20140315: Horror Review--A Dead Calling

A Dead Calling

1. Fundamentals, reception.
1. American live action feature length film, 2006, video, 90 minutes, horror.
2. IMDB: 3.3/10.0 from 486 audience ratings. Estimated budget, 1.5 million USD.
3. Rotten Tomatoes: 'No score yet,' and 24% liked it from 371 audience ratings.
4. Netflix: 3.0/5.0 from 80,389 audience ratings.
5. Written, produced, and directed by: Michael Feifer.
6. Starring: Alexandra Holden as Rachel Beckwith, John Burke as Stephen Javitz, Sid Haig as George, Shawn Hoffman as Brian, Leslie Easterbrook as Marge, Bill Moseley as Chief Murken, Micah Costanza as Deputy Murken, Mike Korich as Arnie Howard.


2. Setup and Plot
1. 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.


2. 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.


3. 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.


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


5. 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?


3. Conclusions
1. One line summary: Ghosts, revenge, confused parentage, murder, obsession, but no scares.
2. One star of five


4. Scores
1. Cinematography: 6/10 Camera shake.  Stupid camera angles. 


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


3. 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.


4. 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.