I was lucky enough to catch Whistle (Which opens in theaters FRIDAY, FEB 6th) as the closing-night film at Fantastic Fest, and it’s haunted me ever since. The ’90s throwback centers on a cursed Aztec death whistle — and honestly, the moment I first learned such a thing existed, I knew someone would eventually build a horror movie around it. I’d been tracking the project for a while, fully expecting it to be either bonkers or outright terrible. Shockingly, it turned out to be a film I’m still talking up months later whenever it comes up.
Directed by Corin Hardy (The Nun), the story follows Chris, a mysterious, new girl who finds a strange whistle in her locker on her first day of school. Naturally, someone blows it at a pool party — because of course they do — unlocking some of the most inventive cursed-object lore the genre has seen in years. The rules are simple and brutal: when you’re born, your death is already set. If you’re meant to live to 90, it’ll take 90 years to reach you — unless you blow the whistle, which tells your death exactly where you are. So if you were destined to die in a fire at 48, blowing it in the shower might bring that fate crashing in a whole lot sooner.
If you’re steeped in ’90s horror, you know exactly where this is heading, and Whistle takes you there while delivering both unhinged kills and a Gen Z emotional sensibility that gives the characters real weight. I was lucky enough earlier last week to chat with Director Corin Hardy who breaks down what drew him to Whistle, from its terrifying cursed-object mythology to crafting some of the film’s most shocking, inventive deaths. We talk high school horror flicks, practical effects, and whether a sequel is already in the works…
Corin, first off, congrats on the film. I haven’t stopped talking about it since I saw it at Fantastic Fest almost a year ago — it really stuck with me. When I first heard the premise, I thought it could go either way. What was it about Owen Egerton’s script that hooked you?
Corin Hardy: I think there were three main things that hit me when I read Owen’s script. First, as a fan — and a directu’re always looking for concepts and mythologies that haven’t been explored before. While we’ve seen cursed-object horror like Hellraiser or The Ring, I wasn’t familiar with the Death Whistle as a concept. It felt as simple as, “Well, that hasn’t been done yet — this is the movie to do it.”
Then I read how Owen had very elegantly constructed this mythology — that if you hear the sound, it calls your future death to hunt you down. That was such a strong hook. And setting it in an American high school? As someone who grew up on A Nightmare on Elm Street, Fright Night, The Blob, and The Breakfast Club, I’d always wanted to make my own high school-based movie, so it clicked.
Finally, the deaths themselves — they were inventive, outrageous, emotional opportunities. As a director who loves immersive, scary mythologies, all of that really appealed to me.
Yeah, it’s funny you bring up the deaths — because on closing night at Fantastic Fest, I remember Dean’s death in particular just bringing the house down. Watching it again, those deaths still play just as bloody and big. What was the thought process behind the deaths in the film? Were they all in the script, or something you brought to it?
Corin Hardy: Thank you, man — and thanks for being at Fantastic Fest. That was such a great start for us.
I knew this wasn’t a movie with a masked slasher stabbing people — something we’ve seen before. I see it as a challenge to give audiences an experience that really takes them on a ride. When I read Owen’s script — I won’t say how many deaths there are — I immediately saw the chance to treat each one almost like a different subgenre of horror.
Some are body horror. Some feel like possession. Some are monstrous. Then the question becomes: how do we do these practically? How do we make them visceral enough to get that reaction? Horror fans have seen so much, so it’s always a challenge to try and push things further.
Dean’s death especially — I remember reading that page, stopping, and rereading it like, “Wait… what?” And then thinking, as an audience member, “I haven’t seen that before,” which is always a huge win.
Each death became a creative challenge, and it’s baked into the mythology — your death is already out there waiting for you and I loved getting to visualize that on screen.
SPOILERS BELOW:
I really dug the lore — and I’m about to dip into spoiler territory here, because I have to ask about that ending — do you have a sequel plotted out? Because I don’t want it to be just a dream. I kept imagining this ‘90s-style horror film crossed with a Battle Royale type situation where the whole class is trying to survive. Is that baked into your head already, or is it on paper?
Corin Hardy: Me and Owen have talked a lot. I won’t say what it is, but it definitely felt like this mythology — the Death Whistle — could support multiple stories.
But it really does feel like a mythology you could explore in different ways — kind of like Predator. That’s such a strong concept that you can drop it into different environments and it still works. I see the same potential here. If we’re able to continue telling Whistle stories, we’ve got some really good ideas.
That gives me hope, because when I rewatched it for this interview, I still remembered being in the audience when that ending hit — everyone just lost it. (laughs)
Corin Hardy: Yeah, it was a bit of a tease, wasn’t it? But it felt too good not to pose. (laughs) I’d love to take the story back to its roots and really explore the mythology.
