Eleven-year-old Martino, in the 1976 Italian thriller "A Whisper In The Dark," seems to have a very unusual playmate: It is the ghost of his brother Luca, who had died in infancy many years before. His parents, well played by Nathalie Delon and John Phillip Law, who many will remember as the blind, angelic Pygar in "Barbarella," believe Luca to be a mere product of Martino's youthful imagination, but how then to explain all the weird occurrences (a freak storm, a sudden flat tire, a toad in the bathtub, a suddenly arrested soccer ball, an electrocution, an invisible kiss, et al.) that have been going down in and around their stately palazzo? While the filmmakers are careful to leave matters ambiguous, most viewers, I have a feeling, will have no doubt that Luca most definitely has some form of existence. Although the picture is never really scary, and does take its sweet time building what eerie atmosphere it does have with a slow accretion of detail, there are many rewards to be had here for the patient viewer. The film features elegant direction from Marcello Aliprandi, a chilling lullaby theme from Pino Donaggio (I know, I know...sounds more like a wine than a composer!), and perhaps best of all, stunning cinematography from Claudio Cirillo, who, on this great-looking DVD from No Shame, gives a very fascinating 32-minute interview on the picture's production. Cirillo's lensing shows to great effect the sumptuous 16th century Villa Condulmer in Mogliano Veneto, where most of the picture was shot, as well as a dazzling children's costume party and the wintry canals of Venice. (Funny how many superior thrillers, such as "Don't Look Now" and "Who Saw Her Die?," are set in Venice in winter.) In all, a modestly effective, very-well-made suspenser that is well worth a look.
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ferbs5418 January 2009
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The_Void24 August 2008A Whisper in the Dark is a very well made Italian chiller; a million miles away from the cheap quickies that the nation is more famous for making. However, despite being a technically well made film; A Whisper in the Dark misses out where the story is concerned. It's all of a very slow build variety and unfortunately the film doesn't manage to elevate itself enough to go above 'faintly interesting' and the result is rather disappointing. The base of this story has been seen many times since this film - though not all that many times before; however, influence was clearly taken from Nicholas Roeg's masterpiece Don't Look Now. The plot focuses on a boy named Martino. Martino has an imaginary brother named Luca; and this is a worry to his parent as the child they lost was to be called Luca before its premature death. Strange things start to happen and before long the parents begin to believe that maybe there's something more to the 'game' that their son is playing and seek medical help for the boy.
Most of the duration of the film is spent on build up and as such I was expecting something pretty special by the end. Be it a clever twist or maybe even a shock; but unfortunately that never happens. The film just builds up to nothing at all and that is the major problem with it. It's a real shame too because this could have been great considering the obvious effort that went into it. A Whisper in the Dark is a very beautiful film; the decor and cinematography is mouth watering and the direction courtesy of Marcello Aliprandi is excellent. Furthermore, the acting is not bad; with child actor Alessandro Poggi doing well in the lead role and getting capable support from the likes of John Phillip Law, Nathalie Delon and Joseph Cotten in what is little more than a cameo role. The events during the film are always mildly interesting but the only reason the film kept my attention was because I was waiting for something to happen. The ending is an anti-climax to say the least and it spoils what otherwise could have been a very good film! -
SimoAsserini6 January 2002This Marcello Aliprandi's "Un sussurro nel buio" is a very peculiar movie. It comes, regarding the plot and the themes, earlier than some celebrated movie: in particularly "Shock" (1976) by Mario Bava, but also "Shining" (1980) and "The Sixth Sense" (1999). The story is about a child who, in a big and perturbing house in a north Italy country, talks and plays with a - maybe - inexistent other child. His parents get worried and try to understand. The end of the story is not devoid of ambiguity. The movie is visually impressive, odd in the plot (with a good sense of suspense), full of mystery and fascination for irrational. I think that in the italian `fantastic' genre "Un sussurro nel buio" is among the best and the most original ones: Marcello Aliprandi may be compared with directors like Mario Bava, Pupi Avati and Michele Soavi. Even if it isn't always a very solid movie, if you like this italian genre you must see this refined film. Very enjoyable the cast: John Phillip Law, Nathalie Delon and even Joseph Cotten.
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marco7018 December 1999It's a pity this movie is practically unknown, 'cause it would be a serious contender to reach the top of one of those "worst movie" lists... Intended to be a supernatural thriller, in the end it's only a collection of horror stereotypes, bad actors performing at their worst, embarrassing kitsch moments (yes, those great kitsch moments that can transform a b-movie into a trash cult!), the most disagreeable couple of twin girls in movie history and a screenplay that, lacking any trace of logic and plausibility, manages instead to deliver some tragically funny (alas, unintentionally) dialogues
The only real frights come courtesy of the scary costumes (pure 1970's-style) the actors wear throughout the movie: a collection of the worst of the worst of fashion...
And the only real mystery is why Joseph Cotten is in this mess... -
Craig-98 November 2005I'm glad there are companies like NoShame that are resurrecting lost Italian genre films for DVD. I just wish these films would live up to their reputations! _A Whisper in the Dark_ is never even remotely scary and is, ultimately, a very slow-moving and rather pointless movie. It is not in the same league as films like Mario Bava's _Shock_ or _The Sixth Sense_, as another poster here has suggested. It doesn't even really have much to do with Henry James' _The Turn of the Screw_ or films based on that story. I kept waiting impatiently for something--ANYTHING--to happen and it never did. When the final credits rolled, I was thinking "is that it?" If you really want to see the movie for yourself, save your money and rent it from Netflix, as I did. Even then, you might regret taking up a space in your queue with this nonsense.
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senchokid8 June 2009Others here have described the plot of A WHISPER IN THE DARK; my few comments focus on the film's disappointing, unimaginative finale.
For nearly two hours, A WHISPER IN THE DARK sets its audience up to believe it is watching an old-school ghost story that is leading up to a definitive (perhaps revelatory) finish. However, in the film's last moments, the audience is blue-balled by a dissatisfying, ambiguous finale that seems to expose a clear lack of imagination on the parts of director Aliprandi and screenwriters Rienzi. This is one of those endings that will leave most asking "Are you kidding me? That's it?!!!"
The primary question raised again and again in the film -- does Luca exist, or is he only a figment of Martino's imagination -- seems to be answered in three particular scenes in the film. A soccer ball kicked by Martino is stopped by an unseen force Martino names as being Luca; a blindfolded Camilla senses an unseen presence kissing her in full sight of several witnesses; and little Matilde seemingly sees and speaks to an unseen Luca who entices her to fall from a balcony. Still, even with what appears to be convincing evidence of Luca's existence, the final scene around the family breakfast table seems to forget much of what the audience has already seen, showing the family apparently accepting Luca's ghost (whether imagined by Martino or as a "real" ghost) as an unavoidable fixture in their lives after all of those same characters have spent the rest of the movie expressing views and opinions quite to the contrary. I can only assume Aliprandi and the Rienzis never had any clear idea of where they were going with the story and tacked on a slapdash ending just to be done with it.
I would have liked to recommend this film because the acting is good and the story is interesting, but the disappointing way the filmmakers chose to wrap up the story puts too much of a damper on the overall enjoyment. That being the case, I'd actually recommend that viewers skip this one entirely. -
bensonmum224 October 2005Luca is Martino's imaginary friend. Martino talks to Luca, plays with Luca, and insists the family set a place at the table for Luca. Martino's obsession with Luca seems unhealthy and troubling to his parents. Luca happens to be the name they were planning to give to their child who died before being born. How could Martino possibly know about the miscarriage? The parents call on specialists to help Martino forget about his imaginary friend with disastrous results. Maybe Luca isn't so imaginary after all.
A Whisper in the Dark is one of those relatively unknown, subtle, beautifully filmed, and, for the most part, well acted films with a haunting finale that it's always a joy for me to discover. Unknown? I don't think I had ever heard of it until NoShame announced their DVD release. Subtle? Don't expect a lot of in-your-face horror. This movie takes its time delivering the chills. Those who have seen the film will understand it when I use the "kissing game" as a perfect example of subtle, yet effective horror. Beautifully filmed? The Venetian locations are simply stunning. Well acted? With two notable exceptions, the acting in A Whisper in the Dark is very good. Normally, children and horror do not mix very well. The kids in this movie are perfect without being too cute or too annoying. Most of the rest of the cast is fine with Nathalie Delon being the standout as the children's mother. Haunting finale? The movie has one of those ambiguous endings that I just love wrapping my mind around.
My biggest complaint comes from the performances of two of the movies main actors Joseph Cotten and John Phillip Law. Why is Cotten even in this movie? He seems so out of place even with the little screen time he has. Normally, I enjoy his work, but not here. As for Law, I've read other reviews of people praising his work in A Whisper in the Dark. Apparently, they saw something I completely missed. I thought he was terrible.
Finally, a word about NoShames DVD. I've come to expect nothing but the best from NoShame and their treatment of A Whisper in the Dark does not disappoint. The transfer looks great. The special features, although modest, are also nice. It's definitely worth a purchase for fans of Italian horror. -
venusboys314 September 2011I just got done watching this and was impressed how it stuck to its guns on being consistently subtle and ambiguous... leaving much of the interpretation up to the audience. A rich family with servants entertains their son's love for his imaginary friend... who might not be entirely imaginary. Each member of the household having their own peculiar outlook on the situation and motivations for putting up with it and sticking around... or not. There are odd corners to some of the characters... questionable motivations and identities... that don't seem to bear on the main plot but somehow add to the general atmosphere of things not being as they appear. Who is Joseph Cotten's character? What does he want with Martino? What is up with the nanny's coat fetish?
It's certainly NOT for the hyperactive crowd who scream 'BORING!' at anything lacking explosions, violence or sex ever few minutes... but for the rest of us it's a nice slow development of a creepy atmosphere surrounding what may or may not be a haunted house. Despite being Italian and a horror movie it's very mild on the sex and has no gore at all. Other comments I've read draw parallels with The Turn Of The Screw but except for the subtle/suggestive nature of the haunting I'd say it has more in common with The Other... though it's not as overt and lacks that film's body count. It's a well done ghost story with plenty of atmosphere and subtle themes that stick in the mind of those patient enough to follow it through. -
matheusmarchetti27 December 2010As poorly received today as it was back in the day, Marcello Allaprandi's haunted-house vehicle "A Whisper in the Dark" is a forgotten classic screaming for the praise that it's worth. On the surface, the film follows a fairly simple story that could have made for a clichéd-driven film: a young boy named Martino, living with his wealthy family at a decadent Venetian villa, creates an imaginary friend named Luca who, as it turns out, may or may not be the vengeful ghost of his mother Camilla's first child, who died almost immediately after being born, and now wants to be loved and cherished like he never was, even if it means by turning this household upside down, and even resorting to murder. However, as the film unfolds, the way Allaprandi handles the matter and the direction he takes is considerably different from the similarly-written likes of "Shock" and "The Sixth Sense", although not in the way most audience members would have desired. The thing is "A Whisper in the Dark" doesn't seem to follow the rules of Italian horror, and is somewhat more akin to British ghost stories such as "Don't Look Now" which were being made at about the same period. Nevertheless, the film is unmistakably Italian with it's gorgeous cinematography and the equally breathtaking score by Pinno Donnagio. One of the best things about this particular sort of Eurohorror is the manner which sights and sounds are crafted so beautifully, and some even might say poetically and romantically, contrasting with the horrors on the screen. Though some have been bothered by this unusual treatment of the scary genre, I think it highlights the more horrific moments by creating this gentle, delicate atmosphere from which emerge the most grotesque sights. Although "grotesque" is not a word that really applies to Allaprandi's film, the shocks are conceived out of the melancholy-ridden tone of the film, making it all the more effective. The writing team takes a "less is more" approach, and by not showing any ghostly image at all, manages create some truly frightening set pieces. Perhaps the most chilling scene is that of the kissing-game, where Camilla, eyes covered, gets kissed on the lips by Luca. Supernatural events aside, another creepy element of the film is Joseph Cotten's portrayal of the mysterious Professor. Though he doesn't have much purpose in the story other than serving as a red-herring, Cotten manages to deliver a relatively low-key, but ultimately eerie impression. John Phillip Law doesn't do much throughout, but is charismatic and charming enough not to be forgotten. Alessandro Poggi, for his young age, is also quite convincing as Martino, and unlike other films with similar plots, doesn't resort to being overly creepy as much as he is likable and cute. This may have just been intentional, as the real star of the film is Nathalie Delon as Camilla. Though bit over-the-top at first, as the film progresses we soon learn the reasons for her strange, somewhat melodramatic behavior. A sad, tormented character, Camilla has gone through a lot and the fragile state of her mind resulted by these happenings have led to a nervous breakdown. Her acceptance and consequent "expulsion" of her son Luca, is truly hearth-breaking. Those who say the ending is anti-climatic, hoping for a big pay-off that never took place did not get the point of the film at all. The film is meant to be, above everything else, about Camilla coming to terms with the death of her infant child - Luca, and whether his ghost truly exists or is merely a figment of Martino's imagination is almost completely irrelevant to the story. Through Martino's creation of an imaginary friend named Luca, it triggers the already unstable Camilla's repressed guilt over the tragic event - a guilt which was probably given weight by her overbearing mother. Near the very end, where she dreams of taking Luca away from the house, and out of their lives for good, it represents her being able to get over it and move on with her life. The following scene, which shows Camilla and Alex making love for what seems to be the first time in years, it seems as though, after getting rid of her own personal ghost, she is able to find bliss once again. At the end, she isn't worried about Luca anymore, having been able to overcome the grief, treating the whole "imaginary friend" thing as something of a joke ... or is she? Can one ever really overcome the pain caused by a loved one's passing? In this sense, the two closest film to "A Whisper in the Dark" is (almost to the point of being called plagiary) the 1944 film "Curse of the Cat People", not "Shock", to which it's often compared to (the similarities are, however, undeniable). "Curse..." is a wonderful study on a child's psyche, completed with Freudian overtones, and also dealing with themes of coming-of-age and letting go (both from the child's and the adult's stand-point). To further enhance the connection between the two, both "Curse..." and "Whisper..." opened to similar criticism, and should be better appreciated when viewed as dark dramas rather than horror films. That being said, "Whisper " has more then enough horror elements to be considered as such, and those willing to look beyond what meets the eye will find this a rewarding and subtly spooky experience. Overall, in spite of its minor shortcomings, "A Whisper in the Dark" still packs a punch to this day, and is not at all deserving of it's bad hype.
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BandSAboutMovies14 December 2023When I was young, my neighbor used to have her grandchildren visit over the holidays and we always had to play with them. One of them was very young and while sled riding, he lost his tiger. I thought that it was a stuffed one but after we walked the entire neighborhood, he told me it was invisible.
But what if it were real?
Directed by Marcello Aliprandi and written by Nicolò and Maria Teresa Rienzi, A Whisper In the Dark comes out of movies like Don't Look Now, Who Saw Her Die? And The Haunting of Julia.
This is about a family who have fractured dynamics to say the least. Alex (John Phillip Law) is sleeping with everyone but his wife Camille (Nathalie Delon). The twins, Milena (Susanna Melandri) and Mathilde (Simona Patitucci) are horrible to their sensitive brother Martino (Alessandro Poggi). Alex's mother (Zora Velcova) only makes everyone more on edge and the governess Françoise (Olga Bisera, The Spy Who Loved Me) trying to keep it all together. There's also a visit from America, Susan (Lucretia Love, Enter the Devil) who is in the house seemingly only to be nude in a few moments.
There's also Luca, who is either Martino's imaginary friend or the ghost of Camila's miscarriage. Only Martino can see him and a famous psychologist (Joseph Cotten) is determined to learn if this is a mental or supernatural problem.
This movie feels at times like it's from another dimension, such as the scene where the children throw confetti in the air as a boat with a wicker man is set on fire in the lake. As snow and fog roll in, Camille is chased through their grounds by Luca and she decides that she must finally keep her family safe from her lost son. She can no longer keep him and she sends him away from her with the camera moving upward. Her husband finds her in tears and they finally come back together to make love.
The next day, everything has moved back into the routine of family as finally, all of the busy people run away from the breakfast table, leaving Camille alone.
I really enjoyed this, as it's so different from what you expect, a slow and sad rumination over family life and loss that may or may not be fantastic in nature. You can watch it from either the thought that everyone is mad or that Luca exists.
The Pino Donaggio score is great, too. He also shows up as a singer at the children's ball. -
gorytus-2067214 April 2021April 2021
This film is possibly a bit of a love or hate film, and i can certainly see why some people say nothing happens, as i agree not a lot does happen, i personally don't find it scary at all.
I do still really enjoy it for what it is, its not a giallo exactly, it takes place in a villa which is now a prestigious hotel near venice and we do get some scenes in venice itself.
I met one of the stars a few years ago...Olga Bisera at a signing show, and when i asked her about this and told her how much i liked it she was over the moon as the others were all talking about her James Bond role, so she was really friendly and nice.
I have seen this many times and its hard to explain why i like it so much but i do, but i do like all the Italian, giallos and mysteries from this time.
9 out of 10.