the characters are cardboard. Everyone acts sinister. And what is all the fuss about? When actors chased after McGuffin in Hitchcock, there was another storyline to keep them interested. Not in this movie.One sits through this entire film feeling as if something is off. Off with the acting, off with the story, off with you for watching it. So let's have one more off - off with the TV.

Rob Lowe must have eaten up the entire budget, but I can't fault him for running with the money. Even he would have to agree, there was nothing good about this movie. Filming, editing, direction, dialogue, sets, makeup, writing, casting (especially the young girl and imposter child psychiatrist), and the story all were just the worst. I have never seen such a horrible movie. Pass this one up for any other rental selection, or find yourself shouting out vile comments at the TV. Dead Silent should be silenced for all time.

The movie uses motifs that could be plagiarized from "Wait Until Dark" (1967), a much better movie by Terence Young, starring Audrey Hepburn. "Dead Silent" is a pale paraphrase. There is nothing new here -- the hidden object in the doll, the bad men wanting it, the bad guy posing as a good guy. The disability, though, has shifted : Audrey Hepburn couldn't see, the child in DS cannot speak. But both stories hinge on the handicap. Where "Wait Until Dark" built up unbearable suspense, "Dead Silent" lets you guess the outcome, the story being such a stereotype.