It’s impossible to ignore James Wan’s impact on the horror genre over the last decade and change. Saw put both Wan and “torture porn” on the map, Insidious revamped haunted house architectures, The Conjuring scared up record-breaking box office numbers – and that’s to start. Tack on successful sequels (Insidious: Chapter 2 and The Conjuring 2)Travel back in time with me, won’t you? Let’s jump back a decade. Back to when James Wan was still trying to emerge from under the shadow of Saw. Back to when he made one of his best movies. Back when no one gave the terrific Dead Silence the time of day. I am talking about movies like Saw ($100+ million gross), Insidious ($97 million gross) and The Conjuring ($318 million gross) for an obvious reason – audiences showed up. Butts were in seats, word of mouth spread, and the fanfare came rolling in. So why did critics savage Dead Silence (audience rating a 3.1-out-of-5), leaving it a mere afterthought when audiences stayed away? I have no idea, because the movie I watched deserves just as much praise as any of Wan’s more “presentable” franchises. It’s as good as his more acclaimed and successful horror movies in every way.