Short Circuits: 'Silent House,' animated GIFs, Timer app

Haunted 'House' chills viewers to the core"Silent House" might find an audience among those who can appreciate it for what it is: a scary, yet thoughtful art-house frightfest. Yes, there's a hyperventilating, helpless young woman trapped in a dark, secluded house with a crazed, possibly homicidal stalker. But the similarities with such films as "Halloween" end there.

That's because the young woman (Elizabeth Olsen), her stalker and even the "house" of the title are not what you think they are for most of the film. That's because of a twist ending that will either satisfy you or tick you off royally. It's a measure of the film's power that it connects so strongly with its audience.

The DVD and Blu-ray (Universal, $30-$35) include commentary by co-director Chris Kentis and screenwriter / co-director Laura Lau.

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Colin Covert's take: "Silent House" feels like a psychotic episode come to life. It's impressive and oppressive and it very effectively gets on your nerves.

Also out Tuesday:

Movies: "The Deep Blue Sea," "Jiro Dreams of Sushi," "Meeting Evil."

Blu-ray debuts: "The Last Days of Disco," "Metropolitan," "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (Season 1).

Animate GIFs easilyYou see animated GIFs all the time online, frequently as icons and avatars. Here's one way to create these moving or changing photos or cartoons without any special software.

1. Go to LooGix (www.loogix.com), a free website where you can create animated GIFs and then save them, post them online or e-mail them to friends and relatives. You'll need images on your computer or mobile device that you can upload to the site.

2. Upload up to 10 pictures to create a multiple-image animation. Select the output size and how fast you want the images to change. Click "Generate Animation" to create the GIF.

3. Scroll down the site to create animated special-effects GIFs. We discovered at least 17 special effects, but only eight show up at a time. Refreshing the site changes which effects appear.

It's time for TimerMost of us don't normally associate words like "elegant" with an app like a timer, but Timer for Android (99 cents via Google Play) is a perfect example of how function doesn't have to be sacrificed for form. It's feature-rich, sharp-looking and, most important, it's functional -- so much so that you won't mind dropping a buck for it.

While the idea of paying for a timer might sound silly, this app does more than just count down hours and minutes (although it does that in spectacular form). You just drag your finger around the circle or use the numbers at the top of the display to set your countdown timer to the value you want -- perfect for timing food in the oven. You can even back up your saved timers to your Google account and grab them on other Android devices.

Save as many timers as you like, so if you, for example, frequently give a 20-minute speech or like to take 45-minute naps, you can save those timers for future use and label them so you know what they are.