Whispers

"Whispers" follows Hilary, a journalist who is stalked by a psychopath. When she eventually kills her attacker, she is mortified to witness him again--except this time, he does not seem to recall their past. She teams with Tony, a detective to unravel the mystery.

This adaptation of Dean Koontz's novel is certainly not a work of high art, but I found it a rather entertaining, somber chamber piece that recalls the murder mystery Lifetime TV movies of the 1990s. Shot in Montreal, the film has an autumnal coldness about it that leaps off the screen.

Despite its low-key demeanor, it is actually rather entertaining, and I was invested enough to want to know the answers that the screenplay had laid out. Pacing-wise, the film's revelations are doled out in a fairly clunky manner in the final act (i.e. The two lead characters interview a variety of people in succession, which rather lazily puts together the puzzle). That being said, there are enough weird subplots and themes thrown in (the occult, incest(!?), and a possible Satanic connection, for starters) that, though they don't really go anywhere, add a strange darkness to the proceedings.

Victoria Tennant, known for her turn as the diabolical, selfish mother in 1987's "Flowers in the Attic", makes for a decent lead here; she is similarly detached, but this makes some sense given her character. Genre favorite Chris Sarandon does what he can in the hunky detective-turned-boyfriend role.

The film's finale is rather anticlimactic, but given its somewhat plodding pace, this is not a surprise. The showdown in the spooky mansion is decently-orchestrated. Overall, I should not have enjoyed "Whispers" as much as I did, because the reality is that it's a fairly somber flick that is not exactly well-put-together; however, for some ineffable reason, I found myself very much enjoying it, perhaps because of some sort of nostalgia factor. Still, for being as "Lifetime television movie"-esque as it is, "Whispers" harbors a strange darkness about it that gives it more mystique than it has probably earned. 7/10.

Have now seen this tvice and would not agree with the very low ratings the movie have got. Not that great acting, not the best story (did enjoy the book better) but still a enjoyable watch. Some nice occult stuff and all fans of a swedish car will have som nice driving scenes.

My review was written in December 1990 after watching the movie on Live video cassette.

Direct-to-video release "Whispers" is a superior thriller, with potential as a sleeper success in the home video market. Name of novelist Dean R. Koontz co9uld be a boost.

In a field glutted with predictable would-be chillers, Canadian made pic delivers a truly novel storyline and a very satisfying payoff.

Steve Martin's wife Victoria Tennant is well-cast as a patrician writer who's attacked in the opening scene by Jean Leclerc, a rich guy she met briefly. The police, led by Chris Sarandon and his sexist partner Peter MacNeill, take a lackadaisical attitude until a second attack occurs and Leclerc is killed by Tennant in self-defense.

With plenty of intriguing details and foreshadowing, film evolves into a maybe he' a vampire picture, as Leclerc returns to wreak havoc. Explanation of what's really going on is offbeat and ingenious. In fact, if this film had received a theatrical release, it would probably have been advertised with a "Don't reveal the ending" warning like such classics as "Diabolique".

Often in satin lingerie, Tennant is an ideal lady in distress while Leclerc has the rugged good looks to personify her nemesis. With old-age makeup on, Canadian actress Jackie Burroughs is terrific in a single scene as a former brothel madam recounting the story of Leclerc's boyhood. It's a perfect example of how to inject exposition without boring the audience.

Finale explains the film's title as the chirpings of cockroaches in an extremely gruesome scene.

I haven't read the novel, nor anything else by Koontz. Therefore, I cannot comment on how accurate and adaptation this is. I can, however, point out that this really is pretty standard fare, and at times, not even quite that. Let's get the couple of positives out of the way... while the editing and cinematography are average, there are a few cool shots. The mystery is fairly unexpected, and the plot twists are rather surprising. Pacing isn't too bad, and the 90 minutes don't feel as much longer than they are as you'd think. The reasons why this still sucks are plentiful... let's start with the characters. Can someone point me to where Hilary has any personality? Seriously, we're given zero reason to care about her, other than that she's the lead. It seems like she's arrogant, but even that isn't seen that often here. Sarandon is basically playing the exact same role as he did in Child's Play, the cop who's not sure what to believe. His partner is a despicable, intolerable jerk who spends the entirety of his screen-time being a misogynist(seriously, I haven't seen that much hatred towards the gender since Saving Silverman). I'm not sure there's a single likable human being, or one that the audience can relate to, in this whole thing, and most stand out only by the negative(and on notable occasions, downright sick and disgusting) traits. The music is unimpressive and not memorable. That goes for the dialog, as well. Development of any kind is handled in a lazy and careless way. This doesn't really build suspense, though it does try to. The trailer, the only special feature on the DVD, gives exceedingly big hints of what happens, and should probably not be viewed until after watching the movie. This has nudity, for the guys, infrequent, strong language, and some violence and disturbing content. I recommend it only to those with indiscriminate taste, or huge fans of those who had anything to do with making it. 5/10

The movie version of Whispers just does not do Dean Koontz' excellent novel justice, but it is still enjoyable and stuck fairly close to the original plotline created by Dean Koontz. The story is twisted and gruesome and has to do with a woman being stalked by a serial killer. Sounds simple, right? However the nasty, perverse elements of the story make this unique. This, again, was okay but if Koontz had scripted it would have been a lot better. The actress who played Hilary was about ten years too old for the part, had the wrong hair color (Hilary had long, black hair in the book) and I detected a faint British accent. Chris Sarandon was okay as Tony, nothing special, and the actor who played Bruno was very good, even though it wasn't how I imagined Bruno. I suggest that anyone who may be interested in seeing this, read the book first if you really want to. It's much better than the movie.