Fatal Call

I have to admit that I was expecting a tad more from this 2012 thriller titled "Fatal Call". Sure, I hadn't heard about the movie, but the synopsis sounded fair enough, and the movie had an okay cast ensemble. Thus, I sat down to watch this 2012 thriller from writer and director Jack Snyder here in 2023.

Talk about a snoozefest of a movie. The storyline was insanely mundane and generic. And the pacing of the narrative was so bland and uneventful that I drifted off a couple of times throughout the course of the 93 minutes that the movie ran for.

The cast ensemble in "Fatal Call" was adequate, and there were some familiar faces on the cast list, which is why I was expecting a tad more from the movie than what writer and director Jack Snyder managed to deliver. Not even the likes of Jason London, Danielle Harris, Kevin Sorbo and Lochlyn Munro could manage to lift up the dull narrative of the movie.

Don't waste your time money or effort on "Fatal Call", because it simply isn't worth the effort. Some of us suffered through this ordeal so you don't have to.

For a thriller, "Fatal Call" was frightfully devoid of thrills or excitement. My rating of writer and director Jack Snyder's 2012 movie lands on a three out of ten stars.

This movie has a tremendous storyline but unfortunately it is poorly produced. I could not become completely immersed as I was constantly reminded of its amateurish feel. Though professionally written this production only fails in the way it is played out. The acting is bad, the timing is off and the general continuity lacks proper direction and good editing skill. With regard to the acting, itself, my main concern would be with the majority of the actors failing to synchronize their eye movements with the actual thoughts they are supposed to be depicting. As far as the location shooting goes, the factory/refinery setting is supposed to be an abandoned plant and no longer in operation yet when we first see this location steam is rising from some of the vents. A poor production, overall, but a great "thriller" story all the same.

With its plot line this could have been an acceptable film, but since the director (who wore many hats in this) chose to (a) direct this in a non-linear, highly confusing style, jumping around so much it was hard to know just where we were and (b) chose every tried and true setup that of course everyone sees coming from afar. Add to that the contrived scenes and of course the obligatory abandoned factory where the rent is cheap. Aside from that, the acting was acceptable and the camera work okay; it's simply that there were no surprises; none at all, and the lead character, while likable and charismatic, was played in such a way that it was impossible to believe he could be so stupid. In the end we have to blame the writer/director/editor and also barfly, Jack Snyder. One final word: through the opening titles we're flashed with scenes of an old-fashioned rotary phone being dialed. Since this was a modern-day film with today's cell phones and the closest thing there was to a fatal call was a fatal missed call, I really wonder where the rotary phone came into this at all.

Should have stopped watching this after the the first 10mins, but hey I plodded on after looking at the score.

The plot itself was OK, it was the hammy acting. I was beginning to think this was a black comedy gone wrong. But you couldn't do more wrong then what they had. I do hope they had a second job too fall back to

A disused factory that had steam, smoke still coming from one of its exhausts/chimney ? Spotted by another reviewer as well!

The old saying, "Too many cooks in the kitchen spoil the broth." Well, all the detectives spoil this film.

What I could have kicked myself for was not too watch the trailer beforehand. That would have had me jog on, damn I hate myself sometimes.

I see the score has come down a bit now due to intelligence rather than a pushed up score by film crew and friends - just my view :-)

There you have it a piggy review over a hammy film

I admire anyone who managed to watch this all the way through. I am afraid I had to give up for only the second time, it was just to painful to watch. I am sure I have something better to do with my time, like watching some paint dry.

I agree with the previous reviewer that everything was out of sync. The music, the eye movements, body movements, there were pauses whilst the actors tried to remember their lines.

The producer should be demoted to tea boy, or perhaps he was on work experience, in which case he should cease to continue having any thought of becoming one.

I would struggle to recall a film with such appalling acting, cringe worthy is a term that springs to mind.

Seriously do not waste you time.