The Call

I believe this is the third movie I've watched now called 'The Call'. The first two were pretty good. This one not so much. Firstly, it wasn't the type of film I was anticipating. The synopsis implied a very different film to what I actually got. I was not expecting the supernatural to be the basis for the film. Secondly, my goodness these were some awful characters to be expected to root for. The film didn't do itself any favours in that regard.

I'll get some positives out of the way before I further discuss what I didn't like. If you have Lin Shaye and Tobin Bell in your film then you are very lucky. Regardless of the material, they are going to be fantastic, as they rightfully are here. Bell is more of a guide for the film, which we know he does so well. Shaye is relied on to be the horror - and she is the one thing that is actually scary in this movie. Her unhinged character works perfectly and is very disturbing.

The film also has a decent concluding sequence. At the point where most horror films tend to fall apart, this one actually manages to find its footing and become a little unsettling.

The problems though outweigh the good stuff. Very little works in the way of scares. Things just get too unrealistic, too quickly and it feels very fake. The main four teenagers (who I can only guess were intended to be the film's protagonists) are detestable people and not the type that anyone wants to be rooting for. If anything you should be rooting for Shaye's character.

'The Call' is a film that is going out of its way to be original and creative and it has to be given props for that. It rarely hits the mark, but hey you miss 100% of the shots you don't take. And some of the shots in this film do indeed stick the landing. It's far from perfect, however I don't believe it's as bad as a 4.2/10 IMDb rating implies.

Besides a few creepy bits with Lin Shaye, the movie was pretty crap. No real story and boring.

Initially when I sat down to watch the 2020 movie titled "The Call", I must admit that I was sort of having some hopes for the movie, as it had two horror icons on the cast list.

Well, as it turned out then the storyline in "The Call" was definitely interesting enough, if it wasn't actually being original. However, the movie's writer, Patrick Stibbs, just didn't really manage to deliver where it mattered for a horror movie. Sure, I mean, the movie was watchable and sort of entertaining enough, but it just was way too bland and generic for my liking.

And yeah, it was because of Tobin Bell and Lin Shaye, two iconic names, faces and voices in the horror genre, that I initially sat down to watch it. And I will say that they both definitely did spruce up the overall enjoyment of the movie.

The acting was good for a movie such as this. It wasn't outstanding, but it was adequate enough. Perhaps it was because of the limitations of the script and the directorial hand of Timothy Woodward Jr. that sort of restrained the performers to fully give what they had.

Visually, for a horror movie, then "The Call" just didn't deliver. I mean, the atmosphere in the house was interesting and lots of nice details to the house, but the otherworldly sequences were just too flaccid, and didn't really feel like being scenes of personal hell and anguish enough.

"The Call" is the type of horror movie that came and went without as much as leaving a dent in the horror genre. I mean, I didn't even know about the movie before I had the chance to actually sit down and watch it. And having watched it now, I can honestly say that I highly doubt that I will ever be sitting down to watch "The Call" a second time.

Perhaps if you are a newcomer to the horror genre, then you will find some proper entertainment in "The Call", or even some spooky stuff and scenes. But for a seasoned horror veteran such as myself, this was but a stroll in the park.

My rating of "The Call" lands on a very mediocre five out of ten stars.

What the heck is Lin Shay and Tobin Bell doing in this mess - Yes you guessed it, to give it that poster appeal to all the Saw and Insidious fans out there and really is shameful exploitation of us the viewers who will pay for this thinking it is going to be of the same level of cinematic excellence!

Exceptionally good actors appearing in sub average nonsense like this; it seems they have joined the Ron Perlman, Lance Henriksen, Nik Cage and John Cusack brigade in the let us just take any old rubbish for a paycheque club - very sad!

Do not get me wrong the acting for the main part is good and it had a good build up but the denouement and idea just fizzled like a wet, limp little firecracker. I did love the homage to the 80's with the old style John Carpenter'esque analogue synths in keeping with when the movie was supposed to be set and I didnt see a smartphone or tablet anywhere so they got the setting right and the premise had promise, so where did it all go wrong?

Well, for a start there is no real horror, zero scares and crucially the idea behind the call was....well just a telephone call to the dead woman that really did not give us an oooh or an ahhh like movies like Saw or Final Destination did and so just followed the sad old tropes of budget bin horror basket movies of yesteryear and so it fails execrably in every way almost.

I am not so harsh as to give it a 1/10 as many of the reviewers have as this means it is the worst movie you have ever seen and we have movies like the Bad Batch with Keanu Reeves for that and many others; the acting is good, it is well filmed and professionally made unlike a lot of the shaky cam, dreadful acting Netflix ordure pouring out of film schools these days, so I give this one a harsh but fair, harsh but fair...4/10 hatchets!

No offense to the rest of the cast, but without Lin Shaye and Tobin Bell ... this movie probably would not have faired as good (with me and others I'm sure). Having said that, it doesn't mean everything else is bad. The story may be quite by the numbers (with a decent twist, even if you can guess that from miles away), but I've seen worse.

Talking about seeing: cinematography is also really good. So a neat little movie overall, that has almost all the horror movie cliches you can imagine ... just be aware of what you are to watch ... and if that is worth your time.