The Reel Review
A group of high school students unleash a deadly curse that summons their future deaths, after blowing on a mysterious, ancient relic – an Aztec Death Whistle. Dafne Keen, Sophie Nelisse (Heated Rivalry) and Nick Frost (Fighting with My Family, Shaun of the Dead) star in this horror/thriller.
Director Corin Hardy, best known for his dreadfully bad 2018 horror film The Nun and the only slightly better 2015 horror The Hallow) starts off with a cool, Final Destination-styled premise – teens terrorized by the now-summoned death that was due to happen to each of them later in life. The shrill sound of the creepy Aztec Death Whistle truly is unsettling. But a corny, predictable story from writer Owen Egerton and even cornier dialogue keeps the otherwise solid production and its truly gnarly deaths from rising above mediocrity.
Keen does a solid job as the main protagonist, as does Nelisse. Much of the supporting cast, however, is pretty amateurish, further distracting from the film’s fright factor.
REEL FACTS
• Dafne Keen is best known as Lyra Balacqua in the TV series His Dark Materials. She also starred with Hugh Jackman in 2017’s Logan.
• Characters in the film are named after famous horror movie directors such as Wes Craven and William Friedkin.
• Whistle was filmed in Toronto and Hamilton, Canada.
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