The Whistler (El Silbón) is a Venezuelan horror film written by Nacho Palacios, Diego Velasco, Esteban Orozco, and Carolina Paiz and directed by Diego Velasco.
Synopsis: "After their daughter’s death, a grieving couple inherits a remote Venezuelan farm occupied by a mysterious cult who claim to summon spirits. Desperate for one last connection, Nicole joins their rituals — awakening The Whistler."
The film is based on a folktale about a legendary figure in Venezuela, associated especially with Los Llanos region, usually described as a lost soul. It starts off by saying that the cult of María Lionza has existed for 400 years who believe spirits still live among us, and that the one the most feared is The Whistler. If the whistle sounds close, you are safe, but if it sounds far away, he is standing right behind you.
It begins with a woman getting captured hiking through a field of sugar cane, and her captor identifies her as a medium who calls spirits. He does a ritual and invokes the spirit of The Whistler through a blood ritual to take over her body. It picks up some time in the future and focuses on Nicole (Diane Guerrero) and Sebastian (Juan Pablo Raba) grieving the loss of their daughter. They inherit a sugarcane farm after Sebastian's father died and travel from the U.S. to the farm in Venezuela where most of the film takes place.
The first thing we noticed was the score. Freddy Sheinfeld did an excellent job with the atmosphere and tension building in this film. The sound department in general was just awesome here, though. The locations are beautiful. It was filmed in Columbia, and the cinematography doesn't have any shortage of gorgeous backdrops.
Despite the beauty of the locations, there are some gruesome moments which are courtesy of The Whistler, as it makes itself apparent from time to time, killing anyone unfortunate enough to hear its eerie whistling. The Whistler makes a few appearances and terrorizes the farm. As Nicole is dealing with the death of her daughter, she comes into contact with María Lionza, and convinces them to do a ritual that would allow her to speak to her daughter from the afterlife. This turns out horribly, and things just escalate from there.
Overall, The Whistler does a great job of blending elevated horror themes into what becomes more of an elevated slasher. With a captivating story about grief, this Latin American Gothic film hits all of the marks. The cinematography, score, and direction all really shined here, but there was also a decent amount of gore and the atmosphere was perfect. While films often touch on the same themes, it's refreshing to see a new take on an old folktale that has existed for centuries. We thought this one was fantastic, and would definitely recommend it to all horror fans.
The Whistler opens in select theaters tomorrow, April 17th via Vertical. Look for it on streaming platforms wherever you can find it afterwards. You won't regret it.
