WHISTLE
Starring: Dafne Keen, Sophie Nélisse, Percy Hynes White, Ali Skovbye, Sky Yang, Stephen Kalyn, Michelle Fairley, and Nick Frost
Director: Corin Hardy
ROBERT
Horror has seen a recent run of monkey paw/cursed item films (The Monkey, Talk to Me, etc.). Why? Probably because it is a safe, simple, and clear path to easy success. Whistle is in that same vein: ancient Aztec artifact that calls Death to anyone within ear shot (I have major questions as to the range of the curse, but I digress). It was fun to see Dafne Keen take a shot to lead this, but from her to everyone down the line, it’s all caricature or fodder, with wasted screen time for Nick Frost and Michelle Fairley; B-level Goosebumps storytelling.
BODE
Like a cross between Final Destination and Old, Whistle builds itself around an ancient artifact that speeds up death for both whoever blows it and whoever hears it. It’s a premise that could provide a reasonably fun time, and credit to director Corin Hardy, some of the kills featured (especially one that involves a car crash) are pretty accomplished. But they’re brief moments of genuine spark in a film that fails to capture the early 2000s teen horror vibe it so clearly seeks, and it’s not helped by the clunky dialogue, one-dimensional characters, and affectless performances from most of its cast. Such a real blow.
PAIGE
Whistle is an angsty, young adult horror flick that is unfortunately fairly generic. This Final Destination-esque movie delivers some pretty creative kills, an utterly ear piercing sound design, and a clever concept, but its rules surrounding the Aztec death whistle take too long to develop, which lessens the story’s stakes. Not to mention, its dialogue is cringy and its characters are stereotypical one-dimensional high schoolers. All in all, while the kills are memorable, the rest of the film left a lot to be desired.
