The story for WHISPER: kidnappers get more than what they bargain for when they kidnap a kid with psychic/supernatural powers.
At the isolated cabin where the kidnappers are hiding him, the evil boy plays with their minds and they start dying one by one.
That's it.
It's pretty obvious the people involved with this film do not know anything about horror films. The kidnappers are, in my book, scum because kidnapping is not cool at all. IMO, these kidnappers deserve to die. So when the Damien-like child started toying with these criminals, I wasn't terrified or on the edge of my seat. I couldn't care less about what was going to happen to them because, well, they're scum. So, where's the horror element to the story? Exactly. This is NOT a horror film. You need to empathize with the characters' plight in order for the horror elements to work properly. This never happened in the whole super slick film.
The kidnappers were all good looking and young, so I guess that's how the director thought viewers would sympathize with these criminals. Oh no, don't kill that beautiful babe. Don't kill that Metrosexual guy with the white belt.
Yep, one of the kidnappers actually wears a white belt. How gruff. How much time did the wardrobe department spend on this unintentionally funny detail? Was it an inside joke? I couldn't concentrate on anything else other than the white belt when that character was terrorized on the frozen lake.
Okay, enough with the white belt.
Obviously influenced by Japanese horror films, WHISPER is more about mood and creating suspense than gore and violence. Think of this as a Japanese version of THE OMEN (there are two death scenes which are identical to those in DAMIEN: OMEN 2). But it even failed at that. As anemic as the story was (no one notices the massive painting in the room?; what are those wolves about anyway?), the main problem was the idea itself. The film could have worked if the writers actually knew something about horror or how to play with guilt vis a vis kidnapping and other human emotions but the drama fell flat. And because the horror never registered, WHISPER was doubly forgettable.
In the end, it's just one of the many boneheaded horror films made these days!
(Notice the big disparity in the Useful Comments compared to the other reviews. I guess the crew has been logging in and voting not useful! LOL!)
At the isolated cabin where the kidnappers are hiding him, the evil boy plays with their minds and they start dying one by one.
That's it.
It's pretty obvious the people involved with this film do not know anything about horror films. The kidnappers are, in my book, scum because kidnapping is not cool at all. IMO, these kidnappers deserve to die. So when the Damien-like child started toying with these criminals, I wasn't terrified or on the edge of my seat. I couldn't care less about what was going to happen to them because, well, they're scum. So, where's the horror element to the story? Exactly. This is NOT a horror film. You need to empathize with the characters' plight in order for the horror elements to work properly. This never happened in the whole super slick film.
The kidnappers were all good looking and young, so I guess that's how the director thought viewers would sympathize with these criminals. Oh no, don't kill that beautiful babe. Don't kill that Metrosexual guy with the white belt.
Yep, one of the kidnappers actually wears a white belt. How gruff. How much time did the wardrobe department spend on this unintentionally funny detail? Was it an inside joke? I couldn't concentrate on anything else other than the white belt when that character was terrorized on the frozen lake.
Okay, enough with the white belt.
Obviously influenced by Japanese horror films, WHISPER is more about mood and creating suspense than gore and violence. Think of this as a Japanese version of THE OMEN (there are two death scenes which are identical to those in DAMIEN: OMEN 2). But it even failed at that. As anemic as the story was (no one notices the massive painting in the room?; what are those wolves about anyway?), the main problem was the idea itself. The film could have worked if the writers actually knew something about horror or how to play with guilt vis a vis kidnapping and other human emotions but the drama fell flat. And because the horror never registered, WHISPER was doubly forgettable.
In the end, it's just one of the many boneheaded horror films made these days!
(Notice the big disparity in the Useful Comments compared to the other reviews. I guess the crew has been logging in and voting not useful! LOL!)