Dead Sound

You and your friends talk two strangers into hitching a ride on their boat to head to a party on an Island you are dying to get to. Half way through the trip, surrounded by water, the boat stops, the two men pull guns out on you. What do you do?

This is the intriguing premise behind the water logged thriller Dead Sound. Perhaps even more interesting, is the fact that the movie was inspired by a true story. Jon Adler, the Co-Writer and producer of Dead Sound had this to say about it on The Selling Your Screenplay Podcast.

“The real, true story is some friends and I were going to Block Island. We missed the last ferry on a Friday night.  We really had to get to this party, so we went out to the docks, found these two fishermen. We’re on their boat, half way across, in the middle of the Long Island Sound at night, they pull a shotgun on us and held us hostage on their boat.”

Given that, Jon Adler, and the other screenwriter, Ted Weihman did an amazing job embellishing this true story into a heart racing thriller with surprising turns. The dialogue was well crafted and gave these characters more depth than you normally get from a genre film. Dead Sound delivers suspense, yet also deals with an undercurrent of issues such as drug addiction and classism.

In short time we are introduced to the four friends. Ashley, who is boldly played by Sophie Faukenberry. Ashley’s former boyfriend, Jake is played by Noah Gaynor (Luce). Then there is Max Miller (Trick) as the tough guy, Carson and the rich kid, Nicky, with Matthew Gumley (“Dora The Explorer (TV)”) in that role.

Thankfully, the whole story is not set on the boat. For example, we get a reprieve by seeing this house party that these kids are missing. Matty Cardarople (“Stranger Things (TV)”) plays Harry, the host of the party. Harry is a quirky guy, the kind of character torn from a Wes Anderson film. He is a welcomed comic relief, especially as the body count rises.

Going into this movie knowing the true story behind it sure added a layer of interest. It makes you think about how easy it could be to find yourself in a life and death situation. And then again you’d wonder what you would do.  That is all part of the fun with these survival movies Isn’t it? Jon Adler has also said “Dead Sound is basically my version of what could have happened if we weren’t so lucky.”

The pacing of Dead Sound is right on target. This is a promising debut feature for Jon Adler, I’m hoping we see more from him. Director Tony Glazer conveyed this story through a natural and thematic lens. All these elements wash together to craft unique and taunt thriller.

The events and rising actions are believable and varied. These two fishermen are perfect antagonist, with their own beliefs and point of views. If I had to give a comparison to Dead Sound, I would say another boat bound thriller Donkey Punch has a similar tone. Why not watch both, it would be a fun double feature. Dead Sound is now available for rent and purchase on many digital platforms including Amazon Video and Vudu. The movie is distributed by Uncork’d Entertainment.  You can also find it floating around on DVD.

Curt Wiser is the Writer/Director of the suspense movie Cam-Girl. As a filmmaker, he charts a course to see the work of other artists and is happy to share them with the rest of the world.