Whistle 

Slasher Trash with Panache?

Review:JA Kerswell

News filters through to the college of her death. Meanwhile, Jeeva (Vikramaditya), the campus dreamboat and cub reporter, is doing a story on belly piercings. Even though it is almost near graduation, he catches the eye of student Anjali (Gayathri Raguram) for the first time, and they develop an instant attraction that launches a song and dance number every 30 minutes or so. Anjali is flanked by her friend Maya (Sherin), who hosts a late night radio show call-in about sex and relationships and says things like, “From sex problems to sadism, we’re answering the listener’s questions …” And also Sharmi (Mayoori)—who practices ventriloquism with her Ernie doll (yes, as in Bert and Ernie). 
 
The students are taking a class by Professor Panneerselvam (Livingston) about Indian folklore. A college legend persists about the abandoned Stanley Morgan building, where 19 students died in a fire in 1987. Stories say that the tragedies that occur at the college are caused by Naga, a vengeful ghost of a woman who was killed by her family in a so-called ‘honour killing’ to prevent her from marrying a British man a hundred years previously. A temple was built on the site of her death, which was destroyed to make way for the modern college, specifically the now-abandoned wing. The professor continues by saying that a chaplain at the college created a book based on the legend of Naga and created a folklore character who punished those who went against the moral code. Anjali and Jeeva slowly begin to realise that someone wearing a Naga mask is killing students on campus in the methods shown in the book …
 
WHISTLE was just one of four Indian language slasher movies released in 2003 that took inspiration from earlier 90s North American slasher movies. SSSHHH was closely modelled on SCREAM (1996), whilst KUCCH TO HAI used I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER (1997) as its template (although it also recreated the gas station scene from URBAN LEGEND in its entirety). If you have seen any Indian language slashers you’ll know that they are usually peppered with highly stylised, day-glo song and dance numbers that do little to advance the plot (including one here that bizarrely seems to extol the virtues of the humble Betel leaf), but seem to be used as a substitute for sexual tension with lyrics such as—“It’s a tasted, stolen ripe fruit. It’s a caressed unripe fruit.” This film is no exception. 

The film closely follows the structure of URBAN LEGEND and recreates whole sequences from that film with slight variations—including the attack in the woods with the killer hanging someone from a tree; the chase sequence at the radio station, and the ‘Don’t Turn On the Lights!’ scene (which substitutes the angry Goth for an intravenous drug user). However, where the film takes a decidedly left turn is the inclusion of the character Saga (Vivek), a gurning taxi driver who gains the ability to hear women’s thoughts after getting his nether regions zapped whilst relieving himself near an electricity point. Whilst most Indian slashers feature comedy characters, they are usually more integrated into the main plot. Whilst Saga’s storyline briefly intertwines with the main narrative when he makes a bungled attempt to find the killer, it plays mostly separately as a spoof/variation of the 2000 Mel Gibson comedy. It spirals into a different realm entirely when another electric shock means he can hear only animals, which leads to a jaw-dropping scene where he tries to prevent a horse from sexually ravaging a portly woman who the animal thinks looks like an elephant! And just when you think it can't get stranger, he is ‘cured’ only to find that he now has a supernatural sense of smell and becomes a police sniffer dog complete with canine ticks and mannerisms.
 
Shorn of the song and dance numbers, and this decidedly oddball diversion, WHISTLE would itself still be an eccentric cover version of Jamie Blanks’ film. The whistle of the title refers to a flashback to a school Whistle Party, where kids, er, blow whistles and throw paint at each other, which results in the tragedy that drives the motivations for the killings in the present day. There are a few changes, such as the inclusion of a character in drag for some reason being killed and that Ernie doll being splattered in blood. Although the climax of the film plays to very similar beats, it does change things up with the revelation of the killer (or killers), and features a full-on, almost martial arts-style fight scene that has to be seen to be believed.
 
Indian slasher films from this era can be an acquired taste. I saw a horror film at a cinema in South India around this time, and the sound was turned up loud enough to hide the sound of people chatting on their phones. It really was an assault on the senses and quite the experience. So, not for everyone, but those with a taste for something decidedly familiar but with an exceptionally gonzo twist should find plenty to dine out on here.  

BODY COUNT 9: 
Female 5 / Male 4

1. Female decapitated (off screen)
2. Male is hung from a tree and his neck is broken
3. Female is buried alive (flashback)
4. Female is strangled and attacked with a battle-axe
5. Female is found hanged (flashback)
6. Male is pushed to his death
7. Male is strangled to death
8. Female is attacked with an axe (off screen)
9. Male is killed in a fight

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