Stewart Hendler
Il Respiro Del Diavolo

For a horror enthusiast, these are challenging times. The market is flooded with mindless productions, made for the consumption of the less attentive audience who hail films like "New Moon" or "Io loro e Lara" as masterpieces. In recent years, horror films worthy of the name have become fewer, with France taking on the role of the exception that proves the rule with the much-mentioned "High Tension," "Martyrs," and "Calvaire," and the lesser-known "Frontiers," along with that crude gem known as "Sheitan." French productions have managed to move away from what the "standard" audience wants to see, exploring gorier shores that please admirers of the genre. England, with "The Cottage" and what is becoming a cult movie, "The Descent," has, at least, saved face. I’ll avoid talking about the Italian situation and focus on the United States. Hollywood's mega productions have long been unable to venture beyond the confines of mainstream to explore areas that may be less appealing to the general public, but they certainly find more connoisseurs.

"Whisper" is yet another pseudo-horror film that America offers us each year. Every 365 days, without fail, another "bad child" film arrives from across the ocean, slaughtering poor youths. The unknown Stewart Hendler directs this film with embarrassing flatness, despite the fact that the beginning is lively and might suggest a decisive genre switch. What astonishes me the most, however, are the positive reviews the film receives on various sites and by word of mouth. Perhaps I don't understand cinema at all, but "Whisper" turned out, for my eyes, to be one of the worst horror films I have ever seen. Josh Holloway in the role of a kidnapper is absolutely out of place, as is the rest of the cast, culminating in the usual child (Blake Woodruff) who is supposed to instill fear with his oh-so-pretty face. Naturally, as always, the little one is dressed in his white shirt, making himself feel right at home...

"Whisper" is a film to avoid at all costs, the product of a mentality increasingly directed towards marketability and box office. Starting from the plot to the music and everything else, this film, along with other recent productions from the States (most notably the atrocious "The Unborn"), does nothing but disappoint genre enthusiasts and attract fewer and fewer fans.