''The Whisperer in Darkness'' is a 2011
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
horror film directed and produced by Sean Branney, Andrew Leman, and David Robertson and distributed by the
H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society
The H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society or HPLHS is the organization that hosts Cthulhu Lives!, a group of live-action roleplayers for the ''Cthulhu Live'' version of '' Call of Cthulhu''. Founded in Colorado in 1984, it is now based in Glendale, ...
. Based on the
H. P. Lovecraft short story of the same name, it was shot using
Mythoscope, a blend of vintage and modern filming techniques intended to produce the look of a 1930s-era film. According to the film's website, the filmmakers intended to capture the look of "classic horror films of the 1930s like ''
Dracula'', ''
Frankenstein
''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific ...
'' and ''
King Kong
King Kong is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. He has been dubbed The Eighth Wonder of the World, a phrase commonly used within the franchise. His first appearance was in the novelizat ...
''".
[Official Site]
Plot
For the first
two acts, the plot largely follows the short story. The third act consists of entirely new material in which the
Mi-Go are revealed to worship
Shub-Niggurath
Shub-Niggurath is a fictional deity created by writer H. P. Lovecraft. She is often associated with the phrase "The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young". The only other name by which Lovecraft referred to her was "Lord of the Wood" in ...
, and the protagonist, Wilmarth, uncovers an attempt by cultists to open a gateway between
Yuggoth
''The Whisperer in Darkness'' is a 26,000-word novella by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. Written February–September 1930, it was first published in ''Weird Tales'', August 1931. Similar to '' The Colour Out of Space'' (1927), it is a ble ...
and Earth. He foils the plot with the help of Hannah, the child of one of the collaborators. His escape is unsuccessful and at the end of the film the audience discovers that Wilmarth has been narrating from a machine attached to the cylinder in which his brain now resides. This differs from the original story in which Wilmarth flees in the middle of the night and safely returns to Arkham.
According to Sean Branney on the making-of featurette "The Whisperer Behind the Scenes," Lovecraft was better at set-ups than endings. From a dramatic standpoint, Lovecraft's story brought the writers through what would be "Act Two" of a standard movie structure and felt incomplete. The character of Hannah and opening of gate to Yuggoth were introduced in order to "
ake ita good movie". Branney and Leman intended to make Wilmarth's world "more emotionally complicated" because Hannah's future caused him to be "invested in more than just himself". The characters of Wilmarth's three friends at Miskatonic University were developed from
''Call of Cthulhu'' role-playing characters created years before by Branney, Leman, and a friend. Regarding the introduction of a biplane, Leman commented, "If you have monsters that fly, you have to have a dogfight with a biplane."
[''The Whisperer in Darkness.'' Dir. Sean Branney. 2011. DVD. Fungi, LLC, 2012. Special Features disc. "The Whisperer Behind the Scenes."]
Cast
In order of appearance:
* Paul Ita as Farmer
* Matt Foyer as Albert Wilmarth
* Matt Lagan as Nathaniel Ward
* Lance J. Holt as Davis Bradbury
* Andrew Leman as
Charles Fort
Charles Hoy Fort (August 6, 1874 – May 3, 1932) was an American writer and researcher who specialized in anomalous phenomena. The terms "Fortean" and "Forteana" are sometimes used to characterize various such phenomena. Fort's books sold ...
*
Stephen Blackehart as Charlie Tower
* David Pavao as Jordan Lowell
* Don Martin as Dean Hayes
* Joe Sofranko as George Akeley
*
Barry Lynch
Barry J. Lynch (born June 10, 1951, in Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-m ...
as Henry Akeley
* Martin Wately as Walter Brown
* Daniel Kaemon as P.F. Noyes
* Caspar Marsh as Will Masterson
* Autumn Wendel as Hannah Masterson
* Sean Branney as B-67
* Annie Abrams as Aviatrix
* Zack Gold as Astronomer
* John Jabaley as Superintendent
Production
The filmmakers used
Mount Holyoke College to represent
Miskatonic University
Miskatonic University is a fictional university located in Arkham, a fictional town in Essex County, Massachusetts. It is named after the Miskatonic River (also fictional). After first appearing in H. P. Lovecraft's 1922 story " Herbert West–Re ...
.
Pasadena City College is used for interior scenes of the school.
Sandy Petersen
Carl Sanford Joslyn "Sandy" Petersen (born September 16, 1955) is an American game designer. He worked at Chaosium, contributing to the development of ''RuneQuest'' and later creating the acclaimed and influential horror role-playing game ''Call ...
, author of the ''
Call of Cthulhu'' role-playing game, contributed financially to the film in order to finish its production.
Release
''The Whisperer in Darkness'' did not have a theatrical release but appeared at dozens of film festivals in over a dozen countries.
It was then released on DVD and Blu-ray in early 2012.
Reception
''The Whisperer in Darkness'' received highly positive reviews. It holds 86% approval rating on
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
. On the
Internet Movie Database
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
it has 6.6 out of 10 stars. John J. Puccio of ''Movie Metropolis'' said "The atmospherics are in place, and the filmmakers catch the essence of Lovecraft's expansive horror with efficiency. The film is entertaining without attaining greatness." Andrew O'Hehir of
Salon.com
''Salon'' is an American politically progressive/ liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events.
Content and coverage
''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, including re ...
said "'Whisperer in Darkness' has a chiller-diller conclusion and some moments of real terror."
Awards
''The Whisperer in Darkness'' was nominated at
Oaxaca Film Fest
Oaxaca FilmFest was an eight-day long international film festival that was permanently cancelled in 2022 without taking place, once it could no longer hide the fact that it devolved into a calculated scam to prey on unknowing filmmakers. At its st ...
.
* Gold Hugo—Nominated
* Free Spirit Award—Nominated
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Whisperer In Darkness
2011 films
2010s supernatural horror films
American supernatural horror films
American black-and-white films
Cthulhu Mythos films
Direct-to-video horror films
2010s English-language films
Films set in 1931
Films set in Massachusetts
Films set in Vermont
Films shot in California
Films shot in Massachusetts
Films shot in New Hampshire
Films shot in Vermont
2010s American films