Dead Silence Twist Ending

Screenwriter Leigh Whannell is known to feature twist endings. His Saw, Dead Silence, and Insidious movies employ plot twists to shift resolutions into unique directions. We never suspect Dead Silence will end with a twist.

However, the movie ending reflects back on small scenes to explain this twist ending. If you haven't watched Dead Silence, avoid reading the twist ending spoiler below.

***Dead Silence twist ending spoiler***

Mary Shaw is a ventriloquist accused of killing a small boy. This small boy attempted to embarrass Mary Shaw, revealing her doll wasn't real to the live audience. 

The town took the law into their own hands. They ripped Maria Shaw's tongue out, and then buried her with all of her dolls. 

The curse is that Maria Shaw would rip your tongue out. This story was told to children to scare them. Mary would kill any person who screamed after seeing her, removing their tongues and hollowing out their heads. 

In the twist ending, Jamie approached his wheelchair-bound father. His father slouched over, exposing his hollowed-out back cavity. It is then we learn the truth about Jamie's father. 

Ella Ashen, presumed to be the wife of Jamie's father, is an expert ventriloquist. She carved out the perfect doll of his father, tricking him into believing he was actually alive. 

The twist is revealed through flashbacks in which Jamie remembers Ella next to his father's side. We can see Ella guiding his voice and body movement.  

In this twist ending,  a possessed Ella turns into Mary Shaw and kills Jamie. Ella tells Jamie who is the dummy now? She kills him. The trickery is the spirit of Maria Shaw murdering Jamie's wife to draw him close to his father and the town. As a result of this, Jamie is the last living descendant of families connected to those who were responsible for Mary Shaw's death.  

Cool twist ending. Leigh Whannell uses plot twists in all of his movies. Watch his Saw and Insidious movies for these clever twist endings. Insidious features a similar ending to Dead Silence. Lastly, watch the original Saw movie to witness possibly his best twist ending.