Close Calls (2017) User Reviews

Things to know about this movie

[hodgesjaym · 3/10 · 26 March 2019]

So, I consider myself a movie buff in general, and am open to all concepts and ideas, but this one has me wondering what I just watched. Below are my takeaways from this "movie".

1. Chose a genre already! In this two hour span I saw the attempts at a horror, slasher, soft core porn, psychedelic thriller, period piece and comedy. It was like they just couldn't figure out what they were going for, or they had multiple writers that couldn't agree on anything so they just did everything.

2. Pick a time period and stick with it. The girl has a cell phone and all kinds of other modern devices, however the phone in her dad's office is an old tabletop rotary phone? He supposedly makes all kinds of money and he has that? It seems far fetched.

3. Pick a story and go. Stop with the hey we have a creepy stalker with a promiscuous teen, then throw grandma in there, don't forget the dad and his girl friend needing a part, but then let's bring in her boyfriend too! Oh yeah, there is the teen boyfriend that looks like he is at least 25, but then let's do away with him. Oops, here is grandma again... Come on there is no continuity in this thing...

4. Having a good looking teen run around in her bra and panties throughout the entire movie would be unnecessary if there was even a hint of a story line. It also seems a little degrading to her and pervish of the writers and director. I guess they were hoping people would continue watching in hopes that they would get to see her naked. (Spoiler, you don't, you see her butt and her boobs with pasties covering the nipples.)

5. Having at least one person that can act would be nice. I mean the girl is the best actor in this film, and calling her an actor is stretching the limits.

6. Remember there needs to be an ending to all of the story lines you started! You cannot write plots and sub plots and not give them some sort of closure.

7. If you are dead set on watching this movie and you are a fan of recreational drugs, try some acid or shrooms, and then watch it. I bet it would be so much better!

Overall, this film had potential in the beginning and lost it pretty quick. I watched all the way through in hopes that there would be some sort of explanation at some point as to what was going on. There was not...

Doesn't deserve the 9 & 10's it has

[torroutedipz · 5/10 · 26 March 2019]

The movie is fairly entertaining, although I doubt I could watch it if the hot girl wasn't in her underwear for the entire movie. Maybe you need to be trippin or smokin salvia for it to make sense. It had potential to be better, but was just way too confusing as to what was fantasy and what was reality. If you watch it just don't expect it to make sense, but know that your reward for making it (or fast forwarding) to the end, is the bra finally gets lost in the last few minutes.

You Will Feel Like You're On A Bad Trip

[tesswysko · 3/10 · 6 February 2019]

Ok.. So we've got a movie about a girl who abuses a LOT of drugs, because she has dead Mommy issues... and boyfriend issues... and Granny in the attic needing to be fed and watched because she's Looney Toons...and Daddy issues... and Daddy's gf issues... and Daddy's gf 's bf who she hired too and and and d, scare, rape and kill her! Other than that, her life is great! AndShe startes getting these bizarre, come phone calls while her father is /out for dinner and the opera with his gf. All sorts of craziness ensues when they're gone, and whenkj they come back, it's that much worse. This movie sis _y HARD to like! I want to, j start to, then it goes off on some weird psychadelic trip, so tvhere's just duo much confusion about what's going on, and what's real!

Dont waste your time

[liderc · 1/10 · 30 March 2019]

After watching this far too long and pretty dull movie right to the disappointing, meaningless ending I do wonder what it is I actually was watching. This is certainly not a horror movie nor is it a thriller. In that genre you need a plot and also some sort of conclusion. I guess the best description of this movie would be soft porn for sadists, as the seminude protagonist does get mentally and physically tortured a lot. Drug users also might find the nonsensical storyline appealing, as it defies any logic or reason. Being high probably also helps with the laughably amateurish acting. I have seen better acting in professional adult movies. Actually the only professional thing about this movie were the very elabourate sets. They didnt make sense, as the interior design of the house is a curious mishmash of mixed up floor plans (Grandmas bizarre tower room is just impossible constructionwise) styles, time periods and religious themes, but somebody actually spent a lot of effort here, which cant be said about the sloppily thrown together bag of ideas in the script and the hilarious casting.

Don't bother answering the call...

[paul_haakonsen · 2/10 · 6 January 2021]

I must admit that I was initially intrigued by this 2017 horror/thriller movie's cover/poster, as it felt like something very retro and taking me back to the 1980s horror movies that I grew up on.

And I hadn't heard about the movie prior to sitting down to watch it, so I didn't know what the movie was about, nor did I know what I was in for. But hey, a horror movie with a cover such as the one it had, what could possibly go wrong?

Well, I suppose the utter lack of a proper storyline and the atrocious lack of anything worthwhile and interesting. I managed to endure a numbing 42 minutes of the ordeal that is known as "Close Calls" and then I saw that there was about 1 hour and 20 minutes to go of this boring heap of a stinker, and I just gave up. In the 42 minutes that I suffered through nothing, and I mean that literally, nothing of any interest had transpired. Well, unless you consider a scantily dressed young girl with massive attributes as interesting, well then you are in luck. Personally, I am watching movies for the entertainment value, and I was expecting this to be a horror movie, so sitting around watching her strut around in next to no clothing just didn't cut it for me.

And little did it help that the acting performances were dubious at best, and whatever supposed to be dialogue was just abysmal to listen to.

Yeah, this 2017 horror movie from writer and director Richard Stringham was a massive swing and a miss. And I can honestly say that I am never ever going to return to give the movie a second chance. I just honestly don't care one inch about the storyline - or lack thereof, more accurately - nor of the characters in the movie.

I am rating "Close Calls" a generous two out of ten stars, solely for the production value the movie had going for it. Sometimes it is better to just let the phone keep on ringing and go do something else entirely.

Boobs & Ass Showcase for horny 13 year old boys

[marian-g · 3/10 · 24 January 2021]

Lasted about half an hour to watch this. I hardly ever give poor rating to even bad horror movies nut had decided not to waste any more time Pity the movie was not around when I was 14 - i would have had surely watched it till the end focusing more on girl's curves than cheeze plot (figuratively & literally). Good effort in 2017 to make this movie look like it was made in 80's but this one still can hardly compete with even clap-trap stories of the 80's. You'd better of watching Michael Jackson's Thriller a few times to sober up from this "Close Calls" of 2017.

No 1 in the hall of..crap!!!!at least i laughed

[ironfist699 · 1/10 · 25 July 2022]

It doesn't stand to a serious review...just a semi nude girl...(not that hot)and o lot of nonsense, seriously bad acting,bad...bad...bad..!!!it could be a comedy tho!

What, in Holy Argento's name, is a neo-giallo?

[Coventry · 3/10 · 7 August 2022]

Don't get me wrong, I love the sight of a 20-year-old beauty with (very) big breasts and a slender bum parading around in her revealing underwear for two hours just as much as any healthy man. Maybe even more... I'll even admit the trailer full of images of the scantily dressed and voluptuous Jordan Phipps heavily influenced me purchasing the DVD of "Close Calls". But all this still doesn't make it acceptable that a girl's jiggling pink bra and tight blue panties should form the only memorable things in a horror/thriller that proudly refers to itself as a "neo-giallo".

Speaking of which, what the heck is a "neo-giallo" anyways? The back of the Blu-Ray exclaims that "Close Calls" is similar and living up to the finest work of Dario Argento. Is there someone out there who honestly thinks so? Just because your film features a crazy old witch in a surreal attic, it doesn't mean can compare to "Suspiria". And just because someone is pressing random keys on a synthesizer device, it doesn't mean your soundtrack must be interpreted as an homage to Claudio Simonetti/Goblin. This movie isn't a Giallo, it's not even a horror movie as far as I'm concerned.

Morgan is a rebellious teenager with issues. Her mother died, but her father is about to remarry a deranged woman who hates her. She experiments with pretty much every type of drugs she can get her hands on, and she's grounded for getting caught whilst doing naughty things with her doofus boyfriend. Morgan must stay at the house alone, and feed medication to her ailing grandmother, when she suddenly starts receiving menacing and perverted phone calls from an unknown psycho.

As you can tell, there are plenty of potentially great ideas in "Close Calls", but writer/director Richard Stringham doesn't elaborate any of them properly. The film cashes in on the popular trend of looking retro-80s, but doesn't have a soul or personality of its own. Phipps's performance is more than decent, but every other actor/actress in this film is atrocious to behold. As much as I keep hoping to encounter clever and imaginative new horror movies, the sad truth is that "Close Calls" is pretentious, boring, substantially void, and at least half an hour too long.

Entertaining (if a little long) horror flick!

[stsinger · 7/10 · 13 January 2019]

"Close Calls" is an entertaining, if a bit long, little horror flick. The film stars Jordan Phipps as Morgan, a teenaged girl who has been grounded after her father caught her in an, ahem, "compromising position" with her boyfriend. Turns out that a year earlier, her mother died and her father is going out on another date with a woman named Brynn that Morgan hates. As he leaves, he reminds her that she needs to give Gramma her pills. Morgan whines and moans and curses and basically acts like a spoiled brat, and her father leaves for his evening. And then Morgan ends up having quite the night, to say the least.

While there is a lot of creepy goodness going on, "Close Calls" almost seems like they intended to make one movie and then changed their minds halfway through and made another one instead, but left all the footage from the first one in there. Not sure if that was intentional or not, but it gives the movie a surrealistic feel about it. In the first half of the film there are hints of the supernatural -- Gramma lives in some weird almost otherworldly part of the house, locked away with all sorts of supernatural hints about her, and Morgan's interactions with her are really unsettling. Also deeply unsettling is what happens during a visit from her boyfriend. Asi f that weren't enough, Morgan also gets some very weird and creepy phone calls. But most of that is seemingly dropped in the second half when the film moves to other events (which I won't spoil) that are not grounded in the supernatural but are, in many ways, even more disturbing.

At two hours and eight minutes, the film could definitely use some trimming. But it never really drags. Jordan Phipps is getting raves in many reviews for her performance in this film, and those raves are well deserved. It is a brave and complex performance. She spends a lot of time in skimpy outfits and is able to balance vulnerability, fear, and determination throughout. The rest of the cast also does well, and the directing and lighting is clean and professional. As is the case with many indie flicks, the sound could use some work (sometimes too soft and dialogue is spoken very quickly so hard to understand), but still pretty decent. Overall, the film packs a nice whallop and its virtues make it easy to overlook its flaws.

Overall, easy to recommend "Close Calls" as an solid way for horror movie fans to spend a couple of hours.

Fun 80s style horror!

[lancedholmen · 10/10 · 13 February 2019]

If you are a fan of old school 80s horror, do not pass this one up!

Memorable, If Flawed Indie Horror Flick

[dperky · 6/10 · 18 April 2019]

Close Calls is one of those films that sort of defies description. Is it a home invasion movie? Sort of. A slasher? It has its slasher-y moments. A piece of an Italian horror inspired fever dream? Definitely! It's a shame that, with so many strong influences, Close Calls never quite gels as a cohesive whole, but we'll get to that later.

Close Calls is about a young woman who's pretty bummed to be left to care for her ailing grandmother who lives in her and her father's attic while her father goes off on a date with her royal witch of a stepmother-to-be. Feeling bored, our heroine takes some drugs and things start getting a bit out of hand. Is she imagining that her grandmother lives on a soiled mattress in a dusty attic? Are those phone calls she keeps getting really pose any major threat?

Writer/director Richard Stringham has a gorgeous visual style, wild ideas, and a flair for finding beauty in the macabre, but his script is messy and suffers from overlength. Honestly, the entire subplot with the grandmother could have been removed altogether since it's never quite clear if the grandmother really does live in a disgusting old attic or if that's just something the heroine is imagining. It's interesting by itself, but it doesn't end up adding much in the end. The evil stepmother has an awful English accent (I'll feel like an idiot if she's actually English, but it sounded phony to my ears and could have been avoided altogether) and some of her moments between her and the father could have been trimmed a bit.

Leading actress, Jordan Phillips, is pretty good, though, and she'd better be since she's in just about every frame of the film. It did seem like a strange and distracting choice to have her in a bra and panties for the entire film, though. I kept wanting her to at least put on some pajamas before she catches cold.

Close Calls is definitely a movie you'll remember even if it's not quite a masterpiece (although, the cinematography is some of the best I've seen in an indie horror film in quite some time).

Perfectly fun little thriller

[taraLanes95 · 7/10 · 2 March 2019]

This low budget entry screamed horror film cliche at first and then as I continued watching I found myself pleasantly surprised. It becomes a smart and rather effective mind game sure some of the scenes could benefit from a larger budget but given what they had this is actually quite good not to mention lead actress Jordan Phipps is a fantastic actress who keeps the whole film moving forward.

A total balls to the wall horror film with a knockout lead performance!

[JasonMcFiggins · 10/10 · 22 March 2019]

Close Calls is loaded with striking visuals and moody lighting. The film is colorful yet muted, surreal and lived in. The film features a slightly grainy, dream like atmosphere. It's a nice technique that blurs what's real, what is possibly imagined, and what is feared. Jordan Phipps is absolutely stunning and has an undeniably strong screen presence. Phipps has a carefree, relaxed attitude that both displays her troubled character and elicits sympathy. A tricky feat for any actress, and Phipps nails it. Close Calls moves like a shark and is an all out awesome Gothic/suburban horror ghost story filled with quirky and outrageous characters, unforeseen plot twists, and a deadly mystery at its center.

Both Interesting and Frustrating

[jamesmorgan-04114 · 6/10 · 29 September 2020]

A gorgeously photographed fever dream of a movie that unfortunately has too many ideas floating around and competing for the spotlight to do any of them justice. You have a teenage "bad girl" forced to stay home and care for her ailing grandmother while her father and wicked stepmother-to-be go out to dinner. She gets really high and things start getting progressively weirder as she receives mysterious phone calls and her grandmother turns into a grotesque monster.

Nothing is ever really explained and the grandmother seems to only be there to give the lead a reason to stay home. She doesn't figure into any of the main action at all and is only really good for a few interesting shot moments of surrealism.

There's some obvious talent in front of and behind the camera, but the script isn't as flawless as the visual elements and it can make Close Calls feel a bit like a chore to sit through during certain moments, but when it comes to life, it can be really interesting. At least the filmmakers were going for something different and it's not another boring slasher movie we've seen a trillion times.

It was good from someone who isn't into inde horror films

[alisonwhitten · 7/10 · 28 February 2019]

I am not a big fan of inde horror films, but I actually thought this was pretty good. A little weird in places and hard to understand, but overall it was good. Greg Fallon did a phenomenal job!

Killer film

[razethestrayn · 9/10 · 20 February 2019]

The cast in this film are amazing. Jordan Phipps slays as Morgan and I'm loving Carmen Patterson as Brynn.

Different but long

[kpiedra-83249 · 6/10 · 7 March 2019]

Very strange horror-esque film. Jordan Phipps is worth the price of admission. Acting was subpar at best and the story and filming was very much like an 80's slasher flick. I'd probably give it a 6.5.

Almost

[kosmasp · 6/10 · 10 February 2021]

Which is what a close call is ... unless it is meant literally ... and is it in this case? There is an argument to be made for that. So right from the start you might have some clever pun on your hands here. But as we all know a clever title does not make a good movie. And while I gave this a 6/10, I'm also know for being too nice when rating (not always mind you).

Having said that, let's also be clear to those expecting certain things here, especially considering the cover I saw. The main actress will not really be seen fully nude. But she will wear next to nothing almost the entire movie. And while I understand what that does hormonally to those affected by this (not naming groups, so no one will feel left out, apply as you see fit), what is really impressive the toughness and strong attitude of the main actress. Maybe it comes easy to her because of her character (in real life I mean, not the one she plays), but showcasing yourself like that for almost two hours is quite the tough thing to do.

But there's that thing with the running time. It is quite too long for its own good. While technically this is well made, I understand if some might get annyoed by our protagonist at some point along the line. It's not like she is a saint either ... Still this is a low budget extravaganza and it is quite the tour you're embarking, if you decide to do so

What a thrill

[qilly · 10/10 · 22 March 2019]

Such a well done film. Suspenseful, creepy, and trippy. Great writing and cinematography. This movie will leave you feeling uneasy in a good way. Jordan Phipps gives a fantastic performance as Morgan. A must watch.