When Evil Calls

It's kind of like someone saw Wishmaster and said "Gee... I'd like to take a whack at that." I understand the movie was meant to be "funny" but the humor was so low-brow and juvenile that it made most zombie flicks seem like art films.

The twists on the wishes were not creative... the wishes themselves were worded in such a way that you can see what's coming. The drunk French cop schtick is annoying. And worst of all... the breaking into "episodes". What kind of youtube crap is that?

I kind of wish celluloid was still the medium so that amateurs like this could be priced out. Not every film student is a Sam Raimi... and some aren't should not be allowed near a camera.

Having squinted hard at a less than good phone screen to watch episode one of Johannes Roberts' When Evil Calls I was more than excited to get sent an advance copy of the film to view! Ahh, the glory of the middle sized screen. Blood Splats better when its bigger. Episode one of the series was so cool. It sucked me in. Desperate to see the rest! Then finally getting to see the finished product with inter-cut scenes of fantastic Sean Pertwee and gore galore, When Evil Calls really satisfied my hunger! Director Johannes knows what he is doing with a film like this. Anyone that says different just doesn't quite get what he is trying to do.

The film should be an instant classic with horror fans as they will be able to nod to Johannes use of characters and bloodletting and his homages to horror films. I mean in this day and age of self referential film making who wants to see a horror film that isn't a nod to some other horror film throwback from the 70s or 80s. Thats part of the fun. So with a copy of 'It' in one hand and 'Wishmaster' in the other we venture into familiar territory but in a completely unfamiliar fashion.

The film is truly original in its portrayal of the narrative. Yeah we have probably seen the story before but its different this time around. We cut from Tony Scott style visuals of Sean Pertwee to the story in hand which is expertly done. The jokes never grow old and kept me laughing until the very end.

I think that what most impressed me about the film, apart from Johannes love for boobies, is that the camera work was top notch! I mean seriously. I lost count of the amount of crane shots in the film. It had such high production value and looked so slick. It was awesome! My only regret is that it wont be on the big screen! So to recap - Johannes Roberts' When Evil calls has it all! Its a great treat for the true horror fan! It kept me in great enjoyment for the whole time. Looking forward to seeing it again!

This low-budget, enjoyably goofy British riff on cult favourite Wishmaster includes a bravura performance from Sean Pertwee. He energetically plays the tall tale telling school janitor/cryptkeeper with infectious glee! Not all the grisly interludes work, and dynamic French actor, Dominique pinon appears to be acting in an entirely separate film! Chris Barrie is unusually sedate, and the young, inexperienced, appealingly nubile cast do their breast!

The evilly wish-granting Djinn is a cliché horror clown, happy remedied by a lack of scream-time, but Pertwee's increasingly demented Janitor, and the gory film's trashy, Troma-esque exuberance ultimately won me over! In summation, the uneven feature's appeal is, perhaps, marginal, the more progressive B-movie cognoscenti might enjoy it, exploding warts an all!

OK so from the front cover of the DVD makes it look like a fun film about a clown. The blurb sounds interesting in its sort of "Wishmaster" set-up and at a very low price of £3 (or something near that) why not give it a go? I wouldn't watch this is someone gave it to me for free. Frankly I'm ashamed of having this in my horror collection, alongside other DVD's I managed to obtain from 'Poundland', "Live Feed", "Killjoy", "Jigsaw" and "Camp Blood" although I did not purchase this in 'Poundland', it bloody belongs there!

No where on the DVD does it mention that this isn't even a film, but made as a mini-series for mobile phones! Why would anyone want this on your mobile anyway? It's amateurish beyond belief with incredibly poor directing, acting, editing, music and writing. The collection of short films aren't even clever, they're just jam-packed with the worst special effects you could imagine and no direction of a plot.

I'm convinced that the five star review on here is from someone who was involved in the production of the film. It's the worst thing you could imagine. It's not even a film. If you see this in your local supermarket or DVD shop, just walk past.

Would have been enjoyable but it felt like Uwe Boll was in the directing chair, the actors were given the script 10 seconds before he said action and only one take per scene was allowed.