Whistle is a horror movie about a group of high school students that come across a cursed object. When they find this Aztec death whistle, they do the expected and blow it. The call summons Death who begins to hunt them down. They must now fight each other and their fears if they are to stay alive.
The cast is one of the strongest seen in an independent horror film. Along with Dafnee Keen (Logan), the cast includes established stars like Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead) and up and comers like Sophie Nelisse (Yellowjackets). More importantly, they all play their parts well. The characters do have a habit of falling into tropes – Keen’s Chrys has a tendency for edgelord comments while her cousin Rel (Sky Yang, Rebel Moon) has seen The Crow too many times – but they are a fun group for the most part.
Unlike some teen slashers, Whistle does not forget the audience needs to care for the victims. The characters are not the most nuanced, but enough backstory is given to generate interest. A brief mention of drinking and driving or an interest in a particular comic provides insight and the opportunity to to participate. While watching you can have fun guessing who is next and how.
There are some impressive kills. The Big Bad is not just hunting kids down and murdering them. Whistle explains that when we are born, we have a set amount of time to live. The villain tracks down the friends and kills them in ways that match how they were intended to die. This is everything from natural causes to car accidents. The jump scares are of the standard variety, but they are effective.
The ending is where most will find issue. It takes a little too much from Final Destination, even aping the solution. Up until these moments, things move along at a nice pace. Once they start talking about tricking Death, Whistle becomes a little too familiar. Thankfully, the movie does a lot of good before the lackluster finale.
Whistle comes to theaters Friday, February 6.
