The Offspring (1987)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Jeff Burr

Writers:

C. Courtney Joyner (written by) and
Darin Scott (written by) ...

Release Date:

25 September 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Fear......Times Four

Plot:

In a small Tennessee town, an historian relates four horror stories to a reporter.

Plot Keywords:

Tennessee | Razor Blade | Disfigurement | Murder | Nude Woman Murdered

Cast

Martine Beswick	...	Katherine White
Lawrence Tierney	...	Warden
Rick Cox	...	Doctor
Nicos Argentiogorgis	...	Priest
Susan Tyrrell	...	Beth Chandler
Vincent Price	...	Julian White
Clu Gulager	...	Stanley Burnside
Megan McFarland	...	Grace Scott
Terence Knox	...	Burt (as Terry Knox)
Miriam Byrd-Nethery	...	Eileen Burnside
Bob Hannah	...	Harry Essex
Frank Shaheen	...	Truck Loader
Paul Barberi	...	Truck Loader
Terry Kiser	...	Jesse Hardwick
Katherine Kaden	...	Mary Hardwick

Also Known As:

From a Whisper to a Scream (USA)

Runtime:

99 min | 92 min (video)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

West Germany:18 (video) | Italy:VM14 (VHS rating) | Australia:R | UK:18 | USA:R | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Dalton, Georgia, USA

Company:

Conquest Productions

Trivia:

Shot in 1985 and 1986, not released until 1987.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Stanley pours the champagne for himself and Grace at the funeral home, he is seen draining his glass. The next shot of the glass shows it filled again, and he never refilled it.

Quotes:

Julian White: One thing I've learned, my dear, is that one is never too old for nightmares.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Saw Is Family: Making 'Leatherface' (2003) (V)

Sicker than I thought it would be.

"From a Whisper to a Scream" is one of the sicker 80's horror movies I've seen, worse than it's inspiration "Creepshow." It's similar, though.

With healthy doses of humor and gore, the film takes on a different face with each vignette. The first is kind of comical and the main character is totally ridiculous. The end takes an even more ridiculous spin with an injection of incest and then a 'monster' at the end. The second story is about a horrible, greedy man who pays the price for his greed. It, to me, was the most satisfying. The third yarn is a carny-folk gone wild tale of a man who sold his soul to the wrong woman. The last tale was without a doubt the most twisted. I enjoyed it the most and I wasn't expecting to be so satisfied by the end.

What I didn't like about "From a Whisper to a Scream" was the weird, intertwined plot with Vincent Price and the lady who is put to death. I didn't understand why that even needed to be in the film because you never really find out what she did wrong. It just sort of fades out. All in all, a solid effort though!

6 out of 10, kids.