Gritos en Oldfield

The magnificent Vincent Price can be seen in several great Horror omnibuses from the 60s ("Tales of Terror", "Twice Told Tales"), and while the Horror-deity's screen-time is sadly limited in "The Offspring", this 80s feature is yet another highly recommendable omnibus starring Price. The popularity of Horror omnibuses/anthologies (more or less) began with the British 1945 classic "Dead of Night" and had its heyday in the 60s with films such as the aforementioned Vincent Price classics or the great Mario Bava's masterpiece "I Tre Volti Della Paura" ("Black Sabbath"/"The Three Faces of Fear", 1963, my choice for the greatest Horror omnibus out there), and 70s. The British Company Amicus even specialized in only doing Horror omnibuses, which resulted in such wonderful flicks as "The House That Dripped Blood" (1970) or "Torture Garden" (1967). A thing most of these anthologies have in common is that the separate tales they tell usually differ in quality, with one or two (depending on how many tales per film are told) usually standing out from the others. This cannot really be said about "From a Whisper to a Scream" as each of the tales is quite creepy and atmospheric and about equally memorable, and the question which is the best lies in the personal taste of the viewer.

The film, which is entirely set in the small town of Oldfield, Tennessee, starts with the execution of a female serial killer (cult siren Martine Beswick). When reporter Beth Chandler (Susan Tyrell), who witnessed the execution, pays a visit to the convict's sinister uncle Julian White (Vincent Price), he tells her that the town of Oldfield has always been evil, which he exemplifies by telling her four macabre stories.

All four stories are macabre, morbid and delightfully creepy. The first one (starring Clu Gulager) is a weird, quite explicit and very creepy tale deals with delicate psycho-sexual topics. The second chapter, a haunting tale about a lowlife crook who stumbles upon the secret of eternal life, is more elaborate and maybe even creepier than the first one. The third tale is about a traveling circus and voodoo, and as everyone who knows anything about Horror knows, circus folks are amongst the creepiest creatures one will ever stumble upon. Rosalind Cash is fantastic as a diabolical voodoo witch. Another creepiest species present in Horror cinema have always been... creepy children, and the fourth and final tale is another proof that kids can be more terrifying than anything. Set in the final days of the Civil War, the fourth story tells the tale of a bunch of brutal and ruthless soldiers, who happen to find an equal in a town full of orphans....

My main complaint about "From a Whisper to a Scream" is the fact that icon Vincent Price, who happens to be my favorite actor of all time, has too little screen-time. He merely serves as a narrator and sadly doesn't appear in any of the stories. Otherwise, the film actually surpassed my expectations. While it isn't the best Horror anthology ever made, the tension and creepiness doesn't stop and each tale macabre and highly entertaining. The film is gory, and its sense of humor is very morbid. Apart from Price, notable cast members include former Bond-girl, cave-babe and 'Sister Hyde' Martine Beswick, as well as Lawrence Tierney.

This was only the second film by director Jeff Burr ("Texas Chainsaw Massacre III"), and for that one must say he did an amazing job. "The Offspring" is a surprisingly good and highly entertaining 80s Horror omnibus, the only disappointment being that Vincent Price has too little screen time. Highly recommended.

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.

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.

From a Whisper to a Scream (1987)

*** (out of 4)

After the execution of a serial killer, a reporter goes to a small Tennessee historian (Vincent Price) who tells her four stories dealing with a small town's history.

The first story centers on a man (Clu Culager) who takes care of his severely ill sister but it leads to murder. The second story has a white trash man (Terry Kiser) getting shot and running into the woods where he ends up under the care of an elderly black man (Harry Caesar) who knows voodoo. The third story deals with a carnival side show where the glass eater falls in love with someone outside the troupe, which doesn't sit well with the owner. The fourth and final story is set during the Civil War where an evil Union soldier (Cameron MItchell) ends up in a house of horrors led by children.

This film is also known as THE OFFSPRING but no matter which title you want to call it the film itself is actually pretty darn good. Director Jeff Burr will always be remembered for the disastrous studio tampering of LEATHERFACE: Texas CHAINSAW MASSACRE III. This film here is certainly a real gem among the type of horror films that were being released during this period. It perfectly captures the anthology films of the 1960s but adds a touch of violence and gore that was so popular during the 80s. While none of the four tales are excellent, each of them are at least entertaining and make for a fun movie.

Again, none of the four stories are wonderful and all four are rather predictable but they are fun. The first one has a very weird incest vibe that runs through it but it also offers up some memorable gore as well as a very good performance from Culager. The second story is familiar voodoo material but the two performances are quite good and the final twist is wonderfully sinister. The third story with "going against the circus" is again predictable but the ending is just perfect. Once again the gore effects from Rob Burman really pack a nice little punch. Finally, the Civil War sequence gives us a terrific performance from Mitchell and the story itself is the most original and once again it adds some nice twists.

Of course, one of the biggest draws are the wrap around events that feature Vincent Price. While he basically just sits and talks, it's great fun seeing the actor in good form. You'll also want to look quickly for Laurence Tierney, Martine Beswicke and Angelo Rossitto who some will remember from Al Adamson's Dracula VS FRANKENSTEIN. Director Burr does a nice job with the low-budget and he certainly makes the film look very professional on such a budget. The film really does a nice job at building up the atmosphere of the anthology and all four films really work well together. FROM A WHISPER TO A SCREAM is certainly a good little gem.

1986's "From a Whisper to a Scream" (theatrically issued as "The Offspring" before returning to its original moniker) was an ambitious anthology for young filmmakers with more talent than money, director Jeff Burr carving out a niche in horror sequels over the following years. Shooting lasted 24 days in Burr's hometown of Dalton, Georgia, representing the Tennessee town of Oldfield, home of executed murderess Katherine White (Martine Beswick), whose uncle Julian (Vincent Price) receives a visit from reporter Beth Chandler (Susan Tyrrell), curious about how his niece could have begun her murder spree while still a child. Julian shows her records about several past incidents to prove that Oldfield itself has been a harbinger of evil since its inception during the Civil War. "Stanley," played by Clu Gulager, is by all appearances a harmless old coot, taking care of a chronically ill sister (played by his real life wife, Miriam Byrd-Nethery) who displays incestuous feelings for her brother and talks of nothing but the old days with their long dead father. Stanley's obsessive longing for a coworker (Megan McFarland) finds him sending her flowers from a 'secret admirer,' and she incredibly agrees to a date just to pacify the nerd. When she rebuffs his advances he strangles her and leaves the corpse to be found in the road, feigning innocence when the murder is revealed the next day. After breaking into the funeral home to molest the corpse, the killer spends the next 9 months enjoying the fruits of an unsolved crime, finally tiring of the ice water baths required to cool down his sister to strangle her as well, only to receive his just desserts from a most unexpected visitor. "On the Run" centers on lowlife Jesse Hardwick (Terry Kiser), badly wounded after an encounter with two hoodlums, stumbling into the swamp where he is found by an old man, Felder Evans (Harry Caesar), who nurses him back to health. Seemingly pleased to have some company in his isolated shack, Felder is unaware of his new tenant's overly inquisitive nature and murderous demeanor, uncovering evidence that his benefactor may be over 100 years old. His nightly voodoo chants help to produce an elixir that may be responsible for his longevity, agreeing to share it with Jesse if he works hard enough, but the ingrate turns on Felder to his everlasting regret. "Lovecraft's Traveling Amusements" is a carnival sideshow owned by the mysterious Snakewoman (Rosalind Cash), all the performers slaves to her will, especially the handsome glass eater, Steven Arden (Ron Brooks), whose forbidden love for local girl Amarillis (Didi Lanier) may prove to be his undoing. "Four Soldiers" headlines Cameron Mitchell as Sgt. Gallen, leader of a quartet of deserting Union soldiers who delight in their continued reign of terror over the Confederates even after learning the Civil War is over. A field covered in landmines quickly puts them out of commission to allow easy capture by a band of crippled and mutilated children, all orphaned during battle, keeping the spirits of their fallen parents alive by torturing any soldiers they find. One is stabbed in the crotch, another has an eye gouged out, while Gallen callously murders a little girl who freed him because he looked like her father; his fate is preordained no matter how he tries to escape. Julian's chronicles do not convince his unmoved visitor, who soon reveals her own past history with Oldfield much to the old man's horror. The four segments had already been completed when Jeff Burr called at the home of Vincent Price, script in hand (and a bottle of wine), to offer him the lead role, and to his unabashed delight, the actor accepted as a final farewell to the genre he loved. Cameron Mitchell stands out as the despicable sergeant, and Bela Lugosi costar Angelo Rossitto enjoys a fine role as a sympathetic sideshow barker. During the decade of "Creepshow" this omnibus rarely received its just due, but in tackling taboo subjects like dismemberment, necrophilia, and incest certainly didn't shirk on its ability to shock.