Horror Movie Review: The Call (2020)

Directed by Timothy Woodward Jr. and written by Patrick Stibbs, The Call has plenty to be positive about. Visually arresting, an intriguing story, and some great performances. Yet, the overall product ends up being unmemorable because it is trope heavy and runs out of steam in the final third.

A horror movie that stars both Lin Shaye and Tobin Bell, and has a group of promising young actors like Chester Rushing, Erin Sanders, Sloane Morgan Siegel, and Mike Manning? That’s an instant reason to get excited about The Call. Even more so when it seems like its going to focus on real issues, such as loss and depression, and the damage cruelty to others can cause.

Alas, this is just a small part of The Call’s story and serves only to set up the tired tropes that follow. Standard horror fare that lacks oomph and meaning, even if a game cast try their best to make it scary, even while battling with some iffy dialogue.

Set in the 80s, Lin Shaye plays Edith Cranston, who along with her husband Edward (Tobin Bell) lives a reclusive life in a big house on the edge of town. Having previously run a childcare centre, she has been tormented by the local teens for years, ever since one of her charges disappeared. While no proof that Edith was involved was ever found, it didn’t stop people blaming her and as time has gone by, she is considered a witch.

One such person who blames her is Tonya (Erin Sanders) as it was her sister that went missing. New boy in town, Chris (Chester Rushing) meets her, and is enamoured enough to go along with her and her friends as they go to ‘prank’ Edith.

A prank that inevitably goes wrong, starting a series of events that could see each of them walk away with a huge sum of money, provided they take part in the game created by Edith and Edward.

Yes, Tobin Bell plays a character who creates a game for others to play, one that is basically unwinnable without severe trauma. While it is disappointing to see his character used in such a fashion, he is such a stellar actor that it ends up not mattering. Likewise, Lin Shaye isn’t stretching herself here, but her time on screen results in some of the best moments of the film.

It’s hard to fault any of the cast really, and the story set-up is good. It’s when the game begins that things been to crumble. The premise is over-explained, the characters come across stupid, and the horror elements are surprisingly unimaginative. Which is even more disappointing when contrasted to the dream-like visual style it has.

The horror in this film comes from repressed memories and guilt, portrayed in an exaggerated way as the victims have to face what happened to them and the part they played in it. An idea that is ripe for creativity, but ends up being nothing more than a litany of jump scares and fake outs. Made all the worse by an editing job that makes the specific environments the characters are in, hard to follow.

Putting it simply, The Call builds a ton of atmosphere and dashes it away in favour of the ‘same old’ horror we’ve seen time and time again. Resulting in it being quite unmemorable.