The Silencer

The Silencer is a low budget movie that takes a clear influence from Luc Besson's super stylized French thriller Nikita (1990). Both share the idea of a professional female killer who works for an enigmatic government organisation. In this one we have Angel, a leather clad, motorbike riding assassin who is paid to kill those who exploit women. Her assignments are given to her via an arcade game called The Silencer which is situated in a downtown bar and which delivers the mission instructions after a special coin is inserted.

Probably the best thing about this one is Lynette Walden who plays Angel. She has a good mixture of sex appeal and kick ass style; I mean, after all, how many leading actresses are actual genuine bikers? She's pretty decent value in the various action scenes and is a compelling presence throughout. The film itself I found to be pretty entertaining all things considered. It's cheap and cheerful stuff admittedly but it gets the job done. The plot-line was nicely episodic and paced pretty well I thought. It's one of those movies from the early 90's that falls at least partially within the erotic thriller bracket. These types of films have a bit of a ropey reputation but I think it's a genre that has been executed pretty well sometimes and for me this is one of the ones I like.

While this film does have some very poor sound effects editing (silencers that don't, for example), it is far from a bad film, even though it's obvious it did not intend to be anything other than a B-movie.

What is most impressive is the female lead. Lynette Walden does a surprisingly good job portraying Angel, and she is the first clue that this was supposed to be a sex and action flick. However, she went far beyond that and actually made Angel at least a character, as well as someone with whom you sympathize.

Some of the sound effect editing is bad, causing the two main characters' guns to sound like some warped combination of an overloud laser blast and a normal gun, it's not that dreadfully distracting. Also, there is some silliness in part of the plot.

Again, let me point out that for a movie trying to be a B-grade show, Angel is one of the strongest female characters I have ever seen in a movie. She doesn't go whining off to her boyfriend every time she gets in trouble or gets hurt. A refreshing change from most movies which are supposed to have a heroine who can stand up for herself but ultimately requires the help of the hero.

Give me Lara Croft (TOMB RAIDER) any time of day! You can interact with her a lot more than movies like THE SILENCER. Proving that the worldwide video game industry can be smarter and more creative than Underground Hollywood, it's a disgraceful pity. Aside from our "heroine" Angel, who shows a little life using the wimpy gun, the film suffers from one extremely fatal flaw: the silly writing. Halfway through, the stalker playing "The Silencer" apparently makes the film follow his point of view. It remains to feel more "exploitation" than basic action, and is the case with virtually all of them. I don't know why the hell they're made this way. One thing is for sure: they cash in on "adult" content more than the movies themselves. Avoid this and other female-lead "actioners" (except for Pam Grier's and LA FEMME NIKITA) at all costs to prevent further upsetting.

how can anyone not love this film? this movie goes so beyond bad it puts ed wood to shame. to think dozens of people actually put time and effort into this film, and even got paid for their "efforts," is just mind-blowing. forget camp, forget rocky horror picture show, steven segal, look who's talking too, just forget every bad film you ever saw. if you want to cry and laugh until you die convulsing on the floor, watch this film. has more cheese than the moon, worse editing and effects than 'liquid sky', more gratuitous skimpy outfits than a britney spears video, 'the silencer' is just wall-to-wall cringers.

This movie is simply quite horrible. I watch a lot of movies (typically 4-5 a week at the very least) of which many are b-movies. But i have trouble finding movies that have as few qualities as this one. The plot is non-existent and all the characters have the depth of a playing card. The effects are pretty silly, with silencers that sound like cannons, video games that give flashbacks to the eighties, completely unnecessary slow-motion sequences, and of course a score sounding like that of a b-grade porn flick.

If i should try to find anything positive to say, it´s that Lynette Walden is very nice to look at. Something that the film-makers obviously knew since they like to keep the camera showing her chest a bit too much...

All in all, this is a pathetic movie. I give it 1/10.