A scary trip through the 'gate

I re-watched some old episodes of Stargate: Atlantis, the sequel series to Stargate: SG-1 (which was the TV sequel to Stargate, the movie, released back in 1994), and I came across the fifth season episode Whispers. Whispers was this series' loving take on horror movies, and re-watching it some ten years later, I have to say that it holds up very well.

Directed by William Waring, Whispers uses all of the cliches of the horror genre--but instead of being a jokey (and forgettable) send off, the episode treats its threat very seriously, and winds up giving us some truly scary moments. The SG team consists of Sheppard (Joe Flanigan) and Dr. Beckett (Paul McGillion), along with an all-women Stargate unit led by Christina Cox (Blood Ties), with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Nicole de Boer rounding out the team as its science expert.

While the episode has plenty of jump scares, many of which feature real threats, it's the overall creepiness of Whispers that makes it so good--especially for a horror movie fan like me. The Stargate team deals with these zombie-like aliens with no eyes who secrete a fog-like mist that helps them to more easily hunt their prey. This mist gives the proceedings an even more eerie feel, because it hides the aliens until it's usually too late.

At one point in the episode, just when things are really getting tense Sheppard even says, "Great, now all we need is for the Prom Queen and the kid in the wheelchair to go." This is a clear reference to the victims in slasher movies, like the second Friday the Thirteenth film. Or course, everything works out at the end. But Whispers is a nice slice of horror in a science fiction series that manages to serve up some genuine chills. If you're looking for a little slice of horror, check this out. Available right now on Amazon Prime streaming.

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