Nightfall - Stimmen der Angst

Early 70s TV-thriller stars a young (or younger, at least) Michael Douglas, but he's not the titular Michael who makes sinister prank calls. Douglas stars as Craig, the brother of Michael who - suddenly and out of the blue - calls up his auntie Helen in panic to say that he's lost and can't find his way home. That doesn't sound too abnormal, except for the little fact that Michael is presumed dead for 15 years already! Michael ran off after his mother was put in a mental institute (where she quickly committed suicide) and custody of her two sons was given to auntie Helen. He got lost in a blizzard and never returned, but now Michael apparently found a phone in the afterlife. The already fragile Helen is terrified, obviously, but luckily her ex-husband Doremus (what kind of name is that?) and Craig approach the mystery rather rationally and investigate further.

Solid, captivating premise based on a novel by John Farris ("The Fury", "Dear Dead Delilah") and perfectly fit for a TV-thriller, and this in spite of the reasonably predictable outcome, the overuse of clichés, and the lack of genuine surprises. The first half hour is strong and contains two noteworthy death sequences, one involving bees and another - quite shocking - one during a school play.

I will always watch whatever early 70s made-for-television thriller that I can. They usually depart from intriguing and original ideas, and somehow always maintain a bleak and sinister atmosphere throughout. Moreover, they're always short and often available for free on YouTube! Apart from Michael Douglas, "When Michael Calls" also stars Ben Gazzara, whom I personally consider a strong and undeservedly underrated actor.

"When Michael Calls" is an ABC Movie of the Week from 1972 that belongs to that special group of made-for-TV chillers that everyone who saw still remembers as terrifying the life out of them. I'm pleased to report it still works even today.

A young divorced mother named Helen suddenly starts receiving prank phone calls that claim to be from her nephew Michael, crying and asking for help. Trouble is that Michael has been dead for years. As the calls continue, people around Helen start to get murdered.

Although the movie as a whole is fairly low key, the first 30 minutes or so are really effective. The calls from "Michael" are genuinely creepy, and on first viewing, there really does seem to be no rational explanation for them. This sets up a great sense of unease for the characters and viewer alike. Elizabeth Ashley does a great job in the lead role as Helen, in fact all of the acting is good, including her young daughter. Gradually the mystery is explained, but you won't hear a spoiler from me, so I recommend seeking out a copy of this. The opening premise is so good and so spooky, that it will certainly make you curious to watch it to the end.

I remember being scared to death when this film first aired on TV in 1971. Of course, I was all of nine years old at the time. When Michael Calls was recently shown on Fox Movies, and I had a chance to relive my memories of terror. Surprisingly, the film holds up remarkably well, even with the tacked on and predictable happy ending that ties up all the loose ends. I even had to turn a light on while I watched!

Helen (Elizabeth Ashley) is a single mom with her hands full raising a precocious little girl, but things are complicated further when she starts receiving disturbing phone calls. It's the voice of a young boy named Michael who refers to her as Auntie My Helen - which is a problem seeing as Helen's nephew Michael died fifteen years ago.

An effective thriller that plays on supernatural elements, but is it really supernatural or is someone playing games? The phone calls are quite creepy, the atmosphere and the location help evoke the chills. Things get heady when murders occur after Michael calls with a warning - it can get tedious towards the 40 minute mark, but the plot entices you to hang on. The murders are lightweight, but it's a thriller focusing on chills than shock.

When Michael Calls (1972)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Mildly effective made-for-TV flick about a woman (Elizabeth Ashley) who begins receiving phone calls from her nephew Michael but the only problem is that he died fifteen years earlier. Soon her ex-husband (Ben Gazzara) and other nephew (Michael Douglas) begin to investigate is Michael could actually be alive or if someone else is just trying to do her harm. These TV flicks from the 70s always have that certain atmosphere that can only be found in movies like this, BAD RONALD and DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK. This here certainly isn't as good as those two examples but we still get that eerie atmosphere and that alone makes this worth sitting through even if in the end this isn't a classic. I think the best thing going for the film are the performances by the three leads. Gazzara plays a lawyer who doesn't mind throwing his weight around to get what he wants and I thought he was pretty good in the role. That tough rawness he brings to all his roles is always fun to watch and he certainly helps keep this thing moving along. Ashley is also very good in the film, although it's hard to believe her as the aunt to Douglas especially when in real life she was only five years older than him. With that said, she certainly displayed a certain vulnerability that made the movie a bit more effective. Douglas is billed as a "Special Guest Star" but he actually has a pretty big role here and appears throughout the movie. The screenplay tries very hard to be like something you'd expect to see from Hitchcock as it tries to keep the suspense up by having you constantly guessing what's going on. I think it's pretty simple to figure out what's up after about the forty-minute mark but I'm sure some might be kept in the dark up until the ending. While I didn't fall for all the twists and turns this still turned out to be fairly fun thanks in large part to the cast and whoever it was that voiced the kid on the phone. Another good thing about these films from the 70s that dealt with phones is that they were always able to find someone creepy for the voice work.