WHISTLE: 3 STARS. “leans into nostalgia for teen popcorn horror.”
SYNOPSIS: In “Whistle,” a horror film starring Dafne Keen, and now playing in theatres, an ancient Aztec Death Whistle harkens the demise of a group of high school students. “If you hear the whistle scream, dying is not a choice.”
CAST: Dafne Keen, Sophie Nélisse, Sky Yang, Jhaleil Swaby, Ali Skovbye, Percy Hynes White, Michelle Fairley, Nick Frost. Directed by Corin Hardy.
REVIEW: With a healthy dose of nostalgia “Whistle” looks to the teen horror films of the 80s and 90s for inspiration and thrills.
The story begins with Chrys (Dafne Keen) moving to a new town, and a new school following the death of her father. As rumors swirl through the hallways about her dark past she is treated like an outsider by everyone, except Ellie (Sophie Nelisse), her smart, friendly classmate.
When Chrys discovers an ancient Aztec Death Whistle in the shape of a skull, left behind by a former student in her locker, she doesn’t realize that blowing into the artefact will summons the future deaths of anyone in earshot and hunt them down. “Our future death is hunting us.”
“Whistle” is an effective, nasty slasher that delivers a new riff on the “Final Destination” blueprint, finding inventive and entertaining ways to send its characters to the afterlife.
What separates “Whistle” from some (but not all) of its teen predecessors is the attention to character detail. Director Corin Hardy, working from a script by Owen Egerton, ensures the characters aren’t just disposable teens. They have backstories—someone them might even have futures—and they are a little more fleshed out than your run-of-the-mill slasher. When they start disappearing, you feel it.
But that doesn’t mean Hardy goes easy on them. The kills are grotesque and often quite juicy—I’d love to know the film’s fake plasma budget—which should be a bonus for gore hounds.
“Whistle” leans into its nostalgia for teen popcorn horror, but filters it through a new, modern lens.
Comments are closed.
