From a Whisper to a Scream (film)

From a Whisper to a Scream is a 1987 American anthology horror film co-written and directed by Jeff Burr and starring Vincent Price, Susan Tyrrell, Clu Gulager, Terry Kiser, Harry Caesar, Rosalind Cash, Cameron Mitchell, and Martine Beswick. The film features four horror stories set within the small town of Oldfield, Tennessee, each related by an elderly local historian (Price) to a local journalist (Tyrrell) who reported on the execution of his serial killer niece.

From a Whisper to a Scream
One-sheet under original title
Directed byJeff Burr
Produced byWilliam Burr
Darin Scott
Written byC. Courtney Joyner
Darin Scott
Jeff Burr
Mike Malone
Starring
Music byJim Manzie
CinematographyCraig Greene
Edited byW. O. Garrett
Distributed byMoviestore Entertainment
Release date
  • September 4, 1987 (1987-09-04)[1]
Running time
96 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1.1 million[1]
Box office$1.3 million (domestic)[2]

Developed by Burr, C. Courtney Joyner, and Darin Scott, all former film students, From a Whisper to a Scream was largely shot on location in Dalton, Georgia. The film was given a U.S. theatrical release in the fall of 1987 under the alternate title The Offspring.

Plot

In the small Tennessee town of Oldfield, historian Julian White relates four horror stories to local journalist, Beth Chandler, who has just attended the public execution of Julian's niece, Katherine, a serial killer. The stories are connected to the past and present of Oldfield, which, according to Julian, is an inherent epicenter for pure evil. White's narration serves as a wraparound story for four otherwise unconnected segments set during different periods in history.

The first of the stories, set in contemporary times, involves awkward and lonely grocer Stanley Burnside, who takes care of his codependent ailing sister, Eileen. Stanley attempts to date Grace, his younger, glamorous boss. She agrees to a dinner date, but rebukes Stanley's sexual advances after, after which Stanley strangles her to death. Grace's murder goes unsolved, but prior to her burial, Stanley breaks into the mortuary and has sex with her corpse. Nine months later, Stanley murders Eileen in a fit of rage. That same night, a mutant zombies offspring—the product of Stanley's sexual violation of Grace's corpse—breaks into the house and terrorizes Stanley, eventually killing him.

The second story, set in the 1950s, follows Jesse Hardwick, who is shot and injured by ruthless gangsters over a gambling debt. He flees into the swamp, where he is saved by Felder Evans, an elder voodoo practitioner who nurses him back to health. In Felder's cabin, Jesse finds newspaper clippings that suggest Felder was an escaped slave in the late-1800s. Believing Felder has the secret to immortality, Jesse pleads that Felder make him immortal too. When Felder's ritual fails, the men get into a violent fight, ending in Felder incapacitating Jesse. Felder reveals that he already fed Jesse the life-giving elixir when he first saved him, which has given Jesse another 70 years of life. Angered by Jesse's betrayal, Felder dismembers and burns him, though this does not kill Jesse. Later, Jesse's mutilated body is found on a country road. Doctors manage to piece his disarticulated body parts back together, but are unable to explain how he is alive.

The third story, set in 1933, follows Amarrillis Caulfield, a young woman who falls in love with Steven, a glass-eating carnival sideshow performer. Steven's relationship with Amarrallis is met with the ire of the controlling, cruel snakewoman who owns the carnival and manipulates the performers with voodoo. The snakewoman curses Steven, making the sharp objects he ingests emerge from his skin when he touches Amaralliss. Steven flees with Amarrallis, but, under the snakewoman's curse, all of the sharp objects he has ingested over the years burst out of his body, killing him. Later, Amarrillis, now under the snakewoman's control, is put on display in the carnival as a "human pincushion."

In the fourth segment, set during the American Civil War, Union soldier Sgt. Gallen and his men encounter a group of disfigured children living alone in an isolated farmhouse. The children are powerful and tactical, taking the soldiers hostage. Gallen manages to escape by killing one of the children, Amanda, only to find the others outside using one of his men's dismembered torsos as a piñata. He is recaptured, and comes to learn the children are all orphans of Confederate soldiers, avenging their parents. The children bring Gallen outside, where they burn him alive.

After relaying the final story, Julian is confronted by Beth, who reveals she corresponded via letter with Katherine while she was in prison. In her letters, Katherine claimed Julian, who raised her from childhood, "poisoned her mind." Avenging Katherine, Beth stabs Julian in the throat with a switchblade, killing him.

Cast
Framing story
"Stanley"
"On the Run"
  • Terry Kiser as Jesse Hardwick
  • Harry Caesar as Felder Evans
  • Katherine Kaden as Mary Hardwick
  • Gene Witham as Jack McCoy
  • Tommy Burcher as Lester McCoy
"Lovecraft's Traveling Amusements"
"Four Soldiers"

Production

Development

From a Whisper to a Scream was developed by Jeff Burr, C. Courtney Joyner, Mike Malone, and Darin Scott, all former film students and friends who met one another while attended the University of Southern California.[3] Burr devised the idea of a "haunted Southern town" in which various horror stories would take place.[4] The four each wrote screenplays for short films that would be relayed within the frame story, with the fictional town of Oldfield being the common denominator.[5] Each of the stories was written with certain taboos being central to the plot, such as necrophilia, and children committing murder.[6]

Casting

Director Jeff Burr, whose only prior film was the American Civil War drama Divided We Fall, had limited experience in Hollywood, and met much of the cast (Rosalind Cash, Clu Galager, Terry Kiser) through friends, rather than through a traditional casting process.[7]

In order to secure Vincent Price for the role of Julian White in the frame story, Burr went in person to Price's house with a bottle of wine (aware that Price was a wine connoisseur) and gave him the script in person. Burr would later recall,

We came bearing gifts, and wouldn't you know ... he opened the door himself when we knocked! It was a flurry of "Gee, Mr. Price, we're fans of your work ..." and "we wrote this script," and he actually invited us inside. He had every reason to ignore us, and even if it was on a polite level, he could have said, "Okay boys, contact my agent," but he was just so gracious. He invited us in, sat and talked with us for about 15 minutes, took the script, and that's how it all started.[8]

Price—who at that point in his career was reluctant to do more horror movies—later expressed regret at taking the role in a letter to German actor and puppeteer Gerd J. Pohl, claiming his agent had misrepresented the film.[9] Nevertheless, Burr recalls Price as "professional, gracious, and accommodating", praising his performance and his professionalism on set, despite Burr's suspicion that From a Whisper to a Scream was "the lowest budget film [Price] ever made as a professional".[8] The film became Price's last horror role (though he would later play a villain in the zombie-themed action/comedy Dead Heat).

Filming

From a Whisper to a Scream was filmed between 1985 and 1986. During the shooting stage Vincent Price's scenes for the framing story were the last to be filmed. In fact, seeing footage from the finished segments helped convince the actor to take the role.[8]

Release

The film was written and shot under the title From a Whisper to a Scream, but its American distributor, Moviestore Entertainment, released it theatrically under the alternate title The Offspring.[10]

Critical response

Michael Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram gave the film a three out of ten-star rating, noting that the film's veteran actors "make stale baloney seem palatable," and that the film bears "no evidence of good or bad directorial style."[11] L. Kent Wolgamott of the Lincoln Journal Star wrote that "a couple of the segments are good," but added that some of the sequences are "pretty bloody and hard to believe."[12]

The Los Angeles Times's Michael Wilmington gave the film a favorable review, noting: "There's a mood throughout of foul things squirming up to the light. Writer-director Jeff Burr and co-writers Courtney Joyner and Darin Scott show a welcome reverence for the past of movie horror."[13] The Baltimore Sun's Lou Cedrone alternately panned the film, deeming it "bad movie making" and adding that the most remarkable thing about it is that "it's been given an ad campaign."[14]

Home media

However, when it was released on DVD it was released under its original title. The Blu-ray release of From a Whisper to a Scream[15] was released by Scream Factory on April 28, 2015.[16]

References
  1. "The Offspring". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on August 22, 2020.
  2. From a Whisper to a Scream at Box Office Mojo
  3. Griffith 2015, 3:04–5:00.
  4. Griffith 2015, 8:14.
  5. Griffith 2015, 9:00–9:57.
  6. Griffith 2015, 8:59.
  7. Robg. & Mike C. (2009). "Fright Exclusive Interview: director Jeff Burr". Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  8. Michael Varrati. "Master of the Massacre: An Interview with Filmmaker Jeff Burr". Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  9. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091671/trivia?ref_=tt_trv_trv IMBD trivia Offspring
  10. Griffith 2015, 1:41:49.
  11. Price, Michael (October 23, 1987). "'Offspring' a bit stale, but Price makes it palatable". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. p. 52 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. Wolgamott, L. Kent (October 31, 1987). "Films hype the macabre, put the chill into fall". Lincoln Journal Star. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. Wilmington, Michael (December 8, 1987). "'Offspring': Price Narrates 4 Creepy Tales". p. 95 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. Cedrone, Lou (September 15, 1987). "'Offspring' and 'Slaughterhouse' are the dregs of the season". The Baltimore Sun. p. 30 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. FROM A WHISPER TO A SCREAM” Blu-ray bonus content
  16. From a Whisper to a Scream Factory; Vincent Price’s Last Horror Film Hitting Blu-ray

Sources
  • Griffith, Daniel (director) (2015). Return to Oldfield: Making From a Whisper to a Scream (Documentary). Scream Factory.
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