Horror Movie Reviews

More Details... Price: $14.98

Title: A Dead Calling (2006) Starring: Leslie Easterbrook, Sid Haig, Bill Moseley, and Alexandra Holden Director: Michael Feifer Rating: R (Restricted) Runtime: 90 minutes Avg. Score: 3 Submit Comment Hits: 24

Review of A Dead Calling

[ Back to Homepage | Back to Horror Movie Reviews Index ]

HellHorror.com not responsible for reviews/comments and they may be removed at any time.

Submit Comment

Comments for A Dead Calling

• Posted on 2008-02-26
  A Dead Give-away
  
  Is something that this film is not.
  The brief description of this story on the web site makes the actual film sound scarier than the film actually is in reality. This is the first "Horror" film I can happily recommend as being fine for the under five year old market. There is as much gore in this film as there is in an advert for a hamburger chain advert with Ketchup. The supernatural storyline is as powerful as a fairytale edited for a primary school.
  I was SOOOOOO suckered by a brilliant cover on this DVD, a great cast list, and a great story precise.
  
  The Film has some attractive females, some great male actors, no decent Horror FX of any noticeable kind.
  The one redeeming feature of this disc is that the film Commentary is aimed at bunch of wanna-be young film makers, and is basically an advisory on how to do a film whilst running on the budget of the sniff of an oily rag.
  Never have the cast of the DEVILS REJECTS been so opposite ( as far as I am aware) in casting to their skilled scare abilities.
  
  This is a well made film, but really should be saved for a film school text book.
  Full marks for the most deceptive cover I have ever come across in films.
  Score: 2
• Posted on 2007-08-23
  A good tv movie type thriller
  
  But don't expect more. There aren't any real thrills like there could have been, but if you like tv movies, this might be up your alley.
  
  The ending is a little strained like it was a rush job. A few strings were left untied, but it just seems like they forgot to tie them, not like they were hoping for a part 2.
  Score: 3
• Posted on 2007-07-24
  Don't Get Your Hopes Up Too High...
  
  Before I start reviewing this flim, and would like to say that in the past few years, Lionsgate films has made it clear. They will release ANYTHING, no matter who makes a movie, how cheap its made, or who the actors are. Now, you have to kinda commend them for that. They aren't afraid to give new directors, actors, and screenwriters a chance in the movie industry. And they have hit pay-dirt a few times, with movies like House of 1,000 Corpses, Devil's Reject's, Saw, Descent, and High Tension. But for the most part, most of these kinds of movies Lionsgate comes out with, are in a word, horrible. But when I first saw this movie at my local video rental store, I was immediately intrigued by the actors in it, Bill Moseley and Sid Haig. I'm a big fan of the 2 and thought this one might have a chance to be a good movie. During the opening credits, I was pleasantly surprised to see Leslie Easterbrook's name, you may remember her from The Devil's Rejects as Mother FireFly. So, here you've got three actors from the great Devil's Rejects movie, reunited. With all this said, maybe I was expecting too much from this movie, cause ultimately, I was a bit disappointed. I would like to say that this movie had good potential, though. The main plot to the story is decent. (I'll spare explaining it to you, you can read the Synopsis) But there are a few plot holes in it, and there really isn't any surprises in it. You can usually see what's coming a mile away. Another problem seems to be the pacing. The film is only around 90 minutes, but it seems much longer. There are many "dead spots" in the film, where it just boggs down and goes no where. I also gotta say the ending is kinda lame. You think that its not over and you've left expecting something to happen, but it doesn't. You're left saying "That's it? That's all it took?", you'll know what I mean if you watch, cause I don't won't to give away the ending if you haven't seen it yet. Finally, and a bit surprising, I was a little disappointed with the acting. Maybe it was because I was hoping that Haig and/or Moseley would be the "bad guys" in the film, but seeing them both playing good, decent, moral characters is a bit odd! So, for those of you expecting to see those 2 reprise their roles in the 2 Rob Zombie films in any way in this film, you can forget it. The lead actress, Alexandra Holden, gives an ok performance, but not anything to scream about. In a nutshell, I would compare this movie to a song demo that artists do in the studio. Musicians come in with a rough cut of most songs, and craft and polish them in the studio until they are good enough to go on a record. This is the way I feel about this film. The basic idea is there, and its pretty good one. But this film should have been given a bigger budget, had a couple of re-writes done to the screenplay and script, substituted a couple of better actors in the mix, and then released. Overall, this movie is worth watching at least once, but its nothing fantastic, so don't expect too much, even though its got some good actors in it.
  Score: 2
• Posted on 2007-02-14
  The more you think the worse it looks
  
  Immediately after watching this film I was inclined to give it 3 stars because it didn't seem that bad, but I thought about it over night and the more I thought about the plot, the more holes I came up with. The twist on the plot was pretty obvious. Even the twist on the twist was pretty obvious. As for the interactions with Rachel and the ghosts... Paleeezzzee. That was just silly. And the reporter from the local paper. He was obviously thrown in just to fill time and make the film approach 90 minutes. My biggest problem with many of these 'B' slasher/ghost stories or whatever they are classified as would be: "Would a person in real life really do the things these people do?" No, only in movie land would otherwise intelligent people do stupid things that just invite trouble. Kind of like wearing a T-shirt saying, 'Hey, victim here'. The bad guy was pretty lame as far as bad guys go and the police were so incompetent that they could not work for Roscoe P. Coltrane in Hazard County. Really, as I write this I am tempted to reduce my rating to 1 star, but you gotta love Sid Haig playing a loving father. It would have been nice had this movie actually ended with us knowing what hapened to Sid's wife and the aftermath of Sid's meeting with Frank. We know the results of the meeting, but Rachel just seems to have forgotten her family that loved her and that she loved to return to New York and move on without giving them another thought...Totally out of character. And then there was the schlep that ran the Fillmore TV station. I guess he was the hero, or the heroine's love interest who, and I may be wrong about this, left his job as station manager to go to New York to...I don't know what. Watch his honey do shallow news reports. I guess this film is okay to watch but rent it at best. Don't buy it. I doubt if you will ever watch it again. In conclusion. Alexandra Holden. Very cute, but she mailed this one in.
  Score: 2
• Posted on 2007-02-03
  A Psychological Slasher Ghost Story
  
  It's always fun when directors and writers mix genres. Mixing several tried and true horror themes (Slasher/Thriller/Ghost), A Dead Calling slowly unveils a woman's twisted past, which is coming back to claim her present.
  
  The movie doesn't start off slow, though. Within the first five minutes the first murder has occurred, and you rarely go through 15 minutes of film without another slaying. Needless to say, by the end there is quite a body count. In the background of all this gore there are victims not quite ready to die, a house riddled with secrets, and a town conspiring to keep it all hidden. Plowing through all this is the job of Rebecca, a young investigative reporter.
  
  There are many positives about the movie, not the least of which is getting to watch Sid Haig play a supportive and loving father, a departure in many ways from the character he played in House of 1000 Corpses and Devil's Rejects (of course, he was a different kind of loving father in those movies, I suppose). My only complaint is in a few ways this movie feels a bit unfinished at the end. I guess I was exspecting a final monster to pop out of the closet, so to speak.
  
  All and all, this is a wonderful DVD, with a Hitchcock feel to the storyline. It would be a pleasing addition to a horror film library.
  
  Recommended.
  
  Score: 4