Whisper

In the dead of winter, the kidnapping of a young boy results in fatal consequences in the supernatural thriller Whisper.

All Max Truemont (Josh Holloway, star of TV's smash hit Lost) wants is a chance to make a fresh start with his fiancée Roxanne...but a bank loan is not easy to get when you're a felon who's previously been convicted of manslaughter.

Max's last resort--and only remaining choice--is to team up with two shady associates hired by an absent mastermind to kidnap the son of one of the richest women in the state. After Max abducts the eight-year-old, he joins Roxanne and the fellow conspirators on an eerie, unsettling drive to their secluded winter hideout, an abandoned summer camp.

As they await ransom instructions, the group begins to turn on each other as past suspicions, betrayals and secrets inexplicably come into play. When the escalating events take a horrific turn, it soon becomes apparent to Max that the child may not be the innocent he first appeared to be.

The cast is largely unknown at least to me but they do a superb and unforgettable job bringing this story to life about a kidnapping that goes horribly wrong from the first instant. The three kidnappers, two men and a woman who are somewhat a love triangle, kidnap an eight year old boy named David SAnborn but not just any eight year old boy. David acts bizarre, drawing disturbing images, whispering evil into their ears, and creating a sense of fear among his own kidnappers. The tragedy is what happens to the kidnappers who don't deserve their fate. David is like Damien from the Omen but we're not really sure if he is the angel or demon or son of the Devil but he does act like one. The film is a good thriller but leaves some flaws in it. I kind of liked the film overall.

When it comes to the characterisation of children, Hollywood doesn't really have much of a gray area: a kid can be either unbearably cute and sweet or, alternately, a supernatural Hitler. That's pretty much it. When you go for the second option (which I encourage), your movie pretty much stands or falls with the child's acting performance. I'm glad to say "Whisper" really hits a bulls-eye in that field, because Blake Woodruff is an intensely frightening kid who nails every scene he's in. He's almost as scary as Harvey Stephens from "The Omen", the movie "Whisper" so transparently tries to ape. In fact Woodruff is almost too good, because it's incredibly frustrating how nobody ever picks up on his evilness. You know that scene from every slasher ever where you're supposed to yell "don't go in there!" when a character's being stupid? "Whisper" gives you that feeling for pretty much its entire running time, and nobody listens here either. Doesn't change the fact that it's quite entertaining though, because the scares are very well-done (despite the overuse of dream sequences) and the finale gives you everything you could want from this kind of B-movie. Just don't expect anything really creative.

If you too like to watch a movie just for a bed-time story you know the kind - it can't be complete crap, because you won't get into the story in the first minutes, but can't be too good too, 'cause you won't fall asleep during the rest of it. Magic category. And not so numerous as it looks like. "Whisper" seemed to fit, but - surprise - it doesn't.

A quite good Ransom-Omen-Shining mix story provides actors some good dialogues to play and apart from few flaws it holds the level. Solid, creative directing (which could be even better if wasn't so "present", so "hey!-this-cut-was-a-director's-idea!") draws the tension properly. Convincing acting, without embarrassing moments (especially the kid earns respect) and very good dark music harmonized with cinematography in few mood-building panoramas (don't know why I remembered this) complete the work - WE HAVE A GOOD MOVIE HERE (and we can't sleep).

This was an effectivly made film. Whisper might be in the same sort of vein as the omen, but its different enough to keep it interesting. So this young boy called davids babysitter dies afrer being chased by some wolves into an oncoming car. Its also the day of the childs birthday and his mother has hired a santa clause for some reason, but max is really there to kidnap david for ransom money. There are two other people involved in it. All great actors all around and each brough something to their roles but it becomes clear not long after that something is not right with david and he might pocess something no one would think. Overall an enjoyable and suspensfall horror thriller.