Carl Roberts 
“While not original, Corin Hardy’s Whistle is still an enjoyable, chilling and scary horror movie that will appeal to its targeted audience.”
It is getting harder to come up with original horror movies these days. To make up for this, screenwriters are taking ideas from other movies, combining them with some of their own stories and ideas and turning them into scripts. Look back at several movies over the past few years, and you can see what I mean. Going in to see Corin Hardy’s Whistle, I was hoping for a film that would break that kind of streak. Maybe I was hoping for a bit too much. That’s not to say the film is bad, because it isn’t. The film is an entertaining horror flick that does exactly what it needs to. Without a doubt, it will pull in the weekend crowd, entertaining them enough to send them home happy. It’s just that it isn’t wholly original.
THE PREMISE
A misfit group of unwitting high school students stumble upon a cursed object, an ancient Aztec Death Whistle. They discover that blowing the whistle and the terrifying sound it emits will summon their future deaths to hunt them down.
THOUGHTS
Despite being unoriginal, the film is great entertainment for the masses. The creepiness that films of this ilk need to succeed is all there, as are the nasty deaths and obligatory jump scares. However, here lies a problem. The film isn’t extremely frightening, with most scares telegraphed. Instead of being on the edge of our seats, scared of what may happen, we find ourselves patiently waiting for what we know is coming. And that isn’t a good thing. When you know what’s coming, it lends an air of predictability to what we’re watching. This drags the film down from what should be a pants-wetting horror movie into an interesting, wait-for-it routine slightly scary movie.
Take elements of the Final Destination movies, throw in some supernatural traits, add a dash of other horror movie tropes, mix together, and you have the plot of the film. It is a tasty concoction, one that hits the right spot, but leaves you wanting more after you’ve finished it. It also sometimes leaves you with a feeling of not being completely satisfied, that you don’t feel short-changed but not wholly satiated. Despite some gory moments later on that will amaze the audience (one death in particular is brilliant in its inception and execution), it is almost completely reliant on CGI effects for the deaths of the characters. While they are superbly done, they leave us wanting.
THE CAST
The cast plays their respective parts well. Dafne Keen as Chrys Willet is the lead character. Now, we are never sure if we like her or not for the first part of the film, before she begins to reveal her true colours behind the walls she puts up in front of almost everyone. Her backstory plays nicely into what’s to come, and her own fears and regrets. Sophie NĂ©lisse as Ellie Gains, a medical student and eventual girlfriend of Chrys, is also good in her role. She is the typical nice girl, the one who wants to befriend the new girl, stand up for her, and is the one friend who can help solve the mystery of what’s going on. Of all the characters in the film, Sophie NĂ©lisse’s is the strongest and best written.
Sky Yang as Rel Taylor, Chrys’s cousin, is the typical guy in love with the popular girl who turns him down. However, Yang is enjoyable in his role, making him an audience favourite. Ali Skovbye as Grace Browning, the object of Rel’s affections, is actually not the average beautiful heartbreaker that is usually written. Instead, Grace has a heart, a warmth that transcends and breaks the stereotypical mould that is normally on display. Instead, she has a kind heart and a lot of genuine character development. Jhaleil Swaby as Dean Jackson, Grace’s jock boyfriend, is, no matter how hard he tries to break free of the character restraints, lumbered with the normal ‘she’s mine, dream on’ kind of role. The unbeliever of the whole bunch. Swaby tries hard but can’t escape his character’s restraints.
SUPPORTING CAST
The three supporting cast members all have varying degrees of success. Percy Hynes White as Noah Haggerty, a local youth pastor and drug dealer, gets the meatiest of the supporting roles. Noah is a nasty piece of work, one that is seemingly friendly one minute before pulling a switchblade and becoming threatening the next. White plays the role well, but is sadly sidelined for a large chunk of the movie.
Michelle Fairley as Ivy Raymore, the terminally ill grandmother of the first person to die in the film, has what is essentially the token cameo role as the person who holds the explanation to what’s going on. In her two scenes, Michelle Fairley plays her token role well before leaving the film. As for Nick Frost as Mr Craven, I’ll be kind and say he did the role as a favour to Hardy. His is an all-too-brief appearance as a schoolteacher with an ulterior motive once he lays eyes on the death whistle. He isn’t allowed to get too deeply involved in the film before…well, you’ll see.
VERDICT
While not original, Corin Hardy’s Whistle is still an enjoyable, chilling and scary horror movie that will appeal to its targeted audience. Hardy directs with his usual flair and aplomb, making the best he can out of Owen Egerton’s screenplay. Hardy actually makes more out of the film than it deserves. After his brilliance with The Hallow and The Nun, you can detect his fingerprints all over the directing. His build-ups are on point, his handling of the scares and the gore is deft, and the whole film feels, at times, more of a mid-budget Hollywood horror flick. He certainly makes the film shine throughout.
By the time we reach the climax, we can see the plot threads and the potential for a sequel. With a mid-credits sequence that teases it, the scope for a sequel is there. Whether the film will earn one or deserve one is up for question. Despite the unoriginality of most of the film, I wouldn’t be averse to a follow-up movie. The only requisite is that it needs to be more original, to take bigger swings and risks with the story than retreading what’s gone before. Many other horror franchises have stumbled by going down that route. If this is to become a franchise or gain a sequel, it needs to tread a different path.
If I’ve made it sound like the film blows it (sorry!), it doesn’t. It is a worthwhile excursion to the cinema over the weekend. It will also become one of those films that will appear late at night and become a guilty pleasure. After seeing it twice already, I wouldn’t object to a third viewing before it inevitably hits home entertainment. It is a good, enjoyable and chilling watch. Corin Hardy deftly handles the scares, the cast is good, and the film flows smoothly. The film doesn’t blow it; it does what it needs to do and is great, chilling entertainment. It’s a blast.
Whistle will be in cinemas this Friday, courtesy of Black Bear Pictures.
Introducing Carl! As the News Editor at Future of the Force, Carl has been an invaluable member of our team since early 2016. His expertise and dedication have made him an integral part of our editorial staff. Beyond his professional role, Carl is a fervent supporter of Liverpool F.C. and an avid follower of pop culture. He has a deep passion for Halloween, Friday the 13th, and the iconic movie franchises Star Wars and Star Trek.
He can be found either at his neighborhood cinema, enjoying the latest releases on the big screen, or at home streaming the newest blockbuster movies.
