While wrapping up film school, there’s a bit of a rush to make your first feature film. Nowadays you can make your debut film using the 4K camera in your cellphone and post it online with the hopes of getting the attention of a bigger streaming site. Back in the ’90s, you had to shoot on 35mm film and gets a massive light package for a professional look. Sundance and other festivals weren’t going to run a blurry standard definition video like a projector TV at a swingers bar. One of the big problems in making that first film is money. One of the solutions presented to me was to get hooked up with a film studio in a former Eastern Bloc Nation. By going to Budapest, Warsaw or somewhere in Romania, an indie production could save a small fortune as the studio would provide local crew who didn’t earn close to union scale. This seemed perfect. I had dreams of getting to make Euro flicks like Radley Metzger. It still cost a small fortune to make a film on the other side of Europe. For a few years, I kicked myself for not scrapping together the cash…until I saw Mute Witness on VHS. Now you can see Mute Witness on 4K UHD and witness the price of shooting a cheap film overseas.
Andy Clarke (Evan Richards) has come to Russia to shoot his horror film in a soundstage that looks like it was built for a horror movie. His girlfriend Karen (Cold Feet‘s Fay Ripley) is there to help him in the foreign country. More important is Karen brought her sister Billy (The 30th Must be Terminated!‘s Marina Zudina) along for the production. Billy is the special effects wizard which is valuable in making a horror film. The stage blood must flow. The thing about Billy is that she is mute and has difficulty hearing clearly. Karen has to act as an interpreter to the interpreter to tell things to the Russian cast and crew. After wrapping up a long day shooting, Billy has to head back to the studio to get one of her props. What should have been a simple in and out doesn’t go right. Billy accidentally locks herself inside. She can’t find a working exit. She calls her sister on the phone and morse code taps what happened. It’ll be a bit before they can head over. She keeps looking for an exit and discovers a Russian crew has borrowed their camera equipment, lights and set to make an adult movie. She’s a bit amused at this after-hours action until the carnality turns rough. The masked “lover” pulls out a knife and stabs the actress. The stealth crew isn’t using any of Billy’s special effects. A frightened Billy has to do her best to escape the snuff filmmakers. There’s a lot of suspense and tension since Billy can’t quite call out for help.
Writer-director-producer Anthony Waller (An American Werewolf in Paris) really did take his production to Russia. He even got a night scene near Red Square. The film has the decaying nature of Moscow in every frame. The studio location is decrepit. When Billy is racing around the place, you fear that a wall might fall on her as much as getting caught by Russian thugs. The whole place is dangerous. Yet you don’t question why they’re making a movie here because you can see the budget savings. This is one of those desperate things people do to get their first feature film made.
The movie is noted as the last screen appearance of Sir Alec Guiness (Star Wars). Although that wasn’t the plan. The short scenes involving Guiness were shot in West Germany (It was still a divided land) by Waller in 1985. Little did Guiness expect this footage to take a decade (and after his retirement) to make it into a film. He didn’t pass away until 2000 so Sir Alec had to feel a bit happy that his short cameos finally had a film wrapped around them. Why didn’t Waller shoot in Russia shortly after this footage? Turns out it was still the Soviet Union at that time and not friendly to low budget filmmakers.
When Mute Witness came out in the Fall of 1995, the theatrical box office wasn’t so great. The VHS however was a constant renter as word of mouth grew about the film. That’s how I saw it when a pal rented it one night from West End Video. We all agreed it was a great thriller and under no circumstance would we go to Russia to make a movie. Seeing Mute Witness upgraded to 4K UHD heightens the experience and reaffirms my decision to avoid a Moscow studio no matter how cheap the price.
The Video is 2.35:1 anamorphic. The 4K UHD brings out the textures of the Russian locations. The shadows look good in this shadowy tale. The Audio is LPCM 2.0 stereo of the original theatrical mix. It’s clean restoration so you’ll hear the slight sounds around the Russian soundstage. The movie is subtitled in English.
Audio Commentary by writer/director Anthony Waller has him point out his hand, feet and belly cameos in the film. He gets into playing with the audience expectations in the film. He used the real crew as extras. We learn which cast member is the Robert De Niro of Russia. He’s thrilled to be re-issuing the film.
Audio commentary with production designer Matthias Kammermeier and composer Wilbert Hirsch, moderated by critic Lee Gambin. Matthais met director Anthony Waller at the Munich film school. The original version of the script was based at Matthais’ studio space. Waller’s commercial company worked in Hamburg which was how they shot the Alec Guiness footage.
The Silent Death (11:33) is a visual essay by author and critic Alexandra Heller-Nichola. She compares Mute Witness to other movies about snuff films. You’ll probably want to see a few of the titles mentioned here. She points out that Mute Witness is about a snuff film being made and not just finding the released 8mm (or 16mm) reel.
The Wizard Behind the Curtain (23:23) is a visual essay by author and critic Chris Alexander. He digs into the film-within-a-film that gets the horror filmmakers trapped in a real horror. We get a history of other horror movies that were about a film crew making a horror film.
Original “Snuff Movie” presentation (25:08) was produced get the attention of from investors and distributors. There is interview with Anthony Waller. There’s also talk to many of the German crew. They tease how the project is coming together in Europe.
Original location scouting footage (7:30) has a warehouse in Boston that they didn’t use.
Original footage with Alec Guinness (2:41) has all the footage shot of the actor in the back of the car. He did it smoothly.
Teaser trailer (1:09) is a red band trailer!!! They sell it on a bubble bath and violent images from the film.
Trailer (1:47) plays up the Russian mafia making a snuff film angle. we see most of Sir Alec Guiness’s performance.
Image gallery has 7 press photos.
Double-sided foldout poster featuring original and new artwork by Adam Rabalais. This is suitable for framing.
Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Michelle Kisner
Arrow Video presents Mute Witness: Limited Edition. Directed by Anthony Waller. Screenplay by Anthony Waller. Starring Marina Zudina, Fay Ripley, Oleg Yankovsky, Evan Richards and Alec Guinness. Running Time: 97 minutes. Rating: Rated R. Release Date: June 11, 2024.
