A Dead Calling (2006)

Wednesday, 19 November 2008 00:00

Reviewed by Carol Sullivan

ZERO

Genre: Horror
Released: 12 December 2006
Rating: Unrated

Director: Michael Feifer
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Now folks, I have no one to blame but myself and I am embarrassed to admit that I briefly owned this movie... Yes, I'm guilty of buying A Dead Calling from the 5-For-$20 bin at Blockbuster. Needless to say, the movie is now waiting patiently in the trash bin for Friday's pick-up....

The movie begins as news reporter, Rachel (Alexandra Holden) has moved back into her parent's home after her fiance's murder in New York. Trying to re-adjust to small town living, she gets a job at the local news station.

Given her first investigative assignment, the perky blonde heads out to explore the town's old homes and write about their owners and their histories. Stopping first at the impressive Sullivan mansion, she finds it abandoned and gated-off, but she is undeterred. Breaking into the mansion, Rachel is exploring the many rooms when she begins to have visions of the home's deadly past.

She thinks her visions of murder are only hallucinations, fueled by her grief over the loss of her beau. With the help of her new boss, Rachel will discover that the Sullivan mansion has reached out for her -- and her past holds the secret.

Now, this premise sounds promising, does it not? Well, let me assure you that this film is a just a disaster on every level, right from the opening scene. The acting is so bad and so overdone and with each scene being lit up like a surgical-room, the movie comes across as painfully amateur and low budget; so much so that I felt that I wouldn't be able to finish it at times.

I also caught some really big bloopers in the film and even the synopsis on the DVD cover gives away the "surprise" ending. At the movie's climax, Rachel discovers that she is actually Elizabeth Sullivan; the only survivor of the terrible massacre at the mansion -- but on the DVD cover, the synopsis refers to her character as Elizabeth in the first sentence.

While I struggled through this movie, I had to resist the urge to take my own life, folks. Usually, I can find something redeeming in a film, but A Dead Calling just possesses no good qualities to recommend itself.

I must advise viewers to avoid this flick at all costs...

Overall Rating: ZERO

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Last Updated ( Friday, 27 March 2009 15:29 )