The Calling

At times this serial killer flick can be too stomach-churningly gruesome and grim for my tastes. However, the all star-cast and an absorbing storyline eventually won me over.

Susan Sarandon is superb as the pain pill-popping, heavy drinking, and unfiltered Acting Police Chief Hazel Micallef, in the small town of Fort Dundas, Canada. Topher Grace is also excellent as the young police officer Ben Wingate, who's transferred to Fort Dundas from Toronto, to get a fresh start after the death of his life partner. As mentioned, there's a strong all-star cast here, which includes Ellen Burstyn, Gil Bellows, Donald Sutherland, and Christopher Heyerdahl.

We find out about half-way through the movie who the serial killer actually is, but the actual motives of the killer are not initially what is supposed, as we slowly find out what the real reasons are for the slayings all across Canada. The film, I thought, began to follow a predictable path but then a few twists near the end, I felt, enhanced the movie.

In summary, I felt the filmmakers put a little too much emphasis on the gruesome, but I found myself, with the strong performances and the rather engrossing plot being interested throughout.

The movie was directed by Jason Stone with a screenplay from Scott Abramovitch, based on the novel by Inger Ash Wolfe

The Calling (2014)

It's weird to see how routine this kind of movie has become. And how obvious the influences are. Take "Fargo" and put it Canada (same snow, some parochial setting, and same kind of earthy woman cop). Then remove all the originality and verve, and you have "The Calling."

Serial killers are of course more common in the movies than in real life, thankfully. And they all require weird methods, patterns with exceptions to the pattern, and a single (often painfully solitary) cop on the hunt. Susan Sarandon plays the cop, the good guy if you will, and I actually think she does a great job. If she can't match MacDormand in "Fargo" it's partly or mostly because of the writing and direction. In this movie, director Jason Stone in his first full length film, shows he's still learning. And borrowing from good sources. But we all know the formulae, and need more than that. Where do guys like him get budgets and approvals and a couple of great actors when there are so many talented men—and women!—who have shown more mettle and imagination in the trenches?

What remains isn't a disaster, but it's a bit of a trudge. Don't blame Sarandon, who makes it charming overall. There is an intention toward realism here, and yet the scenes are a combination of grotesque and whimsical. The murders are horrible, and beyond probably what is normal horror though I don't really know how the world of murder works. And the people are so homespun and regular, worried about their coffees of course, that they lighten up the whole movie without making it comic.

So, it's not, for sure, a disaster. I don't know that I'd call that a recommendation. There are better films of this type out there (without going to the top of the genre with "Silence of the Lambs" and so forth). But there are worse!

Set in the wintry rural wasteland of Canada, 'The Calling' could be the bastard child of 'Fargo' and 'Omen'. The film begins with depressed, alcoholic, pill-popping Sheriff Hazel roused from her suicidal daydreams when the mutilated corpse of an elderly female acquaintance is discovered After Hazel learns several other mutilated remains have been scattered around the frozen countryside, she begins to suspect a deranged predator might be on the prowl in her precinct. Scoffed at by her superior, she marshals the small town's oddball duo of police officers and their perky receptionist to catch themselves a serial killer. Before too long, Hazel and her team are sipping strong black coffee in their cruisers and detecting like big city gumshoes.

The script reveals some glaring holes as Hazel's investigations uncover an occult connection linking the killings. Thankfully, decent acting papers over some of these threadbare patches. When a few of the loose ends are tied up at the conclusion, the killer turns out to be a routine lunatic, and the rationale for his murderous activities is the standard silliness for this genre of film.

I'm a pretty big fan of this film actually. It has a few flaws writing wise for sure, (Overly typical in a few parts. I think I even rolled my eyes a couple times the first time I saw it.) BUT, overall most of the film is very good if you're into these kinds of stories. That is, serial killer and religious type stories mixed into one. I think there is so much potential in these stories, but few films have really been able to pull them off entirely well. The best such story I can think of off the top of my head on film may actually be the first season of True Detective. It's not so much religious really, but there certainly is a grand spiritual aspect to it, which is very similar and just as good, if not even better to work with. As I said, few films have pulled these types of stories off all that well. But The Calling to me really was a reasonably well executed film, other than a couple small writing bits that truly do rob it from being a great film. Fallen with Denzel and Goodman is better overall, but this film also has its strengths I feel.

Sarandon is terrific as usual. In fact, after Bull Durham, this may be my 2nd favorite Sarandon performance of all, and she has a ton of great ones at this point. If you can forgive a couple pretty bad moments, you may find this well worth a watch too.

7.5/10.

"When all the sacrifices are complete God will forgive the trespasses." Hazel (Sarandon) is a detective is a town where nothing ever happens. When she stops in to see a local woman that hasn't been answering her phone she is shocked to see her murdered. When more and more bodies are found she suspects a serial killer. New officer Ben Wingate (Grace) starts to help her investigate and what they find is more chilling then they imagined. There are some movies that are very slow moving and hard to stay focused on. This is a slow moving movie that actually manages to hold your attention. This is kind of a mix of Seven and Boondock Saints in the way that the killings are related to the Bible but when you find out the reason for them you start to wonder if it's really a bad thing. This is a movie that you can not talk too much about without giving away something but I will say that I did enjoy this even though it did seem to drag in a few parts. Overall, a creepy movie that is worth seeing but you have to be in the mood for it. I give it a B.