Taglines: Deception. Betrayal. Seduction. Murder. Her life depends on every word.
Whispers in the Dark movie storyline. A psychiatrist (Sciorra) is helping a neurotic art gallery owner who has a submissive and very satisfying sexual relationship with her new lover, a domineering man with a violent streak. An airline pilot that the psychiatrist recently started dating turns out to be having an affair with the patient. When someone is murdered, the psychiatrist must decide whether the lover is a homicidal maniac or someone who loves her. Her mentor and his wife attempt to help her, but things aren’t what they seem.
Whispers in the Dark is a 1992 American thriller about a psychiatrist whose patient’s lover may be a serial killer. The film starred Annabella Sciorra, Jamey Sheridan, Alan Alda, Jill Clayburgh, John Leguizamo, Deborah Unger and Anthony LaPaglia. The film was released by Paramount Pictures on August 7, 1992. It was nominated for a Razzie Award for Alan Alda as Worst Supporting Actor.
Film Review for Whispers in the Dark
“Whispers in the Dark” is the latest in the bumper crop of shrinks-in-distress movies. Playing a psychiatrist named Ann Hecker, Annabella Sciorra sets out to find an exciting new sex life, admit she is angry at her dead father and, by the way, avoid being murdered. No matter what Freud said about there being no accidents, this unsexy, unsuspenseful thriller cannot be what the writer and first-time director Christopher Crowe really wanted.
We see only two of Ann’s patients, and she isn’t doing either of them any good. Johnny C (John Leguizamo) is a hot young painter with a violent streak and a fantasy that he is from another planet. Eve (Deborah Unger) is a beautiful gallery owner who likes to tell the doc about her sexual experiences with a mystery man, who usually ties her wrists to an overhead pipe in a basement.
Ann dreams about these bondage stories, finding them so provocative and disturbing that she goes back into therapy herself. A better reason to get help might be that she has an R-rated, art-directed unconscious; her dreams are shown, complete with strategically placed sheets and shadows.
Early in the film, Ann gets a quick cure. She falls in love with a gentle guy named Doug (Jamey Sheridan), then discovers he is Eve’s mystery-bondage man. But enough about sex. On to murder. Eve is found naked, a noose around her neck, hanging from a beam in her gallery. Is the killer Johnny? Is it Doug? And why does Doug want to take Ann home to mother instead of tying her up? Mr. Crowe’s ludicrous script and bland direction can’t generate much suspense about those questions.
Anthony LaPaglia is a police detective who tries to bully Ann into turning over her confidential notes about patients. Alan Alda is a psychiatrist who agrees to treat Ann even though they are close friends. Both actors deserve better lines. “Oh, come on,” Mr. Alda has to say with a straight face. “A bright psychopath can fool anybody.” Jill Clayburgh as Mr. Alda’s wife has nothing to do. And Ms. Sciorra, last seen hiring the baby sitter from hell in “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle,” is even less believable as the addlebrained Ann. In its worst moments, “Whispers in the Dark” is exploitative, with the detective flashing gruesome photos of tortured women at Ann. More often, it is so loopy it should have been played for laughs.
Whispers in the Dark (1992)
Directed by: Christopher Crowe
Starring: Annabella Sciorra, Jamey Sheridan, Anthony La Paglia, Jill Clayburgh, John Leguizamo, Deborah Unger, Alan Alda, Anthony Heald, Jacqueline Brookes
Screenplay by: Christopher Crowe
Production Design by: John Jay Moore
Cinematography by: Michael Chapman
Film Editing by: Ray Hubley, Bill Pankow
Costume Design by: John Dunn
Set Decoration by: Justin Scoppa Jr.
Music by: Thomas Newman
MPAA Rating: R for strong sexuality and violence, and for language.
Distributed by: Paramount Pictures
Release Date: August 7, 1992
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