MUTE WITNESS

MUTE WITNESS Marina Sudina, Fay Ripley (1995, Columbia TriStar, R, priced for rental) Overrated in its limited theatrical release, this low-budget indie is still superior to recent major-studio attempts at suspense. The complex plot involves a mute special-effects technician who witnesses a snuff film being made after hours on the set of the slasher movie her American crew is making in Russia. Though a subplot about a missing computer disc resembles a short film padded into a feature, writer-director Anthony Waller sustains the tension and atmosphere of alienation until the unfortunately predictable conclusion. B+