A Dead Calling (2006 Video) User Reviews

A Dead Film

[lastliberal · 4/10 · 14 November 2008]

I was looking for something dark, and I got it. It plays like a Japanese horror film, and there is a slasher in it, but there was little else to hold my interest.

Except for Sid Haig, of course. I just watched him the other night in his clown makeup, and he really was funny as a regular father in this film. He was "Father Knows Best" with an affinity for guns. He really made me keep watching until the end. His wife was Leslie Easterbrook. This was their third movie together after Halloween and The Devil's Rejects. Of course, many remember her from the Police Academy films.

Also from Halloween, The Devil's Rejects, and Grindhouse was Bill Moseley as the sheriff.

This must have been the fourth or fifth Michael Feifer film I have seen. He does a lot of serial killers. His films are usually worth watching, but nothing to write home about.

If you like the genre check it out on cable sometime.

It's not THAT bad.

[amanda_lutrick · 3/10 · 3 February 2007]

OK, I just saw the movie and I didn't think that it was THAT bad. The other reviewer is correct the acting sucks, big time, but if you actually give it a chance and try to get into the character then it's not so bad. I would not recommend buying or renting it but if you're stuck somewhere out in the middle of nowhere with cable and the movie just so happens to come on, it might be OK. Yes the escaped convict plot is alright, way too played out. There are actually kind of two "twists". The first is pretty obvious from the get-go. The other surprised me a little but it did not improve the movie what-so-ever. I think that the characters the were in The Devil's Rejects, should stay there. There is "supposed" to be a tender moment between the parents and the daughter and I could only laugh. Now if "tender" meant "awkward" then I could understand. All in all this was a pretty bad movie. Don't waste ANY money on this or you'll be sorry.

An Awful Combination of Lame Story with Bad Acting

[claudio_carvalho · 2/10 · 5 August 2012]

In New York, the journalist Rachel Beckwith (Alexandra Holden) is attacked by a burglar and her fiancé Brian (Shawn Hoffman) is murdered trying to defend her.

Rachel returns to her hometown Fillmore to recover in the house of her parents. Six months later, she is hired by Stephen Javitz (John Burke) to work in the local television and her first assignment is to cover the architecture of the mansions in Fillmore. Rachel is attracted to the abandoned house of Dr. Frank Sullivan (Tim Oman) and when she breaks in the house, she sees the murder of Mrs. Sullivan (Caia Coley) by Dr. Frank. She returns to the house later and also sees the murder of the journalist of the Fillmore Union Tribune Arnold "Arnie" Howard (Mike Korich). When she calls the police, she learns that Arnie died many years ago. Soon Rachel is contacted by the ghost of Mrs. Sullivan that asks her to help her family and her to find peace. Rachel decides to investigate her connection with the Sullivan's family and their house.

"A Dead Calling" is an awful combination of a lame story with bad acting. It is unbelievable how a writer can create such poor and incoherent story. The way Rachel treats her parents when the ghost of Mrs. Sullivan talks to her is unpleasant and absurd. Rachel does not grieve George, who is simply forgotten in the happy end. The exterior of the haunted house is a beautiful white mansion. The snoopy neighbor is capable to see Rachel snooping around in the house, but does not hear shots in the end. The actor that performs Deputy Murken is terrible. Dr. Sullivan kills a deputy, a man on the road and the police do not chase him. Do not waste your time watching this garbage. My vote is two.

Title (Brazil): "O Chamado da Morte" ("The Dead Calling")

Stay Out Of Vacant Houses...

[azathothpwiggins · 11 January 2022]

After witnessing her boyfriend's brutal murder, a TV news reporter named Rachel Beckwith (Alexandra Holden) moves back to her hometown to live with her parents (Leslie Easterbrook and Sid Haig). Rather than getting a nice, long rest, Rachel finds herself caught up in a dark mystery involving a mass murderer, ghosts, and a family secret.

Ms. Holden is quite convincing in her role, as are -the very restrained- Easterbrook and Haig. As an added feature, Bill Moseley plays the sheriff.

While far from being a masterwork, this movie has its moments and is worth a look...

Devil's Rejects Reunion...

[gavin6942 · 3/10 · 16 January 2007]

A young television reporter (or "investigative journalist") is attacked in her home, leading to her boyfriend being murdered. Six months later she returns to work in a smaller town, and stumbles across a house full of ghosts trying to call out to her. What is the secret of this house and how is she connected to it? The answer won't surprise you.

Pay attention during the introduction and opening credits -- see the scary pictures and the scary noises, because that is the only scary thing in the entire film. The rest of it is bland and completely silly, with maybe a jump here or there if you're susceptible to such things. But nothing creepy, I promise.

This film is like a reunion for "The Devil's Rejects", bringing together Leslie Easterbrook, Sid Haig and Bill Moseley. But it's also like a preview for "Ed Gein" or "House", since many of the same actors appear in those films, as well as the same director and producer. I guess once you become involved in one horror b-movie they just keep calling you back for more, and maybe after five or six you'll earn like twenty dollars.

The lead (Rachel Beckwith) is played by Alexandra Holden. She can act, she's beautiful and she's been in a variety of big name movies (not least of which was "Sugar and Spice"). How did she end up being cast in such a thing as this? Probably the same way Jennifer Connelly ended up in "Dark Water"... which is still a mystery.

I was warned by my friend Cody that Sid Haig (who plays George Beckwith) cannot act. Well, this appears to be true. But, in all fairness, he's no better or worth than anyone else in this film. I just have a difficult time seeing him without clown makeup, because he has a really funny shaped face and head.

The worst actor in this is by far Mike Korich, who plays Arnie Howard. You would think in a film of bad actors he could blend in, but he makes everyone else look good. He accentuates every word he says and is just really obnoxious. Also, what he is doing with paranormal equipment is really unclear.

Parts of this film are decent. The escaped killer plot is pretty nice. The whole ghosts thing is really done in a stupid way, and the "twist" is completely unoriginal and you'll see it coming a mile away. Also, what's the deal with Rachel's boss? His behavior is all over the place, and he seems to give her too much flexibility. Granted, it's obvious he wants to do devious things to her body, but does he need to act so much the part? He seems drunk or insane half the time.

There's no reason to ever see this movie unless you're a complete masochist (I am). Go listen to Marcy Playground or something else that would be less annoying. Actually, Marcy Playground was pretty decent in concert, opening for Everclear with Fastball in 1998 in Madison, Wisconsin. You should have been there. Heck, you should be anywhere that doesn't make you watch "A Dead Calling".

Ghosts, revenge, confused parentage, murder, obsession, but no scares.

[suite92 · 1/10 · 15 March 2014]

Rachel is a successful roving reporter for a television station. One evening she comes home and all seems well. A home invasion occurs and the thief kills her significant other by stabbing. She's in shock. She loses her job, her place of work. She goes back to her home in Fillmore with her parents George and Marge, then gets a job at the local television station. Her first assignment is an ongoing one in which she is to report on some of the high points of the local architecture.

When she goes to first stop on the list, the 'Sullivan House,' all seems as usual until she goes upstairs. Then she hallucinates a brutal stabbing of a woman by an enraged man. On her second visit, she meets Arnold, a photographer who is investigating paranormal events using very sensitive photographic equipment. When they are about to uncover a paranormal event, a big fellow gets in Arnold's way, then stabs him to death.

Stephen does some research, and finds that Arnold was killed some years ago. Oh, my. The Chief would rather that Stephen and Rachel quit poking around the Sullivan house. So of course they go there the same night. The Chief gets a complaint about their skulking around, and confronts them in the house. Unfortunately for the Chief, Dr. Sullivan, who owns the house, has gotten out of prison, and he stabs the Chief to death.

Rachel figures out that the killer is her father and the ghost in her first hallucination is the ghost of her birth mother.

Does Rachel help resolve the ghost's psychological problems, so that the haunting stops? Will any of the cast survive Dr. Sullivan? Are there last minute surprises?

----Scores-----

Cinematography: 6/10 Camera shake. Stupid camera angles.

Sound: 5/10 There are some big shifts in volume for no particular purpose, except perhaps for shock effect.

Acting: 0/10 Alexandra Holden and John Burke are both terrible in this film. Their delivery of lines is just poor, and their external affect seems irrelevant. Micah Costanza was wretched as Deputy Murken. Mike Korich as Arnie Howard was no prize either.

Screenplay: 2/10 Does Rachel ever mourn Brian? Why is Rachel so snotty toward her parents? Why was absolutely nothing in this film scary? Bad writing.

If this movie calls... hang-up.

[cyclone259 · 1/10 · 24 February 2007]

I can't chalk up one of my best attributes as being 'Sherlock Holmes' when it comes to predicting the outcome of most story lines, but about 30 minutes into this snail-paced "thriller" it was so obvious that even Anne Coulter could've figured it out.

Someone wrote "not that bad"... Not that bad as ???? Uninspired plot line, jaded acting, not to mention John Burke as one of the leads. Hey, I liked him on 'FX - The Morning Show' and some other things along the way, but a lead he is not.

Anyway, there may be some spoilers ahead... just thought I'd warn you...

A young and upcoming reporter in NYC returns home late one night and is awakened by noises coming from the living room. She stumbles in the dark and comes face-to-face with a masked intruder. Anyway, her fiancée and the intruder get into a struggle, the fiancée is killed, the intruder escapes, etc., etc. Jump ahead six months... she has moved back in with her parents, gets a job at the local t.v. station doing a story on architectural details of local houses, especially one very ominous, abandoned home with a gory past. It seems the former resident, Dr. Frank Sullivan murdered his wife and daughters (except for one... see where this is going?) and is now on the loose.

OK... nuff said... If you haven't figured this one out by now, then you probably are someone easily entertained by arena football or cock fighting. Save the $4.00 rental fees and choose something else, like American Pie 6 or the yet-to-be-released Bio pic about Milli Vanilli (yes, it is actually in the works at the time of this review).

Too awful to be true!

[ogame · 1/10 · 21 February 2007]

This is by far the worst horror movie,if not the worst movie i ever seen in all my life!No suspense,not even horror.not even a plot.Very bad acting too.The story(if we can call it like that)is very predictable.Conclusion:if you are a true fan of horror/suspense movies you'll be surprise with yourself if you stand watching more than 30 minutes of it.But if you are a fan of bad comedy/fantasy well ... you might like the movie.By the way the movie's name, "A dead calling",don't realize why it call's like that:It makes you believe that a phone is in the middle but...no.And the house?It's a beautiful house,too beautiful too be haunted. Oh well ,this is only a opinion of a lover horror films.

plays out like a bad Lifetime movie

[dutchchocolatecake · 4/10 · 6 June 2012]

You know those movies on Lifetime that they play around Halloween? If this didn't have the Lionsgate film company attached to it, I'd assume it was one of those cheesy made-for-television movies.

The plot was just as contrived and convoluted as a Lifetime movie, complete with talking ghosts. Is there anything good to say about this movie? Sure. There's a small handful of competent actors. The scenery and props are good. Costumes are good. Music is good. There's even several parts that made me jump and cringe.

But is it enough to redeem this hour and a half of life I wasted on it? No. The story, although unique, just wasn't written well enough to pull me in. Same goes for the characters. The mother and father acted like they dropped too much acid in the seventies. Then when she found out they weren't her biological parents, she immediately goes into spoiled princess mode and accuses them of making her live a lie; then comes out with some bizarre statement like "What if I have some genetic disease!?" Uh... what? You can find something like that out at any time in your life, adopted or otherwise.

I'm surprised this even got an R rating considering the idea of talking helpful ghosts comes straight out of young adult novel for middle schoolers. Yeah. Talking ghosts that ask for help, give you true to life real secrets, and nod in support to encourage you? Last time I was entertained by something like that, I think I was twelve.

Anyway, I ignored the other reviews and I won't get that hour and a half of my life back. You can save an hour and a half of your own life by learning from our mistakes. Or not. If you like bad Lifetime movies, this just might be the flick for you.

Forget The Devils Rejects- This ones actually Scary!!!

[HorrorFreakever · 9/10 · 10 January 2007]

Well finally here's a good use of genre talent (Sid Haig, Bill Moseley, Leslie Easterbrook) put to a true horror film with a dark atmospheric story to match. It's basically a ghost story/slasher film that combines the genres seamlessly with a twist that comes at the end that left me at the edge of my seat. I'd say this is Moseley's best performance since Texas Chainsaw Massacre II and Haig and Leslie deliver some solid perfs as well. If you liked the Devils Rejects check this out as you won't be disappointed. This could be the best ghost story of the year (theatrical or direct-to-video). Its like a J- Horror film done right with the slasher element. Keep them coming Feifer!!!