A book can crack open a whole new world for the reader. In the case of Australia’s all-women-directed horror film anthology, Dark Whispers, a mysterious ancestral book left upon a mother’s passing to her daughter becomes the very literal entrance point into an unsettling universe. For us, what lies inside is an eclectic bundle of 10 short films, ranging from a gothic animation, to a twisted mermaid fantasy, to an Indonesian ghost story. It was.
There’s real pop to the directorial visions on display in this assortment of psychological thrillers, some of which dip their toes into horror. The visually striking homage to old-school horror in Janine Hewitt’s 2005 short The Intruder, starring Asher Keddie (pre-Offspring
fame) as Zoe, is gorgeously shot on 35mm film. With a raging storm outside, there’s plenty of dramatic, flashing lightning and shadowy interiors to keep the suspense alive in the short running time. When Zoe’s estranged friend Angela (Bree Desborough) unexpectedly arrives at her doorstep, it trades loud jump scares for the stewing fear of a lingering presence outside.
Dark Whispers Vol. 1, 2019.
Directed by Megan Riakos, Angie Black, Kaitlin Tinker, Isabel Peppard, Briony Kidd, Jub Clerc, Marion Pilowsky, Katrina Irawati Graham, Lucy Gouldthorpe, Madeleine Purdy and Janine Hewitt.
Starring Asher Keddie, Anthony LaPaglia, Andrea Demetriades and Bree Desborough.
SYNOPSIS:
A series of horror tales, linked together via their presence in a mysterious book.
Australia is proving to be a fertile ground for horror filmmakers in recent years – and particularly for women working in the genre. Jennifer Kent’s
The Babadook is already a bona fide modern classic of horror and Natalie Erika James’s
Relic – released last year – seems to be on a similar trajectory. It’s Australia’s female horror talent which gets to step into the spotlight for the anthology