El Silbón: Orígenes (2018) User Reviews

Uh...OK, let's hope the sequels are more coherent

[ofumalow · 5/10 · 24 August 2019]

This is a fairly well-produced and well-crafted supernatural thriller with some nicely atmospheric passages, though it does take a while to get going and is over-reliant at times on routine jump scares (sudden soundtrack thumps, a figure speeding through the foreground, etc.).

The problem is, once it gets going, it loses focus. Maybe I wasn't paying close enough attention, but it took me a long time to figure out that the story was taking place in two separate time periods, something not helped by the fact that several characters were played by confusingly similar-looking actors. As a result, the dual storylines just seemed tangled rather than complementary. Nor is the "whistler" a particularly scary entity (esp. the tuneless upward notes it whistles over and over), even if it is based on a well-known regional folk tale.

This had some good elements in terms of atmosphere, acting and several quietly tense sequences, but it just seems poorly put together as a narrative, with occasionally clumsy blackout transitions between episodes and not much sense of an overall arc. At heart the movie simply wants to scare us, and it's counterproductive to that mission for it to so frequently make the viewer think "Huh? What's happening now? And wby?"

Intriguing, but...

[alarakalama · 3/10 · 21 October 2019]

While the concept was interesting, the acting was pretty good, and the filming was nice, the movie was overall slow and confusing. When did it take place? Were some of the scenes flashbacks? Who were Ana's family? Was she truly possessed? Why couldn't Angel talk? I could go on.

In summary, I'd suggest finding something else to watch.

What a Pleasant Surprise!

[soygabrieladacosta · 10/10 · 22 December 2018]

I didn't have high expectations when I watched it for the first time (Watched it twice already) but what a pleasant surprise! It's a well thought out film that is not afraid of being different, in fact the film embraces its weirdness and it works quite well, like a big jigsaw puzzle without any time stamps. The director bets on our capability to understand what's going on within the frame, he gives us plenty of hints so we can catch up with the two different time lines and he does all this without saying much, dialogue is kept to a minimum, less is more! After all is said is done, this film is a great conversation starter with friends and family. I repeat myself, what a pleasant surprise!

A great horror movie about a magnificent character

[uncomicmas · 10/10 · 6 December 2018]

El Silbón / The Whistler is based in a very famous rhyme in couplet in the Venezuelan shallows, where a misterius entity whistles befero he attacks a bad person, when the whistles sounds near this monster is far, when the whistles sound far he is near. The movie has so little script but rightfully supported by a great cinematography and a great sound.

Latinamerican genre coming into its own

[brett-54991 · 10/10 · 22 December 2018]

Good entry into the realm of folk based Latin American supernatural stories. The Texas raised writer director has stated in several interviews that his influences range from the acting style in Ingmar Bergman early films to the mise en scène in Park Chan Wook's body of work which pretty much hints at what is experienced in this film. The Bermudez brothers are primarily telling us a slow burning dual story of human drama that veers into the supernatural for a cathartic climax.