Review of The Call (2013) by Hoops2448 — 01 Sep 2013

Despite a haircut that makes it look like some kind of small animal died on her head, Halle Berry is excellent in The Call, a tense thriller that was a genuine surprise, a smartly written and performed film.

When Jordan (Berry) is responsible for the death of a young girl, she quits work as an emergency call operator but when another girl, Casey (Abigail Breslin) is taken she finds herself back in the chair trying to save her from her captor.

The Call is a pulse pounding film as it playfully subverts horror conventions to create a thriller so tense that you may well feel your heart beating in your chest. Grounded by an excellent performance by Berry as the good natured but self conscious Jordan, everything in the film feels real adding a new level to the action as Breslin's Casey gets closer to her destination and her expected demise.

The usual diversions are to be expected and an odd and slightly pointless cameo by Michael Imperioli slows the film down but all in all its a film with an interesting premise, two great central performances and an ability to play with the viewers head.

The only real downside is the film's villain, he lacks the charisma of other horror villains and while the tension and terror is real, the ending is written on the walls from the beginning and it takes the adventure out of an otherwise great film.

It's not a bad film, it's fun, clever and creepy but it doesn't really push boundaries in its conclusion so much as nudge them, hoping they will fall over on their own.