THIS REVIEW CONTAINS NO MAJOR SPOILERS.
I was lucky enough this week to attend an early screening of the new horror film Whistle from British director Corin Hardy, who appeared beforehand to introduce the film (and curse us all with its namesake prop). Hardy said he wanted to make his own American high school horror, a genre that I enjoy and thus can be quite forgiving towards. It was pretty clear that Hardy had bags of passion and love for the 80s/90s horror films he was paying homage to, with references sprinkled throughout for eagle-eyed horror fans. Whistle isn’t the most original horror film I’ve ever seen – though I don’t believe the Aztec Death Whistle has had its time in the spotlight, the plot is basically a rehash of Final Destination, which has also been aped in many a generic supernatural horror (see: Truth or Dare, Tarot, It Lives Inside, etc.) But Whistle manages to stand out by bolstering its plotting with some of the most balls-to-the-wall death scenes in recent memory. Hardy noted that one death in the script seemed unfilmable – so they went and did it anyway. This is what I like to hear!
The film wastes no time showing its hand with a cold open following basketball star Mason as he is pursued by a burning entity that eventually sets him on fire in the gym shower, which is only slightly less humiliating than having to use a communal gym shower. Six months later, our protagonist Chrys (Dafne Keen, somehow now all grown up) is a gothy teen who has (stop me if you’ve heard this one before) a troubled past, moving to a new town after the death of her father. Chrys quickly falls in with a disparate friendship group, including popular blonde Grace (Ali Skovbye), sports star Dean (Jhaleil Swaby), bookish doctor-to-be Ellie (Sophie Nélisse), and her comic-obsessed cousin Rel (Sky Yang). Exactly why these people all hang out isn’t clear, but it doesn’t really matter since we know they’re all going to be picked off over the next 90 minutes anyway.
So nice of Jenna Ortega to let someone else play the gothy teen in a horror film for once.
Opening her new locker, which belonged to now-dead Mason, Chrys finds a strange skull-faced object: their teacher Mr. Craven (Nick Frost) identifies it as an Aztec Death Whistle. Instead of immediately saying “No thank you” and getting rid of this obviously cursed oddity, Mr. Craven sees an opportunity to make some good money on eBay, and – to check it’s in good working condition – decides to give it a blow. Question: would you put a crusty, ancient whistle that you found in a dead boy’s locker in your mouth? No? You are officially more sensible than most of the characters in this film. Okay, so maybe they are being supernaturally compelled to blow it, but beyond my irrationally superstitious side, I am not letting that thing give me any ancient diseases. Eventually the teens also get hold of the whistle, and, as all white people in horror films must, get themselves cursed to die imminently.
Nick Frost don’t do it… you’re gonna get rabies from that thing!
So the plot is, as noted, one that has been played time and time again. But when death does come for the teens, Hardy shows his aptness to say “Fuck it” and give any crazy idea a shot. I won’t spoil the “perishments” (his word) – they really have to be seen to be believed. But the central conceit behind the deaths is as follows: when we are born, our death is fated, but the whistle calls your eventual death to come find you early. So if you are fated to die of old age, then expect to have some sags and wrinkles heading your way. If, like poor Mason, you were going to die in a fire… well, you get the idea. The gore is gratuitous, and seeing it in a full cinema with a captive audience was definitely the way to go. It’s been a while since I’ve heard genuine screams whilst watching a horror film, and I wish it was a more frequent occurrence.
As we know, “it was just locker room banter” absolves you of all sins.
Hardy also lets some of the heart shine through. Chrys finds connection to her dead dad through his vinyls, which sets up some nice retro needle drops and vaguely cringe teenage “I’m so cool because I listen to old music” attitudes. If the background pride flag didn’t make it obvious when Chrys first sees Ellie, her yearning stare tells you the girl is queer – but is straight-laced Ellie as straight as she appears? And there is further conflict with a secondary villain in youth pastor Noah (Percy Hynes White), who deals drugs to the kids on the side. Gotta watch out for those Jesus types, especially ones that wear bolo ties and carry switchblades.
I can understand that a lot of people will probably watch Whistle and, unfortunately, see it as a tropey horror like so many before it. But seeing Corin Hardy talk about the film, his passion and clear self-awareness about making a stereotypical American high school horror helped me appreciate the more tongue-in-cheek aspects of the film. And the death scenes are truly worth the price of admission. Yes, maybe the full audience, good atmosphere and free wine aided my enjoyment. But again, I am a horror fan and that usually means I’m very willing to watch and enjoy this type of film for the innovative kills alone. So if you’re a fellow horror aficionado: get some friends together, find a busy screening and go have a scream watching teenagers get torn apart. It’s what we deserve.
Director: Corin Hardy
Cast: Dafne Keen, Sophie Nélisse, Percy Hynes White, Nick Frost
Runtime: 100m
Certificate: 15
Country: Canada, Ireland
Images: No Trace Camping, Wild Atlantic Pictures, Black Bear Pictures