Customer Reviews

A Dead Calling

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

It's always fun when directors and writers mix genres. Mixing several tried and true horror themes (Slasher/Thriller/Ghost), A Dead Calling slowly unveils a woman's twisted past, which is coming back to claim her present.

The movie doesn't start off slow, though. Within the first five minutes the first murder has occurred, and you rarely go through 15 minutes of film without another slaying. Needless to say, by the end there is quite a body count. In the background of all this gore there are victims not quite ready to die, a house riddled with secrets, and a town conspiring to keep it all hidden. Plowing through all this is the job of Rebecca, a young investigative reporter.

There are many positives about the movie, not the least of which is getting to watch Sid Haig play a supportive and loving father, a departure in many ways from the character he played in House of 1000 Corpses and Devil's Rejects (of course, he was a different kind of loving father in those movies, I suppose). My only complaint is in a few ways this movie feels a bit unfinished at the end. I guess I was exspecting a final monster to pop out of the closet, so to speak.

All and all, this is a wonderful DVD, with a Hitchcock feel to the storyline. It would be a pleasing addition to a horror film library.

Recommended.

This movie had a hard time keeping my attention. It's not so bad when it comes to low-budget horror but it had it's fair share of problems. It's paced too slow which makes it boring most of the way through. Too many of the story pieces felt like they were just thrown in "just because" to me as well. It's pretty anti-climactic too. The only thing that redeems this film in any respect is the 'classic' ghost story elements. Rent it and make up your own mind but I wouldn't suggest buying this one.

But don't expect more. There aren't any real thrills like there could have been, but if you like tv movies, this might be up your alley.

The ending is a little strained like it was a rush job. A few strings were left untied, but it just seems like they forgot to tie them, not like they were hoping for a part 2.

While most of the reviews for this movie here are negative, I think some people just put down movies because the internet allows them freedom to be a "critic". That aside, I like this movie and watched it twice, plus recorded it to DVD-R. It's an interesting ghost story, I don't care what the naysayers here write about it. Recommended for horror/suspense fans and you can catch it on Fearnet.

Before I start reviewing this flim, and would like to say that in the past few years, Lionsgate films has made it clear. They will release ANYTHING, no matter who makes a movie, how cheap its made, or who the actors are. Now, you have to kinda commend them for that. They aren't afraid to give new directors, actors, and screenwriters a chance in the movie industry. And they have hit pay-dirt a few times, with movies like House of 1,000 Corpses, Devil's Reject's, Saw, Descent, and High Tension. But for the most part, most of these kinds of movies Lionsgate comes out with, are in a word, horrible. But when I first saw this movie at my local video rental store, I was immediately intrigued by the actors in it, Bill Moseley and Sid Haig. I'm a big fan of the 2 and thought this one might have a chance to be a good movie. During the opening credits, I was pleasantly surprised to see Leslie Easterbrook's name, you may remember her from The Devil's Rejects as Mother FireFly. So, here you've got three actors from the great Devil's Rejects movie, reunited. With all this said, maybe I was expecting too much from this movie, cause ultimately, I was a bit disappointed. I would like to say that this movie had good potential, though. The main plot to the story is decent. (I'll spare explaining it to you, you can read the Synopsis) But there are a few plot holes in it, and there really isn't any surprises in it. You can usually see what's coming a mile away. Another problem seems to be the pacing. The film is only around 90 minutes, but it seems much longer. There are many "dead spots" in the film, where it just boggs down and goes no where. I also gotta say the ending is kinda lame. You think that its not over and you've left expecting something to happen, but it doesn't. You're left saying "That's it? That's all it took?", you'll know what I mean if you watch, cause I don't won't to give away the ending if you haven't seen it yet. Finally, and a bit surprising, I was a little disappointed with the acting. Maybe it was because I was hoping that Haig and/or Moseley would be the "bad guys" in the film, but seeing them both playing good, decent, moral characters is a bit odd! So, for those of you expecting to see those 2 reprise their roles in the 2 Rob Zombie films in any way in this film, you can forget it. The lead actress, Alexandra Holden, gives an ok performance, but not anything to scream about. In a nutshell, I would compare this movie to a song demo that artists do in the studio. Musicians come in with a rough cut of most songs, and craft and polish them in the studio until they are good enough to go on a record. This is the way I feel about this film. The basic idea is there, and its pretty good one. But this film should have been given a bigger budget, had a couple of re-writes done to the screenplay and script, substituted a couple of better actors in the mix, and then released. Overall, this movie is worth watching at least once, but its nothing fantastic, so don't expect too much, even though its got some good actors in it.

Immediately after watching this film I was inclined to give it 3 stars because it didn't seem that bad, but I thought about it over night and the more I thought about the plot, the more holes I came up with. The twist on the plot was pretty obvious. Even the twist on the twist was pretty obvious. As for the interactions with Rachel and the ghosts... Paleeezzzee. That was just silly. And the reporter from the local paper. He was obviously thrown in just to fill time and make the film approach 90 minutes. My biggest problem with many of these 'B' slasher/ghost stories or whatever they are classified as would be: "Would a person in real life really do the things these people do?" No, only in movie land would otherwise intelligent people do stupid things that just invite trouble. Kind of like wearing a T-shirt saying, 'Hey, victim here'. The bad guy was pretty lame as far as bad guys go and the police were so incompetent that they could not work for Roscoe P. Coltrane in Hazard County. Really, as I write this I am tempted to reduce my rating to 1 star, but you gotta love Sid Haig playing a loving father. It would have been nice had this movie actually ended with us knowing what hapened to Sid's wife and the aftermath of Sid's meeting with Frank. We know the results of the meeting, but Rachel just seems to have forgotten her family that loved her and that she loved to return to New York and move on without giving them another thought...Totally out of character. And then there was the schlep that ran the Fillmore TV station. I guess he was the hero, or the heroine's love interest who, and I may be wrong about this, left his job as station manager to go to New York to...I don't know what. Watch his honey do shallow news reports. I guess this film is okay to watch but rent it at best. Don't buy it. I doubt if you will ever watch it again. In conclusion. Alexandra Holden. Very cute, but she mailed this one in.

A TV news reporter (Alexandra Holden from WISHCRAFT) witnesses her boyfriend's brutal murder. Afterward, she takes time off to return to her hometown, and moves back in w/ her mum and dad (played by Leslie Easterbrook and Sid Haig from THE DEVIL'S REJECTS!!). Rather than getting a nice, long rest, she finds herself involved in a dark mystery involving a mass murderer, ghosts, and a family secret. Ms. Holden is quite good in her role, as are the (very restrained) Easterbrook and Haig. Another DEVIL'S REJECTS alum (Bill Mosely) plays the sheriff! While far from being a masterwork, A DEAD CALLING is certainly worth a look...

They really don't get much worse than this. In spite of great actors like Sid Haig and Leslie Easterbrook, this movie fails in every way. The script is idiotic, even by low budget horror standards. The direction is strictly amateur in quality. Many scenes look as if they were shot on cheap VHS tape (perhaps they were). The editing and sound design . . . rotten. The film is also DULL. Incredibly DULL. Slow, pointless, predictable. Even if you love oddball horror films you will probably find nothing of merit in this awful mess. I'm surprised I'm the first one to give it a one star rating. Skip it.

I'm having a hard time deciding whether I liked this film or not. Actually, I sort of liked it but feel like I shouldn't have. There's nothing all that original or groundbreaking to be found here, the plot has its share of holes, and the big twist is about as obvious and noticeable as a great big zit on a prom queen's nose. I must admit I was wrong about a second big twist that was never really there (although I wish it were, as it would have laid the groundwork for a truly wicked ending), so I guess I can say the story isn't 100% predictable. There's just no real energy at work here, though, and the end result is that A Dead Calling ends up being one of those films that you completely forget about in just a few days.

Following a very traumatic experience, hotshot news reporter Rachel Beckwith leaves the Big City to return home and try to pick up the pieces of her life. Moving back in with your parents is always weird, but it's especially the case when your parents are played by Sid Haig and Leslie Easterbrook. After a few months, she's ready to go back to work - but she decides to work at the local television station rather than go back to her old life. Her very understanding new boss asks her to work on a project about the architecture of some of the old local homes. Sounds pretty boring, right? Well, it would be if the first house on Rachel's list didn't house a family of ghosts somehow calling upon her to help them find peace. It seems a well-respected doctor massacred his wife and kids in the house a quarter century earlier. After witnessing horrible visions of murder most foul, I would have run out of the house screaming like a little girl, but Rachel keeps going back. Her new boss doesn't exactly believe her but he does encourage her, unlike everyone else in town. The local sheriff tells them to leave well enough alone, and no one else wants to talk about the dark past of the house, either, but that doesn't stop Rachel from trying to get to the bottom of the story.

I will say this isn't your typical haunted house story. The movie earns its horror designation with a few violent scenes, but nothing you see is the least bit scary. Rachel's interaction with one ghost in particular is the very opposite of frightening - but by that point the film had already dropped some of its horror trappings and morphed into a psychological thriller of sorts. For those reasons, I can't really recommend this film to those looking for a good ghost story. A Dead Calling essentially falls between the cracks of cinematic success - it's just not intense or frightening enough to satisfy horror fans, and the whole ghost story angle precludes it from attracting much attention outside of its designated genre. It also doesn't help that the ending is somewhat disappointing - and certainly anti-climactic.

Is something that this film is not.
The brief description of this story on the web site makes the actual film sound scarier than the film actually is in reality. This is the first "Horror" film I can happily recommend as being fine for the under five year old market. There is as much gore in this film as there is in an advert for a hamburger chain advert with Ketchup. The supernatural storyline is as powerful as a fairytale edited for a primary school.
I was SOOOOOO suckered by a brilliant cover on this DVD, a great cast list, and a great story precise.

The Film has some attractive females, some great male actors, no decent Horror FX of any noticeable kind.
The one redeeming feature of this disc is that the film Commentary is aimed at bunch of wanna-be young film makers, and is basically an advisory on how to do a film whilst running on the budget of the sniff of an oily rag.
Never have the cast of the DEVILS REJECTS been so opposite ( as far as I am aware) in casting to their skilled scare abilities.

This is a well made film, but really should be saved for a film school text book.
Full marks for the most deceptive cover I have ever come across in films.