Teen horror Whistle is a wonderfully brutal horror story with refreshingly dynamic characters who make the fatal mistake of blowing an Aztec death whistle. Director Corin Hardy and star Sophie Nélisse join us to talk about music, representation, and killer looks.
Music plays an integral role in director Corin Hardy’s Whistle. Protagonist Chrys (Dafne Keene) uses her deceased father’s record collection to feel closer to him (and may I say, he has a really stellar collection). “This part of her character was this idea that she's inherited her father's jacket, which is a bit like her armor, and his record collection,” Hardy explained. “It’s kind of a way of her connecting to her father.”
Hardy uses the soundtrack as a way to give insight into the character, and the soundtrack ends up feeling like an event akin to ‘90s era soundtracks that were treated as coveted albums, which was Hardy’s hope. There is one song in particular that perfectly captures the yearning of a teenage crush, and as a longtime fan of the band Tiger Army myself, I was pretty excited to hear them on the Whistle soundtrack.
“Thanks for mentioning that particular one, I'm a big Tiger Army fan. I‘ve had that particular song for a long time. I've built playlists and compilations for all the projects I work on,” the director shared. “I created a ‘Death Lives’ playlist, and it was sort of an overall world of music that applied to the movie. ‘Dark and Lonely Night’ has such a romantic feel, and I was like, ‘I got to get this in a movie.’ That was actually one of the last songs we managed to clear. It took a long time to get through.”
Along with the likes of Prodigy, Concrete Blonde, Gunship, Chvrches, and Iron Maiden, the music presented a real chance to dive into Chrys’ character and her connection with her dad. But the soundtrack isn’t the only sonic treat. The original score is also impressive, and Hardy had some good news to share on that front.
“We do have exciting news, we're releasing a Whistle vinyl of the Doomphonic score. So that's going to be something that we're going to be able to get in a few months.” Preview Doomphonic's end title score below.
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Sophie Nélisse On Representation
There is a very sweet love story at the core of Whistle, the fact that the relationship is between two young women is not the point of it. There is no special attention given to that aspect. It simply is. And this is perhaps the most important kind of representation we can have right now. Queer love that simply exists in the midst of life. In this case, a group of friends trying to outrun death and the ancient curse they’ve unleashed. While also trying to navigate not sounding like a weirdo (or too aloof) in a painstakingly crafted text to your crush. You know, normal teenage stuff.
“I remember being 15 and watching movies was my comfort place where I would go to forget the harsher realities of life sometimes, or just to feel seen by a character and understood, and it made the harder times easier,” Nélisse shared. “It really saddens me that such a big community, the queer community, did not ever feel that seen or represented on screen,” she added. “Now I have that chance, I'm able to portray characters that will maybe give a voice to some people who felt like they never had representation on screen. Whenever I have a chance to, it really warms my heart to think that I can sort of give back that way. I love that we see it more and more often, and that it's not questioned.
“I always try to explain this, but we're not trying to prove a point. We're just incorporating these characters as if it were completely normal because it is, and that's what it should feel like. I feel very honored that I'm able to play characters that offer more representation, and hopefully, we just bring even more diversity.”
Nélisse has played Yellowjackets villain Shauna for three seasons. The warm and endearing Ellie is a nice change of pace for fans who enjoy seeing another side to the actor. “I love playing a villain. I think it's very fun, I get to tap into really dark places, but it is also fun to be lovable. I would want an Ellie in my life, someone who offers stability and warmth. I love that for me, it was kind of a little closer to home, closer to who I am as a person.”
Death Lives: Transforming With FX
This isn’t a spoiler because you can see it in the trailer! Whistle offers up deathly versions of characters, Nellise’s Ellie included. The actor transformed with practical FX, complete with an eerie eye transformation that made getting around on set pretty difficult.”I had these white contact lenses. They have this white veil over them, but it made it so that I went completely blind. I couldn't see, and Corin had to walk me through the set. Everyone was trying to give me directions and notes, and I just heard a thousand voices.”
There is also a physically demanding component to this particular version of Ellie, which Nélissse describes as, “It was really fun, and it was interesting to have to play that sort of seizure. It's actually weirdly quite demanding to make your body twitch and contorted. We also worked with a bunch of other contortionists and people like that to bend back where my own body couldn't. It was a really fun time.”
“I'll never forget. We did a camera test day just before the shoot, and we tested out different looks, and it was the first time to see Dafne and Sophie in a version of their death look,” Hardy added. “It was just a really rewarding moment to see them. We had some music playing, and I was like, ‘Oh, I want to make a movie just about these two characters, these two kind of dead characters going off, doing something else together.’ It was pretty awesome.”
Is There A Whistle Sequel In The Works?
“Me and [Whistle writer Owen Egerton] have got very excited about continuing and telling more Whistle stories. I think the mythology is so sort of pure and strong,” Hardy said. Ok, so you’re saying there’s a chance! But would a new Whistle story follow the same characters or take us somewhere else entirely?
“There are lots of opportunities for where it could go, so I wanted to have a sort of tease that might set up the idea. There are lots of ideas. And one of them, I can't give anything away, but I would love to take the story back to its roots and its origins, and it'll be pretty cool. I can't say exactly what would happen.”
Whistle is in theaters February 6 (and you should definitely stick around for the credits). You can also find more Whistle in FANGORIA #30 on newsstands now (+ in our shop) and watch our Fantastic Fest interview with Corin Hardy and writer Owen Egerton.
