The Caller

The Caller

The Caller is by no means the greatest horror film, nor is it particularly original but it is quite enjoyable, mainly thanks to the wonderful Rachelle Lefevre, she has graduated to leading lady very well in The Caller, let's hope she gets more leading roles more often, she has a great screen presence and is very nice to watch. The Caller has an interesting premise, newly separated Mary moves into a new apartment to escape the clutches of her douchebag husband, only to be harassed with menacing phone calls from a woman who says she is living in the past, the year 1977 to be exact, this is when the supernatural element pops up and starts to get you thinking. Parts of this movie are really scary, other parts are slightly awkward, but for most of the film I was genuinely interested in the character of Mary and her quest to uncover the truth about the person who is causing the horror in her life, is it her husband? Is it her new love interest? Is it a monster in the closet? This movie keeps you guessing right up until the conclusion, something a lot of other films are missing, it's not very original, but it's still a surprise I suppose. I just wished the ending lived up to the rest of the movie, which was quite a cut above the usual horror fodder we see of late. Luis Guzman and Stephen Moyer give solid supporting performances too, it's nice not to see old Bill Compton all broody and serious, and Luiz is just awesome no matter what. Impressive enough that I'd watch it again I just wish the ending was different. Hopefully on the DVD there are some alternate endings. I vote for more Rachelle Lefevre in movies. Hooray!

I'll be brief because I've wasted enough of my time watching this movie. I have NEVER written a review on a movie and I have NEVER walked out of a movie but tonight I actually felt compelled to do both. I must say that I was actually SHOCKED the ratings for this film aren't lower (I guess I was expecting 5% approval). This is by far the worst movie I've ever seen. I'm not quite sure what ANYONE involved in the making of the film was thinking- including the actors, writers, director (if there was one), and, perhaps most importantly, the company that actually decided to distribute the film. There is no reason anyone should sit through this film. RUUUUUNNN!!!

This movie has complex twists and suspense from the FIRST phone call. With the exception of the old style rotary phone that looked like it came from the 50's instead of the late 70's this was a very good tale. I'm still shaking my head trying to figure out what I would do in her place and that, for me, is the mark of a good story. Rachelle did an excellent job of portraying a woman who did not fall apart when hit by seemingly impossible events, in fact, she seemed to have gained strength more and more right up to the very end. To say that this movie kept my attention is an understatement. I challenge you to be able to look away. Oh, and to those that compare this to the movie "Frequency" I have seen "Frequency" and although it is a very good movie, it is in a completely different genre. Both movies do very well on their own and I suspect that both the producers and writers of each film would be annoyed with anyone that tried to compare them to the other. If you enjoy a good thriller with a lot of suspense, this movie is for you, please DO give it a watch and ENJOY!

I think there should be some kind of policy prohibiting anyone who invested in this movie from writing any more of these phony-sounding reviews praising this piece of you-know-what as though it was some kind of deeply intellectual masterpiece that was creatively conceived and artistically executed by a truly talented genius. Didn't the prospectus warn you that you'll probably lose all of your money? I've heard good things about the Red One cameras (4K digital resolutions and all of that for under $20K) but if seeing is believing, well then I've seen better video clips shot with an iPhone compared to the dimly lit shadow-figures found fading incoherently from one fuzzy frame to the next in this fog-filled flick. Did the DI colorist use a box of crayons for primary and secondary color corrections instead of video scopes that measure luminance and saturation and color levels? I had to adjust the brightness and contrast levels on my TV to compensate for what appeared to be one poorly lit scene after another which worked for a while until being temporarily blinded by a sudden bursting blast of bright white light (usually coming in from a background window that wasn't masked by the colorist before cranking down the luma levels enough to discourage our sun from wanting to charge royalties for having an uncredited lead role). Other reviews here and elsewhere have covered the countless plot holes (a polite way to refer to inconsistencies found within a ridiculously absurd script) so I won't even get started on those except to say that when all was said and done, I knew I had wasted my time and energy trying to make sense out of a plot that makes no sense to anyone who has stopped wearing bibs and diapers. I did like the scene with the stick insect though. Some critics said his acting was a little wooden but I say he was a true professional that played it straight. Enuf said...and then some.

I saw this movie last night with high expectations since I had read some interesting reviews about it. But i was disappointed. The movie starts with a nice build up... a young girl (Mary Kee) is on a divorce and moves to a new apartment to start a new life, and that's where some strange calls begin. A woman, Rose, insistently calls, we realize that she is depressed and with some problems. Mary begins to think that something is wrong ... and that there is a connection of those calls with something that happened earlier in that house. SPOILERS AHEAD: So far so good, the problem starts when we begin to understand the relationship between calls, Rose and Mary. And the repercussions of the actions that take place are ridiculous because they cause several continuity problems, making the story completely absurd. At the end we realize that nothing makes sense, because some actions should impact others... and well, they do, but only sometimes. The present of the main character (her choices, and even her state of mind) should be altered by Rose's previous actions, and that doesn't happen. Ie, being burned while young, she would certainly develop a lot of complexes during youth, probably would not even be with the same man. Surely her life would have taken a completely different direction, moreover after the trauma of having killed someone. Her storyline would have been completely redefined. The premise is interesting, but the script is so poorly developed...

This movie really surprised me. It is an original Puerto Rican production and I have to say I didn't expect it to be as good as it was. However, the movie kept me intrigued and it had a lot of unexpected twist that towards the end of the film got very suspenseful and tense for you didn't know what else to expect from the psycho caller from the past. The way that they represented some of the Puerto Rican culture into it while not making it about being a movie about Puerto Rico was something I also as a Puerto Rican liked. I recommend this movie if you like suspense thrillers that will keep you into the story at all times, though it is not a gory movie it does creep out!

Mary (Rachelle Lefevre) moves in to an apartment complex in Puerto Rico to escape her abusive ex who is none too happy about the divorce or the restraining order placed against him. Soon after, she's plagued by a barrage of phone calls from someone who identifies herself only as Rose. Slowly, their casual conversations veer toward an ominous direction, and one by one, people around her start dying or disappearing after she tries to cut off contact with the deranged caller. If you have the patience to wait out the first 20 minutes, The Caller is a decent, straightforward mystery and suspense type thriller with reasonable acting and the welcomed absence of any CGI. Most of the scenes are shot at night or in Mary's dimly lit apartment, adding to the overall gloomy and grim tone. The movie is meant to inject you with fear, not with a quick jab to the jugular but, via a slow and steady stream. The borrowed time alteration theme from Frequency has its pitfalls - don't over-analyze and you won't be bothered by the plot holes. A refreshingly unpretentious flick that relies on old school horror techniques (no gore or guts, no obtrusive soundtrack, no deafening sound effects) but, sadly, easily forgettable.

A newly divorced young woman moves into a new apartment. She immediately begins to receive phone calls from a mysterious older woman. Before long some very strange events begin to happen. The Caller operates mainly as a standard thriller where the heroine is drawn increasingly into a world of mystery with dark secrets; however, as the story develops, an unusual supernatural element is brought into the narrative. It becomes evident that the phone calls are coming from the past, and are directly changing the heroine's present in strange seemingly impossible ways. It's quite an original approach and gives the film a different angle from a typical thriller. Nevertheless, it isn't until the last third when the movie really takes off. The final confrontation is especially well delivered and scary. Overall, The Caller is a good supernatural thriller with some genuinely creepy moments. It takes a while to really get interesting but it ultimately does have some good moves.