Whispers | |
---|---|
Directed by | Douglas Jackson |
Screenplay by | Anita Doohan |
Based on | Whispers by Dean Koontz |
Produced by | |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Peter Benison |
Edited by | Jacques Jean |
Music by | Fred Mollin |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | C/FP Distribution |
Release date |
|
Running time | 93 minutes [a] |
Country | Canada |
Language | English |
Budget | CA$2.4 million [5] |
Whispers is a 1990 [6] Canadian horror film directed by Douglas Jackson and starring Victoria Tennant, Jean LeClerc, Chris Sarandon, Peter MacNeill, and Linda Sorenson. It follows a writer who, after killing her stalker, finds that he seems to have returned from beyond the grave. It is based on the 1980 novel by American suspense author Dean Koontz.
Writer Hilary Thomas is being pursued by psychopath Bruno Clavel, a man she once interviewed at his family's Massachusetts orchard while researching for a book. Clavel plays a cat-and-mouse game with Hilary, repeatedly breaking into her Manhattan apartment and tormenting her, often calling her "Catherine." Detective Tony Clemenza oversees the case, while Hilary struggles to find an explanation for Clavel's targeting her. During one of the break-ins, Clavel is fatally injured, and found dead several blocks from Hilary's apartment. Hilary is brought to the morgue to positively identify his body. Clavel's corpse is sent to his Massachusetts hometown, where it is swiftly buried by Clavel's stepfather, Jonathan Rinehart.
Meanwhile, Hilary and Tony begin a romance. One night, after having sex, Tony leaves the apartment to get the couple dinner. While taking a bath, Hilary is mortified when Clavel appears, threatening to stab her through the heart like a vampire. Tony arrives moments after Clavel vanishes. Determined to solve the mystery, Hilary and Tony visit the funeral home for confirmation of Clavel's death, where they learn from the mortician that Clavel was quickly buried unembalmed at the insistence of his stepfather Jonathan. Upon further investigation, they learn that Clavel withdrew funds two days after his supposed death, and was seen by a bank teller who knew him. Clavel's check register shows he made repeated payments to a small number of people, including a local bookseller and an elderly woman, Mrs. Yancey. Police agree to exhume Clavel's grave, only to find his casket empty aside from several bags of concrete.
Hilary's literary agent, Kayla, is subsequently stalked by Clavel, who accosts her in her home, demanding to know Hilary's whereabouts before stabbing her to death. Meanwhile, Hilary and Tony continue to meet with several individuals to gather information, including Clavel's psychologist, who recounts his disturbed state of mind: Clavel believed himself damned to hell by his mother Catherine, an occultist, and claimed Catherine continued to live on in others' bodies after her death.
Clavel returns to his childhood home, where he confronts Jonathan, and kills him. Meanwhile, Hilary and Tony visit the bookstore frequented by Clavel, and ask the shop owner several questions about him. The shop owner, who professes himself to be a Satanist, claims that Clavel may be possessed. Next, Hilary and Tony visit Mrs. Yancey, a former bordello madam who once rented a room to Clavel's mother, Catherine. Mrs. Yancey explains that Catherine, after falling pregnant, concocted a story about how she was going to adopt her friend's child. However, she gave birth to twin sons, forcing her to keep one of the boys a secret. She forced both boys to act as one child, and would not allow them to be seen together. Furthermore, she carried on an incestuous relationship with the "secondary" son, whom she kept locked in the cellar. For her secrecy, Catherine—and, later, Clavel—continued to pay Mrs. Yancey each month. Meanwhile, at the Clavel mansion, Clavel erotically caresses and kisses the corpse of his twin, whose body he has grave-robbed.
Armed with the knowledge that there are two identical "Bruno Clavels", Hilary and Tony go to visit the Clavel mansion. Inside, Hilary notices a portrait of Catherine, who bears a striking resemblance to herself—she realizes that the original Clavel brother she met had stalked her due to her likeness to his mother, and his hope that he might resurrect Catherine in her body; the other Clavel brother, who had been kept locked away for most of his life, envisions Hilary as a manifestation of his mother, and wishes to kill her to avenge his own abuse.
In the house, Tony is attacked by the living Clavel brother upstairs, and Hilary finds Jonathan's corpse impaled on a fence outside. Clavel confronts her in the backyard, and chases her into the cellar, but he is fatally injured with his own knife after Hilary pushes him down the stairs. As he writhes on the floor, dying, a swarm of beetles cover his body. Hilary and Tony assume him dead until he rises out of the cellar, after which Tony shoots him to death.
Whispers was adapted from the 1980 novel of the same name by Dean Koontz. [7] The rights to Koontz's novel had been purchased by Canadian producer John Dunning shortly after its original publication, before Koontz had gained international fame. [8] According to Dunning, he paid approximately US$35,000 for the rights. [8] Several years later, after Koontz had become an established writer, he asked to purchase the rights back for approximately $100,000. [8] This spurred Dunning to produce the film, and he declined Koontz's offer. [8]
Dunning hired established television director Douglas Jackson to direct the project. [8]
Actress Victoria Tennant was cast in the lead role of Hilary, while Chris Sarandon was given the role of Tony, the detective attempting to help her. [8] For the dual villain role of Bruno Clavel, the production cast Montreal-based actor Jean Leclerc, who at that time had earned fame for his appearances on several American soap operas. [8]
The film was shot between October [9] and November 1989 in Montréal, Québec on a budget of CA$2.4 million. [5] For the film's final sequence in which the antagonist, Bruno Clavel, is covered by beetles in the cellar of his home, the production had to import live beetles from North Carolina. [10] Because they were allowed a limited supply of the insects, the art department had to create fake plastic models, which were interspersed with the actual beetles. [10]
Whispers was given a theatrical release in Canada on December 7, 1990. [11] The film was released direct-to-video in the United States in January 1991. [12] [13] It was subsequently shown on television in the United States in March 1991. [14] The film also received a direct-to-video release in the United Kingdom in August 1991. [15]
Marc Horton of the Edmonton Journal panned the film, giving it zero stars and describing it as "a thoroughly awful movie with bad direction, bad plotting, bad directing, bad acting and bad cinematography. [16] Fred Haeseker of the Calgary Herald felt the film was lackluster, writing: "In Whispers, a baroque story line is married to a plodding pace and wooden acting. Any suspense that does develop from time to time—as if by accident—is derailed long before it can build up enough to become effective. [17]
The Abbotsford News 's John Wesley Ireland awarded the film one out of five stars, writing that "Fear may shout and terror may whisper, but unfortunate patrons stuck in this hound will just snore," adding that Tennant "sleepwalks through her role." [18] Steven Mazey of the Ottawa Citizen likened the film to the "cheap tax shelter disasters" produced in Canada the previous decade, deeming the direction inept and the screenplay "full of unbelievably bad TV drama dialogue." [19]
In the United States, LIVE Video released the film on VHS and LaserDisc on January 11, 1991. [12] [20] [21]
Scorpion Releasing issued a DVD of the film in February 2012. [22]
Dean Ray Koontz is an American author. His novels are billed as suspense thrillers, but frequently incorporate elements of horror, fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and satire. Many of his books have appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list, with fourteen hardcovers and sixteen paperbacks reaching the number-one position. Koontz wrote under a number of pen names earlier in his career, including "David Axton", "Deanna Dwyer", "K.R. Dwyer", "Leigh Nichols" and "Brian Coffey". He has published over 105 novels and a number of novellas and collections of short stories, and has sold over 450 million copies of his work.
Susan Abigail Sarandon is an American actor. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition to nominations for six Primetime Emmy Awards, and nine Golden Globe Awards.
Dodge City is a 1939 American Western film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, and Ann Sheridan. Based on a story by Robert Buckner, the film is about a Texas cattle agent who witnesses the brutal lawlessness of Dodge City, Kansas and takes the job of sheriff to clean the town up. Filmed in Technicolor, Dodge City was one of the highest-grossing films of the year. This was the 5th of 8 movies that de Havilland and Flynn appeared in together.
Mary-Louise Parker is an American actress. After making her Broadway debut as Rita in Craig Lucas' Prelude to a Kiss in 1990, Parker came to prominence for film roles in Grand Canyon (1991), Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), The Client (1994), Bullets Over Broadway (1994), A Place for Annie (1994), Boys on the Side (1995), The Portrait of a Lady (1996), and The Maker (1997). Among stage and independent film appearances thereafter, Parker received the 2001 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her portrayal of Catherine Llewellyn in David Auburn's Proof, among other accolades. Between 2001 and 2006, she recurred as Amy Gardner in the NBC television series The West Wing, for which she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2002. She received both a Golden Globe and a Primetime Emmy Award for her portrayal of Harper Pitt in the acclaimed HBO television miniseries Angels in America in 2003.
Irene Ryan was an American actress and comedian who found success in vaudeville, radio, film, television, and Broadway. She is most widely known for her portrayal of Daisy May "Granny" Moses, mother-in-law of Buddy Ebsen's character Jed Clampett on the long-running TV series The Beverly Hillbillies (1962–1971). She was nominated for Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 1963 and 1964 for the role.
The Hunger is a 1983 erotic horror film directed by Tony Scott in his directorial debut, starring Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie and Susan Sarandon. An international co-production of the United Kingdom and United States, the film is a loose adaptation of the 1981 novel of the same name by Whitley Strieber, with a screenplay by Ivan Davis and Michael Thomas. Its plot concerns a love triangle between a doctor who specialises in sleep and ageing research (Sarandon) and a vampire couple. The film's special effects were handled by make-up effects artist Dick Smith.
A whisper is a sound produced by whispering.
Alice, Sweet Alice is a 1976 American psychological slasher film co-written and directed by Alfred Sole, and starring Linda Miller, Paula Sheppard, and Brooke Shields in her film debut. Set in 1961 New Jersey, the film focuses on a troubled adolescent girl who becomes a suspect in the brutal murder of her younger sister at her First Communion, as well as in a series of unsolved stabbings that follow.
Traylor Elizabeth Howard is an American actress. From 2005 to 2009, Howard played Natalie Teeger in the USA Network television series Monk. She has also starred on the sitcoms Boston Common (1996–1997) and Two Guys and a Girl (1998–2001), while her film credits include Dirty Work (1998), Me, Myself & Irene (2000), and Son of the Mask (2005).
Whore is a 1991 American satirical drama film directed by Ken Russell and starring Theresa Russell. It follows the life of a jaded street prostitute in Los Angeles. Benjamin Mouton, Antonio Fargas, Jack Nance, Danny Trejo, and Ginger Lynn Allen appear in supporting roles. The screenplay by Russell and Deborah Dalton is based on David Hines' monologue play, Bondage. The film is partly presented in a pseudo-documentary format, with the lead character often breaking the fourth wall and addressing the audience with monologues consisting of her observations and reflections on her career as a prostitute.
Victoria Tennant is a British actress. She is known for her roles in the TV miniseries The Winds of War and War and Remembrance, in which she appeared as actor Robert Mitchum's on-screen love interest, Pamela Tudsbury, as well as her supporting roles in All of Me (1984), The Holcroft Covenant (1985), Flowers in the Attic (1987), The Handmaid's Tale (1990), and L.A. Story (1991).
Emma Christina Tennant FRSL was an English novelist and editor of Scottish extraction, known for a post-modern approach to her fiction, often imbued with fantasy or magic. Several of her novels give a feminist or dreamlike twist to classic stories, such as Two Women of London: The Strange Case of Ms Jekyll and Mrs Hyde. She also published under the pseudonym Catherine Aydy.
Catherine Scorsese was an American actress. She began acting when her son Martin Scorsese cast her in his short film It's Not Just You, Murray!. Scorsese was of Italian descent and frequently played the role of an Italian mother. She is perhaps most well known for her appearance in her son's film Goodfellas as Mrs. DeVito, the mother of Joe Pesci's character Tommy. She also published a recipe book, Italianamerican: The Scorsese Family Cookbook.
Intensity is a 1997 American television psychological thriller film directed by Yves Simoneau, and starring John C. McGinley, Molly Parker, Piper Laurie, and Tori Paul. Based on the 1995 novel of the same name by Dean Koontz, it focuses on a young woman who accompanies her friend home for Thanksgiving, only to be met by a violent serial killer.
Whispers is a novel by American suspense author Dean Koontz, originally published in 1980. It was the first of Koontz's novels to appear on the New York Times Best Seller list, and is widely credited with launching his career as a best-selling author. The novel was also adapted for a 1990 film by the same name.
The Bad Place is a horror novel by American writer Dean Koontz, released in 1990. It includes elements of horror, suspense, and mystery, and is presented partially as a twist on the private eye drama.
The Amazing Mrs Pritchard is a British drama series that aired on BBC One in 2006. Produced by Kudos, it was written by Sally Wainwright and stars Jane Horrocks in the title role of a woman with no previous political experience who becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
Snake Eater II: The Drug Buster, also known as Snake Eater's Revenge, is a 1991 action film directed by George Erschbamer, starring Lorenzo Lamas, Larry B. Scott and Michele Scarabelli. It is the sequel to 1989's Snake Eater. Lamas returns as ex-Marine Jack "Soldier" Kelly, who teams with new sidekick "Speedboat" to protect an inner city neighborhood from drug traffickers.
The Other Side of Midnight is a 1977 American drama film directed by Charles Jarrott and starring Marie-France Pisier, John Beck, and Susan Sarandon. Herman Raucher and Daniel Taradash wrote the screenplay based on Sidney Sheldon's 1973 novel of the same name.
Snake Eater III: His Law is an action thriller film directed by George Erschbamer, starring Lorenzo Lamas, Minor Mustain, Tracey Cook and Scott "Bam Bam" Bigelow. It is the third and penultimate installment of the Snake Eater franchise, after 1989's Snake Eater and 1990's Snake Eater II: The Drug Buster. Lamas, in his last series appearance, returns as Vietnam veteran Jack "Soldier" Kelly, who attempts to save a dropout student from sex trafficking biker gangs.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)