Whisper (DVD)

A team of kidnappers, led by Max, whisk away a small boy, David Sandborn, from his wealthy family home and take him to a remote cabin in Maine. All they want is the money; none of them want to harm David in any way, particularly Roxanne, Max's girlfriend, who tries to befriend David. All are perplexed by David's behaviour - far from being terrified, he seems supremely confident and even happy to be with them. Then, one by one, they begin to die - ...
...time goes on, it becomes obvious that David has something to do with each of the deaths. Who is David, and what is his influence on them? And will any of them escape with their lives?

Although the cast is unknown to me, many people will recognise Josh Holloway, who plays Max, from Lost. And as he is one of the main characters, it is just as well that he is a decent actor. Max is really quite pathetic as a kidnapper - he doesn't really ... more

A team of kidnappers, led by Max, whisk away a small boy, David Sandborn, from his wealthy family home and take him to a remote cabin in Maine. All they want is the money; none of them want to harm David in any way, particularly Roxanne, Max's girlfriend, who tries to befriend David. All are perplexed by David's behaviour - far from being terrified, he seems supremely confident and even happy to be with them. Then, one by one, they begin to die - the first of a seemingly innocent heart attack, but as time goes on, it becomes obvious that David has something to do with each of the deaths. Who is David, and what is his influence on them? And will any of them escape with their lives?

Although the cast is unknown to me, many people will recognise Josh Holloway, who plays Max, from Lost. And as he is one of the main characters, it is just as well that he is a decent actor. Max is really quite pathetic as a kidnapper - he doesn't really want to do the job at all, but his bank manager turns down his request for a loan, leaving him with no choice. He really doesn't want to harm David, he just wants to get the ransom money and set the boy free. Holloway is more than adequate at portraying all of this, but it isn't really until right at the end that Holloway proves he really is quite good at what he does for a living. The performance isn't going to win any Oscars, but it is solid and the fact that he is seriously cute doesn't do him any harm either.

Blake Woodruff plays David Sandborn, who is supposed to be perhaps ten years old. Some may recognise Woodruff from Cheaper by the Dozen. I found him really quite annoying in the role. In some ways, I think this is deliberate - we are not supposed to like David after all - but there is a difference between being annoying in a role because it is called for and generally being so annoying that it affects the viewer's enjoyment of the film. In my case, his acting really did put me off the film. He does, I suppose, portray evil, although I felt he was ripping off Damien in The Omen a little too much, and it generally felt as though he was thinking too hard about every evil glance and smirk he gave.

I should also mention Sarah Wayne Callies as Roxanne, simply because she was the only character that I really felt anything for. Roxanne is very much a victim of circumstance who finds herself involved over her head. Her affection for David and her utter terror at what transpires is actually very realistic, so although I've never heard of the actress before, she deserves to be commended. None of the other performances are worth noting - suffice it to say that the other kidnappers and the police are all a bunch of incompetents.

The plot isn't exactly original - evil children have appeared in film before and it has been done much better in films like The Omen and the Japanese film, The Grudge. However, I had no expectations of this film, not having heard of it before I watched it, and in general, I found it entertaining. It was certainly not clear what was going to happen and there is a nice twist towards the end which I enjoyed, although in hindsight, I should have seen it coming. The pacing is great; there really isn't a let-up in the suspense and there is a good start to the film which initially doesn't seem to make sense, but nevertheless intrigues. There are occasionally rather abrupt endings to scenes before switching to another, but it wasn't enough to bother me all that much.

The special effects are good. There is a poltergeist-inspired theme towards the end where everything starts to fly around which, if not exactly original, is at least realistic enough. The best part is one of the deaths, where someone drowns under an ice-covered lake - this is very convincing and really quite uncomfortable to watch. Gore-wise, there is surprisingly little - the film relies more on ghostly scares and mystery rather than blood and ripped body parts. Nevertheless, the very young could find it disturbing, so the rating of 15 is about right. I can't say it really scared me, but it was compelling enough to watch. Had I liked the child actor, I think this film would have been much better than I otherwise found it.

I really enjoyed the soundtrack. One of the recurring pieces of music was a Ukranian Christmas carol, Carol of the Bells, which I recognised and found very haunting - a great match for the film. Then there are a selection of popular Christmas carols, because the kidnap takes place around Christmas, and a couple of familiar songs such as Ring of Fire, the Johnny Cash version, and Midnight at the Oasis, sung by actress Sarah Wayne Callies.

There are a few extras with the DVD. First of all, there is an alternative ending - I didn't watch it though because I prefer to remember the film as the director intended us to. Then there are a selection of deleted and extended scenes - nothing outstanding there. Finally, there is a making of documentary - it's worth a watch if bored, but to be honest, I doubt many people would bother unless they are a huge fan of the film or want more eye candy from Josh Holloway.

On the whole, I thought this was a reasonable film for fans of suspense and the supernatural. It isn't Oscar material, but then it doesn't pretend to be, and I think that as long as viewers keep their expectations low, it isn't a bad way to spend an hour or so. And if you are a fan of Josh Holloway, then you get him all to yourself for a while! Recommended, but I wouldn't go out of your way to track down a copy.

The DVD is available from play.com for £6.99.

Classification: 15

Running time: 95 minutes
 

...less