Do Sussurro ao Grito

1986's "From a Whisper to a Scream" (theatrically issued as "The Offspring" before returning to its original moniker) was an ambitious anthology for young filmmakers with more talent than money, director Jeff Burr carving out a niche in horror sequels over the following years. Shooting lasted 24 days in Burr's hometown of Dalton, Georgia, representing the Tennessee town of Oldfield, home of executed murderess Katherine White (Martine Beswick), whose uncle Julian (Vincent Price) receives a visit from reporter Beth Chandler (Susan Tyrrell), curious about how his niece could have begun her murder spree while still a child. Julian shows her records about several past incidents to prove that Oldfield itself has been a harbinger of evil since its inception during the Civil War. "Stanley," played by Clu Gulager, is by all appearances a harmless old coot, taking care of a chronically ill sister (played by his real life wife, Miriam Byrd-Nethery) who displays incestuous feelings for her brother and talks of nothing but the old days with their long dead father. Stanley's obsessive longing for a coworker (Megan McFarland) finds him sending her flowers from a 'secret admirer,' and she incredibly agrees to a date just to pacify the nerd. When she rebuffs his advances he strangles her and leaves the corpse to be found in the road, feigning innocence when the murder is revealed the next day. After breaking into the funeral home to molest the corpse, the killer spends the next 9 months enjoying the fruits of an unsolved crime, finally tiring of the ice water baths required to cool down his sister to strangle her as well, only to receive his just desserts from a most unexpected visitor. "On the Run" centers on lowlife Jesse Hardwick (Terry Kiser), badly wounded after an encounter with two hoodlums, stumbling into the swamp where he is found by an old man, Felder Evans (Harry Caesar), who nurses him back to health. Seemingly pleased to have some company in his isolated shack, Felder is unaware of his new tenant's overly inquisitive nature and murderous demeanor, uncovering evidence that his benefactor may be over 100 years old. His nightly voodoo chants help to produce an elixir that may be responsible for his longevity, agreeing to share it with Jesse if he works hard enough, but the ingrate turns on Felder to his everlasting regret. "Lovecraft's Traveling Amusements" is a carnival sideshow owned by the mysterious Snakewoman (Rosalind Cash), all the performers slaves to her will, especially the handsome glass eater, Steven Arden (Ron Brooks), whose forbidden love for local girl Amarillis (Didi Lanier) may prove to be his undoing. "Four Soldiers" headlines Cameron Mitchell as Sgt. Gallen, leader of a quartet of deserting Union soldiers who delight in their continued reign of terror over the Confederates even after learning the Civil War is over. A field covered in landmines quickly puts them out of commission to allow easy capture by a band of crippled and mutilated children, all orphaned during battle, keeping the spirits of their fallen parents alive by torturing any soldiers they find. One is stabbed in the crotch, another has an eye gouged out, while Gallen callously murders a little girl who freed him because he looked like her father; his fate is preordained no matter how he tries to escape. Julian's chronicles do not convince his unmoved visitor, who soon reveals her own past history with Oldfield much to the old man's horror. The four segments had already been completed when Jeff Burr called at the home of Vincent Price, script in hand (and a bottle of wine), to offer him the lead role, and to his unabashed delight, the actor accepted as a final farewell to the genre he loved. Cameron Mitchell stands out as the despicable sergeant, and Bela Lugosi costar Angelo Rossitto enjoys a fine role as a sympathetic sideshow barker. During the decade of "Creepshow" this omnibus rarely received its just due, but in tackling taboo subjects like dismemberment, necrophilia, and incest certainly didn't shirk on its ability to shock.

Horror anthology about a cursed small town, beset by multiple grotesque murders over its history. The first is one of the best: A lovelorn elderly man charged with his equally elderly sister, who suffers from dementia. In clumsy pursuit of a to-die-for coworker, he, instead, turns the tables and kills her, with wild repercussions I won't reveal, other than it involves a Cousin-of-Chucky doll. Most impressive is the motif of the old man picking at a block of ice for his sister's bath, hacking it over and over, every stab expressing an ever growing, never-ending sense of frustration, futility and disgust. The second is a Hammeresque Freak Show, hosting a rogue's gallery of characters straight out of Todd Browning. All do their parts very well, but the Gypsy Queen Directress--She Who Will Be Obeyed--reigned Supreme for me. And there is a splatter-lovers' fest that will make said lovers festive! Third is about a man who has found the secret to eternal life through voodoo A gift that is his to have and his to give, for good or evil, and for the crook on the lam he took in, and who then betrayed him, the gift was a long life of tortured horror.. The final being almost a movie unto itself about how war breaks down all social conventions and the most fundamental human values, set in a settlement of Confederate orphan children, all adults having been casualties of war, who band together in a version of "Lord of the Flies" social order. Despite word that the war was over, a group of renegade Union soldiers still want to rape and pillage wantonly, in pursuit of which they stumble upon the children's settlement, and are immediately set upon by the not-so-innocent babes, who subject the men to such gruesome tortures, I'm sure, if they could think through the excruciating pain and horror, they'd wish they had gone home at the armistice. This sequence in particular, so much lit so beautifully by ritualistic firelight, effectively contrasted with the drab, grey monotony of smoky, feeble daylight, but art direction, cinematography, stellar throughout. Hosted by Vincent Price in his typically revered avuncular elder role.

Of the many horror films I used to alleviate childhood boredom, this one was indelibly etched into my brain and probably will be forever. A cinematic achievement of unparalleled depravity, this Vincent Price vehicle (filmed in the Autumn of his life) contains incest, rape, child molestation, necrophilia, voodoo, glass-eating, slavery, mutilations, dismemberment, vengeance and allusions to cannibalism. By genre standards, the scripting, filming and performances were, for the most part, excellent and the work contains enough scatology to hold the interest of even the most reluctant horror/exploitation filmgoer. View this work if you would like to see an exaggerated depiction of humanity at it most malignant neatly condensed into four vignettes.

From a Whisper to a Scream (1987)

*** (out of 4)

After the execution of a serial killer, a reporter goes to a small Tennessee historian (Vincent Price) who tells her four stories dealing with a small town's history.

The first story centers on a man (Clu Culager) who takes care of his severely ill sister but it leads to murder. The second story has a white trash man (Terry Kiser) getting shot and running into the woods where he ends up under the care of an elderly black man (Harry Caesar) who knows voodoo. The third story deals with a carnival side show where the glass eater falls in love with someone outside the troupe, which doesn't sit well with the owner. The fourth and final story is set during the Civil War where an evil Union soldier (Cameron MItchell) ends up in a house of horrors led by children.

This film is also known as THE OFFSPRING but no matter which title you want to call it the film itself is actually pretty darn good. Director Jeff Burr will always be remembered for the disastrous studio tampering of LEATHERFACE: Texas CHAINSAW MASSACRE III. This film here is certainly a real gem among the type of horror films that were being released during this period. It perfectly captures the anthology films of the 1960s but adds a touch of violence and gore that was so popular during the 80s. While none of the four tales are excellent, each of them are at least entertaining and make for a fun movie.

Again, none of the four stories are wonderful and all four are rather predictable but they are fun. The first one has a very weird incest vibe that runs through it but it also offers up some memorable gore as well as a very good performance from Culager. The second story is familiar voodoo material but the two performances are quite good and the final twist is wonderfully sinister. The third story with "going against the circus" is again predictable but the ending is just perfect. Once again the gore effects from Rob Burman really pack a nice little punch. Finally, the Civil War sequence gives us a terrific performance from Mitchell and the story itself is the most original and once again it adds some nice twists.

Of course, one of the biggest draws are the wrap around events that feature Vincent Price. While he basically just sits and talks, it's great fun seeing the actor in good form. You'll also want to look quickly for Laurence Tierney, Martine Beswicke and Angelo Rossitto who some will remember from Al Adamson's Dracula VS FRANKENSTEIN. Director Burr does a nice job with the low-budget and he certainly makes the film look very professional on such a budget. The film really does a nice job at building up the atmosphere of the anthology and all four films really work well together. FROM A WHISPER TO A SCREAM is certainly a good little gem.

Following his niece's execution, a librarian recalls several horror stories of the town's past to a skeptical reporter.

The Good Stor(ies): Story 1-Madly in love with his boss, a grocery store clerk attempts to court her only to find his advances spurned to the point that he kills her. Attempting to hide the crime, he eventually finds that not only has he gotten away with it but his passion burns beyond the grave. This here wasn't all that bad of an effort. As it revels nicely in the utter dementia of his obsession and what he wants to do to her from the beginning, this one sets the revenge to come later on quite nicely as this generates some solid moments throughout here. The final revelation is a bit predictable and there's a few too many plot-points to go through but it has enough fun that there's plenty to like here.

Story 2-When his past catches up to him, a wounded fugitive in the Louisiana bayou comes across a voodoo healer who restores his health. Overcome by greed, he demands to know its secrets which begins to spiral out of his control and gets more than he bargained for. This was undoubtedly the highlight of the series with a lot to like about it. The simple story and the predictable setup give this a truly appropriate anthology feel that gets worked over nicely by the setting here. The bayou atmosphere and use of voodoo provide more to like by giving it a dirty, grimy feel in the sweat-filled shack that they spend the majority of the time at, and along with plenty of fun voodoo-related tortures that give this some wholly chilling moments.

Story 4-Attempting to find refuge, a platoon of soldiers in the Civil War stumble upon a deserted town in the countryside inhabited only by orphaned children. Taken captive by the hostile group, they are forced to partake in a series of grisly games that grow excessively more dangerous. This was a fun if overall slightly flawed effort. While it has plenty of stellar atmosphere in the old- school village with the Civil War time-period and the gory kills in the segment are quite graphic, overall the segment feels too familiar and cliché which does render the surprise rather obvious. The fast pace works here, so it does end this on a high note.

The Bad Stor(ies): Story 3-Working as a freak in a carnival, a glass-eater falls in love with a regular visitor which upsets the tyrannical queen who runs the show. When he defies her to be with his beloved, he finds the powers of her vengeance far more cruel to bear to keep them apart. This was quite a bland and overall uneventful entry. This one doesn't have much at all going on which tends to make this uneventful due to the romance throughout here, and it doesn't feature much of anything until the ending. This is the saving grace as the gruesome and gory happenings are a real showstopper, but overall not much else happens in this one.

Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Full Nudity and violence-against-children.