Unknown Caller (2014) User Reviews

On The Edge Of Your Seat Viewing

[shawnblackman · 5/10 · 23 February 2017]

A slick thriller where a man just finishes having the latest alarm system installed, when he receives a call from an unknown caller. The caller wants payback and he uses the alarm to do it as well as a huge bomb in the basement. The man's daughter gets dropped off for the night which ups the ante. He has to figure out who the caller is and what he did or else the whole house explodes. People can come in the house but if anyone leaves, the house will explode. Before you know it four people are trapped inside.

This was a pretty tense ride. It does get a little draggy in some spots but they somehow do keep things flowing. This is however one of those films where a guy goes to a hell of a lot of trouble to get revenge. The reason behind the whole thing kind of resembles Oldboy.

It did keep me hooked all the way through even though the concept has been done a few times.

WHO AM I

[nogodnomasters · 4/10 · 24 October 2018]

A wealthy fracker (David Chisum) creates an electronic "Fort Knox" in his home. An Unknown Caller uses his home against him and entraps him in the home as well as anyone who enters. In order to save himself, momma fracker (Louise Griffiths) and baby fracker (Anjolie Nieman) i.e. the whole fracking family, he must play a game and guess who the caller is and what he wants.

The audience, like the main character have no idea who the guy could be as we see only a neighbor and the guy who installs the alarm system. The clues he gives are meaningless to us. Our antagonist isn't clever and charismatic enough to keep me interested. It might have some appeal to bitter vigilante anarchists.

Guide: No sex. Mom whispers the F-bomb under her breath. Distant night vision nudity?

I actually got caught up in it!

[andrealaurenmaria · 5/10 · 4 November 2020]

The plot started quite quickly and my first thought was, "this is going to be boring". So I continued doing some errands, and before I knew it, I've sat down on the couch and was hooked! Maybe go in with low expectations, and then enjoy the show!

Dismal, tedious, by the numbers movie

[gavin-83 · 1/10 · 19 November 2015]

Sitting through this movie was painful. The plot had more holes in it than my dad's string vest. The acting made trees on a still day look expressive. To think people spent money making this and others money watching it. Every stage in the movie is predictable. Script only could exist in movies "You are an electrical engineer, this was meant to be", well, of course it was, that is why the stupid characters were put in the screenplay. I give it a 1 for the Ferrari. One to avoid.

The Olssen brothers produced this and I will make sure I avoid them. oh, and kids...don't be bullies or you will get bad men coming to get you. AVOID AVOID AVOID....ACTUALLY A VOID

Easily, far and away, the absolute worst movie, ever made.

[natedevault · 1/10 · 13 June 2015]

Awful is putting it politely. The worst acting, the worst directing the worst actors, the worst script, the worst special effects, the worst sound dubbing, the worst lighting, the worst make up. If there was an award for the worst of everything this movie would win in all categories. From start to finish, the entire movie doesn't make sense. A guy who works for an organization that does fracking in Oregon is being threatened by some unknown computer hacker guy on the other end of a cellphone, who turns out to be some dude he was mean to in high school? Who then kidnaps his daughter and dies at the end, because somehow the seemingly inescapable house is escaped by his friend and his estranged wife and kills the guy in an unexplained plot twist? Its like the whole movie is a big middle finger to the industry. As if to say "Look how badly we can waste your money!" This "film" shouldn't be watched by anyone and the director should kill himself.

Slow paced and terrible casting.

[tazmeinforgower · 30 June 2016]

The story focuses on a family who has a well advanced security system and a man, who is the unknown caller, placed a bomb under the house. The main theme of this movie is that the father (David Chisum) needs to answer the unknown callers question of Who Am I? This is a slow paced movie as it takes too long to get to a point for example after the unknown caller kills the cat, the father drinks water, then sleeps. I understand that everyone needs to drink and sleep. But I found that in thriller movies I'll rather try and figure out how to solve this situation. Then waste time. Like when he tells his wife there is a bomb she smiles. There is more relationship drama than anything else. I think this movie is better if you have a flu and just you want something to help you fall asleep.

bad movie, very bad plot, and the worst actress, really bad movie

[sashany · 1/10 · 30 August 2015]

not much to say,

really really stupid

and seems like they couldn't even find decent actors. Shocked they got the money

for movie with such a bad plot

seriously - everything's bad and stupid.

I hope they'll never ever get investment again

this is a waste, people should never make movies and actors should never play again, at least a girl, this is so.... bad

oh my god

A shame I couldn't give it a ZERO

[cimorellisteve · 1/10 · 11 May 2018]

Is the acting bad? Check Is the plot beyond asinine? Check The little girl, who's watching her parents scream, as their being trapped with a bomb in the house, she also witnesses a man get shot, all while being kidnapped. Through all the trauma she's is calmer than a monk on Xanex.

Utterly awful

[lomga · 1/10 · 22 November 2017]

The only stand-out feature of this movie is how bad it is. Flat characters badly delivering inane lines from a script devoid of creativity. Takes the generic "people terrorized by a psycho" plot and runs with it. Off a cliff. My brain is mad at my eyeballs for watching it.

Easy Sunday afternoon watching

[sxcfto · 6/10 · 27 June 2015]

If you don't expect too much of this film it's not that bad .... It's not an a grade film but it's not the worst I have seen and it does keep you on the edge of the seat most of the film. It is better than some of those handy cam horror films that are out there ... People with money always get into trouble Don't mind the Ferrari scenes at the start of the film too and house has nice scenery. Overall I would give it a 6/10 not a bad effort .. Judge for yourself.. Ashamed this gets a low rating it really isn't the worst movie made and there are so many others I would out at the bottom of the pile before this one and I have worked in in the movie industry previously so I know how critical people can be of movies but as I always say not everyone sees a movie the same way ... Give it a go !

Well done Thriller - Worth watching!

[rexferal11-856-669191 · 8/10 · 30 August 2015]

I found this film riveting overall and, for the most part, fast moving. The story is direct, plausible, and easy to follow. The acting was very good all around. The score was appropriate while not overwhelming. The cinematography was quite good. The special effects were adequate. Frankly, the limited blood and gore were refreshing - I watch a film to be entertained, not grossed out. I rate a film on it's story line, delivery, production values, and overall quality. This film performs well in each category. Comparing one film to another I'll leave to others. Overall, a worthwhile and entertaining thriller. Recommended! - Erick Erickson

More positive than negative elements

[kluseba · 7/10 · 19 June 2021]

Unknown Caller is a decent psychological thriller that should please genre fans as it deserves more acclaim and attention than it has gotten so far. The story revolves around a successful lobbyist who has some personal issues. One night, he has to help out his estranged ex-wife and take care of their daughter for one night. Things take a sinister turn when an unknown caller menaces the lobbyist by telling him that he must solve a series of riddles or else his whole mansion is going to be destroyed by a bomb placed underneath it. The lobbyist essentially needs to find out who is calling him and what the perpetrator's intentions are.

This film convinces on multiple levels. First of all, the story might not be innovative but is executed convincingly with a few twists and turns leading to a spectacular finale in a memorable location.

Up next, the movie's atmosphere is tense from start to finish as it will keep you on the edge of your seat. The mansion looks bleak and cold, the movie takes place at dusk and at night and the few locations outside the mansion look isolated and sinister. The pace accelerates as the film progresses and ends on a particularly high note.

The acting performances are the movie's only significant issue aside a few exaggerated elements in the plot. It's difficult to empathize with the different characters since they are either antipathic or unspectacular. David Chisum plays a protagonist who only cares about influence and wealth and comes across as terrible father and unfaithful former husband. The mysterious antagonist played by Henri Lubatti simply comes across as desperate psychopath without any relevant purposes. The only actor that is remotely interesting is played by Assaf Cohen who plays a resilient man who risks his life to protect the lives of others around him even though he ends up getting caught up in a deadly game that doesn't even remotely concern him.

In the end, Unknown Caller has more positive than negative elements to showcase. Despite a few exaggerated plot elements and antipathic characters, this film convinces with intriguing twists and turns and gripping atmosphere from start to finish. It's not mandatory to watch this flick but genre fans should certainly appreciate it for what it is.

wretched

[ezprimetrial · 1/10 · 31 March 2022]

Awful dialogue, mediocre to awful acting, failure to understand technology in the slightest, and ultimately just a "fracking bad" boogeyman moral at the end.

The Cat, Oreo, was genuinely the best and most convincing performance in the entire movie, only to be killed off by some magical superhacker gun turret.

Absolute failure in writing, directing, and acting. I don't care how bored or curious you might be, don't waste over 100 minutes on this schlock.

Tech2Heck.

[jacksonphyllis · 4/10 · 13 May 2021]

Slow churning, thought provoking, slightly suspenseful. I enjoyed the movie.

Couldn't hear a word

[me-09265 · 2/10 · 9 November 2018]

Gave up after half an hour, partly because of the hopelessly nonsensical behaviour of the characters (why, when his ex wife turns up, does he not explain the situation and use her to get help? Why instead does he leave it so long that she enters the house and tries to make a call?), but also because to compensate for the poor writing and unrealistic behaviour of the characters the director chose to have such loud music playing over the phone calls that I couldn't hear a word that was being said. Didn't watch any more than that.

Atrocious

[apspr · 2/10 · 10 May 2018]

This has got to be one of the more insanely bad films I've ever seen, which is saying a lot. The plot holes are Grand-Canyon-sized and the acting is pretty awful, with the exception of the 7-year-old girl, who is quite good. The female lead has a terrible time suppressing her British accent when the tension rises. And half the moments she should look horrified, she has this odd little smile on her face instead. The male lead is at least pleasant to look at, but pretty wooden.

The cinematography is pleasing and the production design not bad at all, although the horrible CGI is intrusive during a pointless car chase sequence and an explosion. But the script and direction, oh my God- just beyond belief. The violent moments are uniformly inept in their cutting.

Continuity and logic problems are so numerous and glaring that you can't even count them.

To take only two:

-how does the poor dude who gets shot early on, and looks near death when they drag him inside, then grow stronger and more robust the more blood he loses?

• the way this character figures out where the perpetrator might be is laughable enough, but OK, he is 1.7 miles away. Then the main character has to go on a frantic solo car "chase" that appears to traverse most of downtown Birmingham and involves going down the wrong direction of one-way streets into traffic for at least 1.7 miles??? Ludicrous.

• The way Aasim and Jill eventually get out of the house is so elementary and stupid that you can't believe he hadn't thought of it earlier.

I just hope the 7-year-old gets some other roles because she has potential :)