Whistle

Irish filmmaker Corin Hardy broke through with his eerie 2015 folk horror film The Hallow before entering the Hollywood machine, helming the very silly, but atmospheric Conjuring spin-off The Nun. Hardy’s debut feature was a claustrophobic and creepy horror film that seamlessly shuffled between folk horror, creature feature and siege film. With just one film, he proved himself able to manage shifting subgenres and pathos into a wholly satisfying genre film that ampy supplied equal scares and thrills. While The Nun won’t be remembered as a recent classic or even one of the better Conjuring, it did have a strong sense of mood and Mario Bava-inspired set pieces. His latest feature is a much smaller film compared to The Nun, aiming for a throwback approach to the teen-led curse films of the 90s and 2000s. Unfortunately, his newest work feels far less inspired and more derivative than anything,

Courtesy IFC Films

In the wake of the traumatic death of her father, Chrys (Dafne Keen) has relocated to a small steel mill town to live with her cousin Rel (Sky Yang). After an awkward first day at her new school, Chrys meets Ellie (Sophie Nelisse), Rel’s crush, Grace (Ali Skovbye) and Grace’s arrogant jock boyfriend Dean (Jhaleil Swaby). Chrys also finds an old Aztec death whistle in her locker, left behind by sports star Mason (Stephen Kalyn), who died earlier in the year — yet strangely never had his locker cleaned out. When Chrys and her new acquaintances are stuck in detention by Mr. Craven (Nick Frost), he takes the whistle from her possession, before Rel steals it back. Later on, the teens decide to blow into the whistle, thus releasing an evil entity that comes for them one by one. The entity belongs to an old curse that doesn’t just kill you, but rather confronts you with the death you would’ve inevitably had. If you were destined to die by old age, your body and bones will wither away at a moment’s notice. If you were destined to die by fire, you will be engulfed in flames, even if you’re in the shower. With their friends dropping around them, Chrys and the gang must figure out how to stop the curse if they hope to survive.

Directed by Corin Hardy, Whistle is an unfortunate run-of-the-mill teen curse flick that borrows all of its best elements from other, better films. With familiar, predictable plotting and uninteresting characters, Hardy’s film is unable to coast off of its slick style and occasionally creative kill sequences. The film, credited to writer Owen Egerton, plays like a throwback horror, following teen characters with hardly a parent or adult in sight. Yet, this throwback approach simply feels like retreading old territory, with little fresh or new ideas brought to the table. Any seasoned horror veteran will be able to predict the film’s every beat well in advance.

Courtesy IFC Films

Hardy does provide a sense of energy and style to the film, one that has moments of potential and flair. When Whistle becomes structured like a Final Destination film, Hardy has some fun crafting one or two kills that work up an audible “ooohhh” or “holy shit”. One sequence involving a big metal grinder showcases an impressive display of melding practical and digital effects. Another shows the effects of a car crash while a character is sitting in their bedroom. Yet, these are the only instances of genuine creativity.

None of the core characters are particularly interesting, feeling like stock retreads (we get the jock, the hot girl, the nerd, the cool girl who might be closeted). Dafne Keen’s Chrys is the same troubled teen in recovery cliche the genre has worn out since the 2000s. Keen has shown herself to be a strong actor since her breakout role as Laura in Logan, but she’s not given any substantive material to work with. Chrys is a recovering addict and loner-type who hints at having inner demons rise to the surface, but the film never gives this side of the character any meaningful focus. Michelle Fairley is used in a throwaway role as an inadvertent expert on the death whistle the teens come to before turning into a requisite exposition dump. Nick Frost’s talents are completely wasted as a school teacher who takes an interest in the death whistle, only to brutally suffer its consequences.

Courtesy IFC Films

Whistle is an uninspired exercise in genre cliches and narrative tropes that fails to infuse any life or significant creativity into the well-worn “teen curse” subgenre. Director Corin Hardy does show off his directorial skills in a handful of moments, but is unable to inject much fun or energy into this lifeless bore of a horror film. Whether you’ve seen The Ring, It Follows, or any of the Final Destination movies, you’ve likely seen everything Whistle has up its sleeve.

Whistle opens in theaters on Friday, February 6th.