Whispers

Whispers is a 1990 Canadian horror film directed by Douglas Jackson and starring Victoria Tennant, Jean LeClerc, Chris Sarandon, Peter MacNeill, and Linda Sorenson. It follows a writer who, after killing her stalker, finds that he seems to have returned from beyond the grave. It is based on the 1980 novel by American suspense author Dean Koontz. Plot Writer Hilary Thomas is being pursued by psychopath Bruno Clavel, a man she once interviewed at his family's Massachusetts orchard while researching for a book. Clavel plays a cat-and-mouse game with Hilary, repeatedly breaking into her Manhattan apartment and tormenting her, often calling her "Catherine." Detective Tony Clemenza oversees the case, while Hilary struggles to find an explanation for Clavel's targeting her. During one of the break-ins, Clavel is fatally injured, and found dead several blocks from Hilary's apartment. Hilary is brought to the morgue to positively identify his body. Clavel's corpse is sent to his Massachusetts hometown, where it is swiftly buried by Clavel's stepfather, Jonathan Rinehart. Meanwhile, Hilary and Tony begin a romance. One night, after having sex, Tony leaves the apartment to get the couple dinner. While taking a bath, Hilary is mortified when Clavel appears, threatening to stab her through the heart like a vampire. Tony arrives moments after Clavel vanishes. Determined to solve the mystery, Hilary and Tony visit the funeral home for confirmation of Clavel's death, where they learn from the mortician that Clavel was quickly buried unembalmed at the insistence of his stepfather Jonathan. Upon further investigation, they learn that Clavel withdrew funds two days after his supposed death, and was seen by a bank teller who knew him. Clavel's check register shows he made repeated payments to a small number of people, including a local bookseller and an elderly woman, Mrs. Yancey. Police agree to exhume Clavel's grave, only to find his casket empty aside from several bags of concrete. Hilary's literary agent, Kayla, is subsequently stalked by Clavel, who accosts her in her home, demanding to know Hilary's whereabouts before stabbing her to death. Meanwhile, Hilary and Tony continue to meet with several individuals to gather information, including Clavel's psychologist, who recounts his disturbed state of mind: Clavel believed himself damned to hell by his mother Catherine, an occultist, and claimed Catherine continued to live on in others' bodies after her death.