[miketardis]

FROM A WHISPER TO A SCREAM aka THE OFFSPRING (1987)
Moderately entertaining low-budget anthology horror outing, shot in 1985 and unreleased until late 1987, directed by Jeff Burr and co-written by C. Courtney Joyner, a regular fixture in the (mostly) straight-to-video 'B' scene of the late '80s and early '90s (PRISON, PUPPET MASTER III, TRANCERS III, LURKING FEAR, many others). I first saw this on VHS under its release title THE OFFSPRING (that only references an element to one of the stories); MGM put it back under its shooting title for the DVD release (FROM A WHISPER TO A SCREAM was the title referenced in a Fangoria behind-the-scenes story).

The wraparound story has a reporter (Susan Tyrrell) visiting Oldfield, TN's town historian (Vincent Price) on the night of his serial killer niece's (Martine Beswicke) execution (carried out by warden Lawrence Tierney, and witnessed by none other than the venerable David Del Valle!). Price tells of Oldfield's evil history, and relates four horrific tales with varying degrees of grisliness. The best story is probably the first, anchored by a great performance from Clu Gulager as a creepy dweeb with Coke bottle specs, forced to care for his ill sister (Gulager's wife Miriam Byrd-Nethery), and obsessed with a bitchy co-worker--an obsession that only gets hotter when he kills her in a fit of rage, and well, even being a corpse isn't a deterrent for Clu's twisted desire. The next story stars Terry Kiser as a sociopathic criminal on the run who encounters an old timer (Harry Caesar) who's even more of an old timer than he's letting on. The weakest is the third story, a tale of forbidden love at a carnival sideshow. This is the goriest portion of the film, but the story just isn't interesting. The closing segment is probably the second best, set at the very end of the Civil War, with Cameron Mitchell leading a small band of Union officers who find themselves at the mercy of what's best described as Confederate Children of the Corn. Sure, it's clearly inspired by the Stephen King story and the subsequent film, but there's some impressively nasty bits in this segment, including a horrific version of Pin the Tail on the Donkey, and a genuinely intense scene (with a shocking payoff) where a bound Mitchell charms one of the little kids, a girl missing an eye, into untying him. Mitchell is terrific in this segment, showing that even this late in his career, doing mostly trash and mercilessly hamming it up (KILLPOINT, anyone?), he remained an old pro who still had it and could still bring his A-game when he wanted.

It's too bad MGM's DVD (1.85:1, and looks passable, but pretty grainy) didn't have a commentary track with Burr, as I once read an interview where he and (I think) producer Darin Scott convinced a reluctant Price to star when they showed up at his Beverly Hills mansion after finding his address on a Star Map. It would've been fascinating to hear Burr discuss the impressive cast he assembled (also featuring Rosalind Cash, Angelo Rossito, and Terence Knox, billed as "Terry Knox" and taking on a nothing role in the Gulager segment, right in the midst of the successful ST. ELSEWHERE). The stories lack the punch of, say, a TALES FROM THE CRYPT or a CREEPSHOW, and the low budget is all too obvious, but the first and fourth segments are definitely worth watching, and there's an admirable mean streak to this film. We aren't talking about a neglected classic or anything, but Burr has always been a filmmaker who's worn his love of the horror genre on his sleeve, even when his films aren't really all that great. Plus, you get to see Price raise a wine glass to Lovecraft and Poe. No arguing with that.