Mute Witness — Mute Witness(Blu Ray)
Mute Witness is a mid-90s De Palma-like thriller- which is both rewardingly engaging and at points very tense. It regards a mute female effects artist working on a film in Russia- who believes she’s witnessed the filming of a snuff film. The film blends humour in with its trills & light horror tropes- this largely works, but on a few occasions it does tonally unbalance itself. Here from Arrow Video- both in the UK & stateside- is a new reissue of the film.
This new release comes in the form of either a UHD or Blu-Ray disc- I’m reviewing the second of these. Both versions take in a new 4k scan, two commentary tracks, and a fair selection of new & archive extras.
Mute Witness is from the year 1995- it was a British, Russian, and German co-production. The film was written, directed and produced by Lebon-born Brit Anthony Waller. Between the late 80’s and the early 2020’s he had seven feature lengths to his name- these went from Als die Liebe laufen lernte: 2. Teil( 1989)- which complies together various German sexual education from the ’60s & ’70s. Onto horror comedy sequel An American Werewolf In Paris(1997), horror/ psychological thriller 9 Miles Down(2009), and horror fantasy Piper(2023) which regards a mother & daughter been bother by the spirit of the Pied Piper.
The film kicks off how it means to continue with thrills edged with humour/ light parody. As we get a POV shot of a woman getting ready for bed- the house's widow opens, and in walks a killer- the woman is stalked, her partner is killed off-screen, and she is stabbed. We start panning back to see a film crew filming the scene- and they all look awkward/ chuckling as the actress overdoes her death, pulling the set apart. In the chaos is Billy Hues(Marina Zudina) a twenty-something female effects artist- who we find out soon enough is mute. She’s an American working on a Russia set with her sister Karen(Fay Ripley), and her director boyfriend Andy( Evan Richard)
The shoot winds down for the day with everyone leaving the run-down isolated set- Billy darts back to pick up a mask, while Karen & Andy head to their apartment to cook up a feast. Billy gets locked in, and seemingly sees a snuff film being made- as a naked blond hair woman is stabbed to death.
The first half or so of the film is a rather tense cat & mouse affair- as Billy tries to avoid the film's creators. After this we drop in to finding out exactly what happened/ what she saw- and of course, I can’t give any of this part of the film away.
The acting is largely fair to good, and Zudina works as a believable enough lead. We get a brief big star cameo from none other than Sir Alec Guinness. The film runs at just over the one hour & a half mark, and keeps you very much held/ engaged all the way through- save for the resolve, which rather leaves more than a few questions.
The only real issue/ problem here is the mixing of the thriller & comedy elements- these elements sometimes shift & blend, and at other points are left to stand on their own. At moments, the comedy elements are rather both bumbling & silly- and from time to time it does take away from both the believability and flow of the film. But thankfully these moments are few & far between.
Moving onto this recent release. We get a nicely crisp & well-defined new 7k scan of the film on the disc. On the new extras side, we get the following two new commentary tracks- one with the director, and one with production designer Matthias Kammermeier and composer Wilbert Hirsch, moderated by critic Lee Gambin. I played the first of these, which was an excellent/ most rewarding director's track. He begins by talking about how the open scene was meant to be in a NYC flat- though none of the set dressing relates to this. He discusses how he dislikes film with film scenes, and how he feels his scene plays with the cliches well. We find out there were only five Western filmmakers on the film- and each had to have their own translator, as at that point in Russian few people spoke English. He talks about how the film's shoot was three months, and that the main location for the first half of the film was Mosfilm studios. He introduces each actor as they appear on screen. Later on, he talks about the use of sound design & music are use in some scenes. How he got into filmmaking as a child, and the film's mix of thrills & humour.
Otherwise, on the new side, we have two new visual essays The Silent Death(11.33) which finds author and critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, examining Mute Witness and its relationship with snuff films. The Wizard Behind the Curtain (23.23) which finds author and critic Chris Alexander, exploring the phenomenon of the film-within-a-film.
On the archive side, we have the following: “Snuff Movie” presentation, produced to generate interest from investors and distributors, featuring interviews with Anthony Waller and members of the creative team. Location scouting footage. Original footage with Alec Guinness, filmed a decade prior to the rest of Mute Witness
If you enjoy nice and tense thrillers then Mute Witness is a must. Yes, the addition of humour is a little tonally unbalancing- but it largely is kept in tow. As we’ve come to expect we have a great new print and an equally great selection of extras.