Mute Witness
All actors and roles (10)
All team (40)
Short description
Billy Hughes, a mute American special effects artist, is working on a low-budget film shooting in Moscow. One night she is accidentally locked inside the old studio and sees what she takes for a staged scene turn into the real killing of a woman. Unable to cry out or call for help, she reports the crime, but the police and those around her doubt her account, and the people behind the killing set out to silence the only witness. Her sister Karen is among the few who believe her.
Mute Witness is a crime, horror and thriller directed by Anthony Waller, who also wrote the screenplay and produced it with Alexander Buchman and Norbert Soentgen. It was his first feature, followed by An American Werewolf in Paris in 1997. Marina Zudina plays Billy, with Fay Ripley as Karen, Evan Richards as Andy Clarke, Igor Volkov as Arkadi and Sergei Karlenkov as Lyosha; Alec Guinness appears as a character billed as a mystery guest star. The production was an international one, mounted by companies from Russia, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States.
On IMDb the film holds 6.7 out of 10 from around 8,300 votes, while on TMDB it has 6.4 out of 10 from a much smaller pool of about 167 votes. A critics' rating of 7.1 out of 10 from 26 reviews places it somewhat above the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- Screenwriter, producer, and director Anthony Waller happened to meet Sir Alec Guinness (1914-2000) in Hamburg in 1985 and asked if he would like to play a cameo role. Guinness agreed and even said he was willing to do it for free. The problem was that Guinness's schedule was set for the next eighteen months and allowed for no changes, so Waller and Guinness agreed to meet the following morning in the same underground parking lot. Guinness did indeed play a small scene and did not charge for it. As for Waller, the chance to include this scene in the film only presented itself ten years later.
- Anthony Waller moved the film's setting from Chicago to Moscow because filming there was much cheaper.
- Screenwriter, producer, and director Anthony Waller accidentally met Sir Alec Guinness in Hamburg in 1985 and asked if he would like to play a cameo role. Guinness agreed and even said he was willing to do it for free. However, Guinness's schedule was booked for the next year and a half, so Waller and Guinness agreed to meet the next morning in the same place, in the underground parking lot. Guinness did indeed play a small scene and did not charge for it. Waller included this scene in the film only 10 years later.
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