From a Whisper to a Scream

Of the many horror films I used to alleviate childhood boredom, this one was indelibly etched into my brain and probably will be forever. A cinematic achievement of unparalleled depravity, this Vincent Price vehicle (filmed in the Autumn of his life) contains incest, rape, child molestation, necrophilia, voodoo, glass-eating, slavery, mutilations, dismemberment, vengeance and allusions to cannibalism. By genre standards, the scripting, filming and performances were, for the most part, excellent and the work contains enough scatology to hold the interest of even the most reluctant horror/exploitation filmgoer. View this work if you would like to see an exaggerated depiction of humanity at it most malignant neatly condensed into four vignettes.

We're all friends here at IMDb--one big happy movie watching community. So, I feel I can be honest with you all. I really liked this anthology. I liked it more than "Twilight Zone: The Movie," more than "Creepshow" and "Creepshow 2." The four vignettes in "From a Whisper to a Scream" were all imaginative and unique. The first one had an excellent surprise at the end. The second one had a great twist of fate. The third was stranger but still good. And the last one was some Children of the Corn/Lord of the Flies stuff.

All of the stories took place in Oldfield, TN. The incomparable Vincent Price narrated four stories to a reporter with each story going further back into the history of Oldfield. Each story was brilliant, so kudos to the writers. They were sadistic, supernatural, and satisfying. I want more.

When I say that I somehow overlooked THE OFFSPRING (aka FROM A WHISPER TO A SCREAM) when it came out during the late 80's, I'm basically summing up this movie's history. It's unrighteously overlooked and forgotten. It's a very satisfying horror-anthology that is slightly more dark and gory than its counterparts released during that period (CAT'S EYE, CREEPSHOW 2,...). The wraparound story has reporter Bess Chandler travelling to the town of Oldfield. She's there to interview the uncle of executed serial killer Katherine White. The uncle, played by horror-icon Vincent Price, lives in this house full of books which contain the history of Oldfield. Through four stories Julian White reveals to Bess the evil that dwells in Oldfield.

The first story had me fearing the worst, because the acting was rather poor. Just when I was about to think this was gonna be a lame story about a guy going nuts and killing some women, there was the act of necrophilia (not shown, though) and the completely unexpected twist in the end. Since this was the least successful story of the four, I was in for a treat. Because every story got better and better. Just for the fun of it I made up a title for every episode (because they actually don't have any in the movie).

"Brother Dearest": Clu Gulager (best known to horror-fans for his role in THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD) plays Stanley Burnside, a timid man who lives with his ill sister. He falls in love with his boss, but it turns out she's not interested. It seems that Stanley doesn't handle rejection well, as the walls of his sanity begin crumbling down.

"Swamp Renewal": This part seemed to be made by a total different director, but it was not. The tone and camera-work was different. It revolves around Jesse Hardwicke, first rate trailer trash, who gets chased into the swamps by two gangsters. Mortally wounded he loses consciousness. An old man takes him under his care. This is more a voodoo-like tale with an anti-greed message. The music was memorable and so was the shock-ending.

"Of Glass And Pins": A very creepy carnival story with the goriest death-scene of them all. Steven Arden is known as the Glass Eater, an act of the carnival's freakshow. Amaryllis, one of the spectators, is desperately in love with him. But all the freaks of this carnival are under the spell of Snake Woman, and she will not tolerate any of her freaks leaving the circus, not even for love's sake.

"Children Of The Civil War": This is basically the gory freaked out version of CHILDREN OF THE CORN, disguised as a period piece. I really liked the way the story unfolded. The creepy kids gave decent performances and the atmosphere was terrific.

The wraparound story itself wasn't anything special, though. But still this is a decent anthology horror movie (despite its rather small budget) with good, solid short stories, all including a nice twist in the end. There's enough blood and (mild) gore to keep every horror-fan amused. When we look at writer/director Jeff Burr's resume, THE OFFSPRING might easily be one of his best genre efforts. It's worth seeking this one out.

Unlike most anthology films which follow the tongue in cheek EC Comics approach, From A Whisper To A Scream dares to go dark and bleak with the material and it's an unforgettable experience for it. Yes, there are several "just desserts" twists at the end of some of these stories that feel right out of the pages of Tales From the Crypt, but its tone feels different and more serious as if it's EC Comics as filtered through Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It has a hell of a great cast, too.

Horror anthology about a cursed small town, beset by multiple grotesque murders over its history. The first is one of the best: A lovelorn elderly man charged with his equally elderly sister, who suffers from dementia. In clumsy pursuit of a to-die-for coworker, he, instead, turns the tables and kills her, with wild repercussions I won't reveal, other than it involves a Cousin-of-Chucky doll. Most impressive is the motif of the old man picking at a block of ice for his sister's bath, hacking it over and over, every stab expressing an ever growing, never-ending sense of frustration, futility and disgust. The second is a Hammeresque Freak Show, hosting a rogue's gallery of characters straight out of Todd Browning. All do their parts very well, but the Gypsy Queen Directress--She Who Will Be Obeyed--reigned Supreme for me. And there is a splatter-lovers' fest that will make said lovers festive! Third is about a man who has found the secret to eternal life through voodoo A gift that is his to have and his to give, for good or evil, and for the crook on the lam he took in, and who then betrayed him, the gift was a long life of tortured horror.. The final being almost a movie unto itself about how war breaks down all social conventions and the most fundamental human values, set in a settlement of Confederate orphan children, all adults having been casualties of war, who band together in a version of "Lord of the Flies" social order. Despite word that the war was over, a group of renegade Union soldiers still want to rape and pillage wantonly, in pursuit of which they stumble upon the children's settlement, and are immediately set upon by the not-so-innocent babes, who subject the men to such gruesome tortures, I'm sure, if they could think through the excruciating pain and horror, they'd wish they had gone home at the armistice. This sequence in particular, so much lit so beautifully by ritualistic firelight, effectively contrasted with the drab, grey monotony of smoky, feeble daylight, but art direction, cinematography, stellar throughout. Hosted by Vincent Price in his typically revered avuncular elder role.