I never turn down an opportunity to watch a Jess Franco movie, even if it turns out to be a rather middling one like Silence of the Grave.
Members of a film crew congregate at the remote island home of a famous actress named Annette (Glenda Allen) and her mentally unstable sister Valerie (Montserrat Prous). The mood of the party is quickly dampened when Annette’s son is kidnapped. Eventually, the kidnapper resorts to murdering the guests one by one.
Silence of the Grave offers a slight variation on the durable Old Dark House/Ten Little Indians scenario. While it’s certainly watchable, it’s not nearly as tawdry or disgusting as Franco’s best stuff. In fact, this is one of his tamest efforts, which doesn’t exactly help matters. Even the murder scenes, when they finally do arrive, are mostly bloodless. However, it has a sturdy enough set-up and is certainly more competent than dozens of other Franco films. That’s not to say that a little sleaze or gore here and there couldn’t have livened up the proceedings.
The biggest issue is that the plot frequently spins its wheels and at times, the pacing has a tendency to drag. Fortunately for the Franco faithful, there are a few highlights to be had, so it’s not a total loss. I liked the scene where Valerie sizes up the party guests and through her thoughts/narration, she clues the audience in on how much she hates each one of them. The performances by Prous playing the cuckoo Valerie and Kali Lansa as the sultry housekeeper Laura are also quite good. Silence of the Grave also has a lot of the cinematic hallmarks (pointless zooms, lazy camerawork, etc.) you’ve come to expect from Franco, which means die-hard fans of Uncle Jess may be able to find something here to enjoy. The casual viewer, on the other hand, is undoubtedly sure to meet it with a disinterested shrug.
AKA: Slience of the Tomb.
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