Silent Rage (Michael Miller, 1982)

When a genetically altered zombie escapes its lab, its only goal is to kill anything that gets in its way.

It falls to Sheriff Dan Stevens (Chuck Norris) to confront the monster - if he can.

Is this movie great?

I watched it years ago, and remember kind of liking it. I am not a Chuck Norris fan, and I am not that interested in going back to it.

But after watching a couple of Dolph Lundgren movies, I was keen to broaden out to other action stars I have not covered.

And with October upon us, I wanted to hit something with a horror slant.

Silent Rage is one of Norris's rare deviations outside the straight action film. I believe he has only one other horror film in his filmography (1994's Hellbound).

The opening sequence is completely disinterested in the expectations associated with its star. With its doom-laden synth score, and off kilter white-on-black titles, Silent Rage is closer in tone and style to the slasher template laid down by Halloween.

While Norris is famously wooden, the movie is surprisingly naturalistic - the interactions between the characters feel more thought out, and the supporting cast (particularly the mad scientist trio of Ron Silver, Steven Keats,  and William Finley) are all doing good work. 

And Norris is not bad - he seems to be genuinely engaged, particularly with love interest Toni Kalem and sidekick Stephen Furst (Animal House).

The biggest issue with the movie is that a lot of Norris’s scenes seem to be padding - a subplot of Stevens fighting a biker gang seems to exist solely to give the star something to do while scientists Ron Silver, Steven Keats,  and William Finley argue over the ethics of their undying creation.

On this viewing, those scenes did not register. The movie is decently paced, and when it comes to its set-pieces, it is genuinely effective.

There is some effective use of long takes and blocking to build suspense, particularly in the pair of stalking sequences which bracket the film.

In the film’s opening scene, the camera tracks John Kirby (Brian Libby) as he slowly cracks. The naturalistic sound design also plays a role, as the sounds of neighbourhood kids slowly grow in intensity. It is a subtle ratcheting up of tension which the film returns to again and again.

Slasher films can feel repetitive and uninspired in their use of familiar film grammar, but the filmmakers behind Silent Rage have a firm hand on how to milk their rather simple scenario.

Brian Libby is a terrific villain, Peter Bernstein and Mark Goldenberg‘s synth score is effectively eerie, and the film’s one (bad) fight scene does not undermine the film’s suspense. 

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