So I was "inspired" to write a review of the movie "Calls". I didn’t watch the first parts of Calls, so I’ll look at it as a separate movie. With God! Let's start with the plot. I wonder why it was necessary to introduce “pink snot” into a horror film? To attract a female audience or something? I don't know. Why did you introduce a couple of main characters? If Holt alone was picking up on his problems, or if Julia was the one who got into this problem, everything would be clear. And so... Did they put them together for pink snot? As a result, Holt, who got involved in this, turns into Julia's henchman, who separately carries almost no load. According to the script, Holt is not the main character, but absolutely secondary. Here it was written that Alex Rowe ran from the fitness club, plays himself, poses in front of the camera in all ways, etc. Well, if his character has absolutely no load in the film, but it has a shitty cloud of screen time, then what else to do but pose. Holt is really faceless and not memorable character, but this, in my opinion, is the fault of the writer first and only then the actor. Alex Rowe has disgraced himself as an actor just by appearing in films like The Fifth Wave and The Rings. Alex's partner, Matilda Ingrid Luts. Things are even worse here. It's just nothing, no tin, wood and glass. The whole film goes absolutely emotionless and breathes like an asthmatic or allergic. As an actress, she's no good. In general, the actors worked on three, script and directing on three. Overall score 3 out of 10.
During the quarantine, I watched this movie for the first time. Then it caused me mixed feelings. After a while, I decided to watch the movie again. And to be honest, I expected more, since nothing remained of the idea of the previous parts. Let’s talk today about the film by F. Javier Gutierrez “Calls”.
We will evaluate by such criteria as plot, acting, soundtrack and atmosphere.
Plot: More years have passed since recent events. Everyone forgot about the deadly tape, but suddenly, again in Seattle, 3 circles of mass madness broke out around this horror story. There is nothing more to say about the plot. You know, the previous parts always had an interesting and intriguing storyline in which the elements of a detective thriller felt just incredible. And they were made worthy representatives of these genres. There is nothing left of this storyline. There is some investigation, there is some suspense, but even if you look at it, without comparing it with the previous parts, even for an independent film product everything is very weak. That famous cassette has always enveloped itself with a curtain of secrets, the study of which in stages, caused incredible interest. Here, this tape is not something that was removed, but simply changed to some new, completely different record. The logical chain between the scenes is lost. The film began to jump from one moment to the next, without any smooth transition. What was not in the previous parts, they always felt like a whole story. Apart from the above, I honestly didn’t understand how the director was able to direct a sequel if the story was already complete. In the film there is no explanation at all how this ghost escaped again, just put before the fact. It's a huge story hole. Next, there was a bunch of clichés, namely the “verbal diarrhea” of the main villain at the most critical moment or “Switching off the brain, logic” at the most critical moments of the main character and so on. The ending is yes, not typical. But it’s the case that it’s better to make it typical, because it devalues the already very weak plot by saying, “What you’ve been watching before doesn’t make sense, you’ve wasted your time because you should have watched the ending right away.” This is a very bad idea.
Actors: The actors were more pleased. I wouldn’t say they played straight at the highest level, but I can’t say anything bad. Unless, in general, the development of the hero disappeared, that is, you do not feel the character, the personality in him. Why you can't sympathize with the hero either, even though there is a genre of drama here. Not even the main characters are registered here, I am silent about the background. Matilda Anna Ingrid Luts, who played the role of Julia, is the main character of the film, but what made her not far-sighted is simply incredible. You know what happened, every newspaper says it, but you do the opposite. It is just not even necessary to comment. There are also claims to other heroes, but less than to the main character. I liked Alex Rowe as Holt and Vincent D’Onofrio as a retired priest. In total, this criterion upset me very much, since this franchise has always been famous for good prescribing, at least the main characters, and here the first plan is empty and the second plan is empty.
Soundtrack: The musical accompaniment of the film is different too. Noir, atmospheric music from the previous parts was replaced by such a fast one, in which events just happen with incredible speed, and there is no noir, no atmosphere. You just watch a typical horror movie that is no different from its kind. This is also a negative indicator.
Atmosphere: It feels like the director had to change everything at the last minute, cut it, cut it, cut it and so on. There is no structure in the film, everything happens too quickly. Yeah, there's no detective genre here anymore. Why did he have to be removed? Because this detective component created such a mysterious and unusual atmosphere around the film, and now there is nothing left of it. Things change that you can't even blink. While you think of this moment, suddenly there is a completely different, unrelated to this. And it all hits the atmosphere a lot because you don't get into the movie. Horror without atmosphere is a thrash, as you know. “Calls” I will not call, but it is a very weak horror movie, which just looks like some Frankenstein, who for some reason “revived”, realizing that it will not end well. Unfortunately, this criterion is also very bad.
So I didn’t like the horror movie Calls. I still have a lot of questions after watching. Like, how did that tape ever come back to Seattle? How was this ghost released again? These are just a few of the questions, there are many more. Call 2 was a good ending to the legend, so why should it be reanimated? Especially after so many years, when no one uses tapes. If we did a remake, well, I have nothing against remakes, but why did we have to do a sequel when the story was already well completed? Because of this film, the remake of Friday the 13th of my favorite horror franchise was canceled, was it worth it? Knowing that it is all, the story is already complete and there is no point in making a sequel. Don't know. "Calls" - is a film empty with places good acting, a couple of interesting moments, but empty, I repeat. This movie simply devalues the legend, since from that mysterious, detective, truly terrible without analogues of the film there was only the title, the main protagonist and appearance of the cassette, even the record that did not remain. Sad, very sad. Do I recommend watching? No, I don't recommend it. “Calls” even as a separate representative of their genre is very weak, but as a continuation of garbage. I hope my review was helpful. Thank you very much.
The dilogy of Gore Verbinski and Hideo Nakata may not have been the most perfect, but the two films were interesting, they didn’t have many scary moments, but the atmosphere of heaviness and darkness was fearful. Viewers paired with the main character performed by Naomi Watts had to reveal the terrible secrets of the past and seemingly at the end of the sequel we saw that Samara Morgan should remain history, but for the producers it did not matter. They decided to release a third film, “Calls”, but it was completely weak.
The new story takes place many years after Rachel and her son Aidan ran into Samara, but they are now forgotten. A certain professor Gabriel decides to investigate the myth of the cursed videotape and begins to seriously engage in research, organizing a whole department in order to publish a scientific work and thereby become famous all over the world. But still, the film tells not about Gabriel, but about Julia, who rushes to the aid of her boyfriend Holt, who watched the same tape.
The children will have to go back to the origins of the legend of Samara and learn what we were not told in the first two parts. Gradually they are getting closer to finding out everything, but you look and realize that all this could be much more interesting than presented.
The idea of showing the hidden parts of Samara’s biography is interesting, because in the first two films we were shown a lot, but not all. And this caused small, but questions that can torment the imagination of the audience. In "Calls" almost everything secret becomes clear, but it seems that not everything is executed in such a way as to satisfy our interest. Besides, ignoring Rachel's investigation and the revelations she's been exposed to are missing, which is not a good thing.
Actors this time picked up quite expressionless, they are not even close to Naomi Watts. It was nice to see Vincent D’Onofrio, but he didn’t critically save the situation. There's not much to say about everyone else. The story has become a youth mystical slasher and nothing more.
“Calls” appeared at the box office so that the producers could break another jackpot on the popular story, but in general this film was not necessary. Without it you can safely do and I do not think that if you like the first two parts, then the third must be watched.
5 out of 10
2016. The team for the creation of reliably comfortable courteously superior films (CPSNKUPF) enlists the support of the PG-13 rating and a whole team of talented screenwriters. And a deadly pun is born.
Please forgive me for this ridiculous pun. (I’m not apologizing for the movie, I’m talking about a joke.) )
As for this work - 'Calls' can not even be called a ridiculous joke. There are times when a movie is so bad that you get some kind of perverse pleasure from watching it. Like the films of Alexander Kuritsyn (Nevsky). You don’t need to be a full-time jay horror expert to understand where the franchise’s legs grow. Urban legends, a tribute to ancestors and myths. Sincere belief in ghosts and dead undead souls.
Well, where do we start? Firstly, this is absolutely not a jay horror and not even a sequel, and does not require the entire franchise of sensational remakes and sequels. This is some attempt to restart in a modern way, obviously failed. Short-sighted ' creators' this monster tried to play with the genre of thriller, not even close to realizing how far their skills are from this genre. There is not a single scene so brightly disgraced that could now be cited as an example for an eloquent line. There are no such scenes. The whole movie is faded and monotonous. You know, Steven Dorff had a failed film 'Fear.com' also playing on the notes of Asian horror. So, with a generally recognized failure, the picture had minimal charm. Moreover, 'Fear.com' really at least a little like a thriller and a detective.
A series of incomprehensible dialogues in ' Calls' in the spirit ' need to transfer the video, what to do? I'll decide. Moving on. Don't come here & #39; - there is absolutely no memorable line.
Suspense is trying to keep on homegrown plot twists and turns not even beaten, but absolutely ineptly written script. Is that what the writers did?
Well, to sum up, it's not Jay Horror. This is a completely failed thriller.
The second nuance - the picture is not frightening. Of course, a lot of water has leaked and the times of the best Japanese horror and remakes shot by the same directors have passed. But this ridiculous attempt with a bias in the thriller does not pass any tests. This is an absurd, completely devoid of taste cinema, where the means of expression are slightly less than nothing.
Absolute miss cast for almost all actors. An inexpressive wretched script that dooms the film to failure from the point of writing this brainchild. Banal finale in the spirit of all previous remakes of Japanese horror (and, it would seem, here is where to walk).
The third, final nuance is an attempt to bring scale to the horror film, where each time the victim was doomed to meet his fate (death, Tamara) one on one. And that desperate, unswerving death that followed you was terrifying. Now the antagonist loses all opportunity to scare. Tamara (or who is there?... her mother?) pulls her paws to as many people as possible. The recording goes online. Who wants that? Who wants that scale? How do you actually implement such material? The creators of this masterpiece clearly did not think about the level of their talent, because it is clearly difficult to pull such a thing, if at all possible.
Just imagine a leather face in a modern metropolis. In 2013, the film ' Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D' was released. For three or four years before that, there were rumors and even promises that the maniac would appear in the entourage of the metropolis. Should I tell you that the exterior of the picture is limited to a large mansion and adjacent territory? However, the film did not save it.
Desperate greed to create something outstanding and original destroys naive creators who are completely unaware that they simply do not know how to shoot a movie.
As a result: It's not a parody, it's not a sequel, it's not a replay, it's not a spin-off. This is a ridiculous attempt to create an original creation of the universe ' Call', seasoned with brutally exorbitant appetites of either the studio or the film crew. Another confirmation of shortsightedness and illegibility in the genre of the studio that approved this scenario.
P.S. It was after the box office failure ' Calls' the viewer will not see (perhaps never) the sequel to the restart ' Friday the 13th' Most likely, in a certain number of years, there will be another rebuke. And good.
There are franchises that are initially not in a very advantageous position, there are genres for which it is very difficult to create a high-quality franchise, and there is a Call - when the dilogy is interesting and a genre for franchises, and especially for some full-fledged universes, very difficult. Horror, in modern realities, this is not an easy matter, here it is necessary to skillfully present history, scare, so it is also desirable to bring everything to a logical end. I will not mention previous films, where everything was more than logical, clear, interesting and tense, after all, we are here to talk about one film.
And here Calls - this is the case when the director and his whole team takes and turns a great dilogy into some Spanish-horror, and the fear here is not from Samara, but from how disgusting everything is.
Since the beginning of the film, where we are given some seed. Hop, we introduced two characters, then hop, new characters, because we want to, and then we will return to the other two, too, because we want to. About the first two, I'm talking about the girl Skye and Professor John Gallecky, they don't tell us anything at the beginning, they don't know anything about each other, they just slept together and ALL! Here are the characters! Do what you want with them, and then we will tell you everything. The main character, whose name you do not even want to remember, is more like a stone, which sometimes emits moisture and squeezes out a smile. It is not interesting to watch, it is not interesting to listen to it and it is absolutely stupid, like, in fact, a stone. Although cleverness is clearly not for the characters of the film. There are several moments inside the film, where I, as a viewer, was clear, in these rafts of twists there is no mystery, unless, of course, to expect that the film will watch a child. The guy of the main character, exactly the same stone, but who at least does not appear so often. He is just as dumb throughout the film, when the main character begins to see hallucinations, then he reacts, of course, as befits in cheap horror, at the last minute and every time he understands nothing. Well, there is such a thing when a person (character) is stupid, well, he cannot remember that if a girl again screams or falls out of consciousness, then she has another vision, well, not given to the hero of this. There are still a few minor characters who are not clear why at all, they are there just to fill the space.
And so it seems that $25 million means, well, if not the quality of the script, not the quality of the acting, then at least elementary technical quality.
But here too, I'm sorry, you were wrong. The director mounts two absolutely different scenes in light, color and mood. Color correction is a failure of this film. The transitions between the scenes are made solely for the sake of dynamics, not to make a logical transition, but to make it look dynamic. And yet, there is no true cinematic dynamic, where two scenes are mounted in a junction and you only have time to switch attention, here - it's something like, now someone fell, and now we show you how someone breaks glass, again, because the author so wanted. We are not interested in watching a running character INCREDIBLE where, we want to see events, actions at least something that makes sense for what is happening.
There are some absolutely illogical frames, illogical composition of frames. There are too many disadvantages in this film to talk about each, so I will say briefly: There is an opportunity not to watch - never watch!
It is symbolic that today, when I decided to write a review of the final part of the trilogy under the American aegis ' Calls', an extensive and very informative article about the creation of the franchise ' Call', which originated in Japan, giving rise to the so-called genre of J-horror (that is, a Japanese horror film). By the way, ' Calls' for some time were in the leaders of box office, which resulted in $83 million as a result of box office fees, despite the fact that production costs amounted to 25 million. However, many were disappointed with what they saw in ' Calls' although I do not consider myself to be such, but more on this.
We must immediately warn fans of the cult franchise that ' Calls' have special differences from the characteristic and familiar pictures of the epic about a demon girl who kills those who watch a viral videotape. First, unlike the previous two parts, it will be missing the heroine Naomi Watts and her son, around whom the plot was built before. In ' Calls' it takes place more than a decade after the end of the second film, the main characters will be Julia (the full name of actress Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz, born in Italy, but it is customary and abbreviated to refer to her as Matilda Lutz) and her boyfriend Holt (Alex Rowe). And since these actors are quite young, it should be understood that ' Calls' for the most part will be just like a youth horror movie.
But in addition to these two characters, it is necessary to name two guest stars. The first of them is Johnny Galecki, best known for the comedy series 'The Big Bang Theory'. That’s just with his hero and his hobbies with the urban legend pro & #39; video tape, which kills & #39; and the misadventures of the main characters begin. And the second guest star is Vincent D'Onofrio. Quite a recognizable actor, often playing in various kinds of movies, but more often in secondary roles, probably the most famous of them is the role of Beetle from the first part of the fantastic saga & #39; Men in Black'. Vincent D’Onofrio plays in ' Calls' the role of a blind priest and he is assigned a rather unusual and difficult to guess role in the whole story with ' Calls' but I managed to unravel the presence of his figure in the plot.
Immediately it is also worth preparing for what is a horror film in its standard version ' Calls' should not be called. Rather, the genre of the film is a mystical thriller. Julia and Holt will have to deal with the mysterious past of Samara (the most terrible girl-demon) and, I must say, the secret of her birth is quite terrible and causes a genuine sense of anger and disgust for any act caused by manic madness from sexual lust (here I did not wrap, but to write more simply, the spoiler may inadvertently seem to someone). So, if you are preparing to tickle your nerves from the rush of adrenaline from the tense atmosphere of a horror film, then I hasten to upset you: there will be a little frightening moments (which, of course, fans of the franchise did not like and this resulted in an average low score for the film on the PC).
But I personally did not approach the viewing with special requirements for ' Calls', so I was not disappointed. I really liked it (yes, yes!). I did not feel any displeasure from the minimization of scenes with horror elements, did not exasperate the acting, even young and inexperienced performers did their job quite well, and the plot was quite interesting. This is probably because I like thrillers, where the shadows of the past are scary and terrible. And another reason for the normal attitude to ' Calls' was its similarity with the genre identical film ' Gothic' with Halle Berry in the title role. And when, as I thought, I figured out the main antagonist, because of which the demon appeared, it was very curious to find out whether I was right and whether I have some detective streak.
In general, as for me, it is ' Calls' quite deserve to be viewed at least once. Even if they do not reach the level of their predecessors, let someone compare them with low-grade analogues of the genre in the type of direct-to-video, but I took ' Calls' as a mystical thriller/detective and was satisfied with them, so the assessment is as follows:
7 out of 10
'Samara returns'- read the distributors. Fans, intrigued by the name and missed the girl from the well, and just horror, ran to fill the halls with their curiosity.
They were in vain, I tell you.
The beginning is perhaps promising: the legend is immersed immediately without pity. Before the first appearance of Samara - quite spectacular by the way - everything seems even good: nice actors, including Galecki (Leonard from ' The Big Bang Theory'), some hint of twisting the plot, even a semblance of a soundtrack there. But then everything with a wild hum falls into a metaphorical plot pit and begins to specifically tow in place. There is a feeling that the creators understand this, but they can not stop, because the mechanism is running and something needs to be provided to the producers.
And the stupor of the film reaches such absurdity that Samara is presented in the image of some helpless ghost and, as it were, a kind of maniac, a maniac priest is connected to help the narrative itself.
A blind maniac priest.
Moreover, the writer’s fantasy could not portray anything original, so I decided to procetate the very blind maniac warrior from last year’s extremely successful thriller & #39; Don’t Breathe'. Well, how to spot: specifically lick. And a few minutes before the finale of the picture, the same creators suddenly remember that the film is something else, and add another appearance of Samara. Two. Therefore, the genre ' Horror' of this film is greatly exaggerated. I say this to you, which is more fearful to look for.
Watch the movie correctly.
Hello, it bothers you from Reader's Digest magazine.
Can I get Cody on the phone? No, no, you're that scary girl from the well!
Okay, I figured out...
(One of the parts of "A very scary movie", I don't remember, the third or fourth)
Calls
I watched this whole bacchanalia a few seconds ago. Nightmare! I could not believe that modern filmmakers are capable of such a thing, but they really brought this dwarf back from the well.
2017 is in the yard, and she all gets out of the well and gets out. I decided to call Nakata about that. Mr. Nakata, you're concerned about Zombion. He immediately began to answer me with a nervous voice, I am not guilty, these are all talentless filmmakers, do not call me again.
In other words, Nakata himself sent the whole thing into the well. Dad! Yeah, for the poor. And what you need to be Vasya Carrot to agree to remove such, I am waving my hands. Gutierrez agreed and signed a death sentence.
In the end, he tried to somehow stir everything up, add new details (of Samara’s parents), but there was little use for this. The movie is pale, the movie is boring (maximum, guys), the movie is stupidly not terrible. Samara appears for a few minutes.
Why did I start watching when I knew beforehand? Let me explain, I wanted to see Onofrio. The old man has gone to great lengths. Putting your hand on your heart is the best thing about this movie. The only character I remember.
Everyone else is nothing. Naomi used to be, and now there's no one at all, some girls and boys running from this tape. God, seven days, throw all the phones out of the house, read the books.
There is another option for this girl from the well – humor. A year ago, I wrote a positive review of the film where she fought Kayako. Because the treshak was fierce, I laughed every ten minutes. Funny movie, honestly.
Gutierrez is pressing his seriousness. You're late, comrade. Fifteen years ago, this whole thing could have rolled, not now. Don't touch Nakata, please. He had a lot of delusions, but he is still a veteran.
P.S.
And you've noticed that there's already experimentation with this tape. There are simply no ideas, either making remakes or raping a dead franchise. I hate you - modern cinematography.
3.5 out of 10
I’ve had my eye on this movie for a long time, but the reviews and general assessment scared me off a bit and it took me a year. No, the score hasn't changed since then, and my trust in the appraisers hasn't changed either. But curiosity in its purest form made me sit down to watch this 'horror'. Why in quotation marks? Yes, because from horror there are only old video footage of the deadly cassette and the same beauty Samara, destroying with her whitish look.
But the very idea of continuing the acclaimed Call was extremely entertaining for me, because the memories of the night when I was 18, and I dare to watch the American Call (after which I irrevocably fall in love with Naomi Watts), will forever move my hair on my head with sticky horror. The first (American) film struck me with its atmosphere of constant fear (when time is running out and nervousness increases with each minute). And I was expecting a similar effect from a second Call with the same Naomi. I don’t even remember the story!
And then a third comes out. And even with the new actress Matilda Anna Ingrid Luts (what is this, Hosspadi). The trailer did not specifically watch, because all the juice in such low-rated films manage to show in the trailer, and the sense of predictability does not leave you.
Again, my habit of focusing on small things led me to an above-average rating:
1. Musical accompaniment at height. The same melody, the same terrible oppressive sounds from the killing video, all this made it possible to perceive, albeit partially, this film as a direct continuation of the first two parts.
2. Plot. Was he the one who didn't scream after the movie #39? Where are you afraid?' The plot is really interesting, not too wise, but logical and understandable. Heroes generally behave appropriately, although the whole story with tapes and well girls in itself is not very adequate.
3. That's it. I couldn't think of anything else. But the first two points are enough to brighten up your evening with a good thriller.
Don’t be afraid to watch this movie, nobody called me.
Franchise about insatiable to human souls maiden - ghost never reached such cult series of horrors as ' Friday the 13th', ' Nightmare on Elm Street' or ' Texas Chainsaw Massacre'. And, relatively recent 'Astrals' and 'Spells' clearly more successful and popular (at least in terms of making money). But she has enough fans, associates and just those who are ready to drag coins to the box office, in fact, not to see anything new. In addition, the American & #39; Call & #39; is a remake. In America, they like to remake other people's stories in their own way. It’s not always bad, but it’s not always good.
With the new 'Calls', which was entrusted to a little-known Spaniard, what you would expect happened. The film lost in the atmosphere and finally changed the genre direction. On the other hand, it is not entirely the fault of the director – a beginner, but also the studios, whose goal is to make the franchise more youthful and pop in the pursuit of profit. We wanted the best, but it turned out as usual. Yes, ' Calls' - this is not a horror, how bad - poor, but still there were previous American versions, and a detective story for schoolgirls and students. Whether it’s bad or not depends on where to look at the new film about Samara.
The film has a very cool idea for the seed, from which you should start, build a storyline on it and end the story in the spirit of the ancient Greek myth, which so greedily discusses a couple in bed. This is a myth about Orpheus and Eurydice (for those who are interested, read it and see what I mean). If the writers beat him on the screen with young characters 'Zvonkov' it would probably be cool and creative. But, alas, that didn't happen. Or rather, not in the way I would like. After all, why should guys always rip their ass off and save girls, why not do the opposite? Not sexism, but justice. Here in 'Calls', the main focus and motivation of the plot is caring for your loved one, not saving your own skin.
The film is completely given to the power of the detective genre and only at the last couple, at some point, brazenly and not very inventively begins to copy 'Do not breathe' Federico Alvarez. In general, with a frightening function, everything is bad here, but even without it, the story itself ' Zvonkov' already and in principle does not hold at the screen. The picture is just boring to watch. Although, pretty Matilda Anna Ingrid Luts, who in certain angles suspiciously resembles Shailene Woodley, in general, looks good in the assigned role. I also remember Vincent D’Onofrio. Rather because with charismatic male actors in ' Calls' very tight, not because of exemplary acting. However, some moments are filmed professionally and diligently, they only lack tension and danger. After all, even in the most terrible episodes according to the director’s plan, the viewer is unlikely to be able to really be afraid and experience strong impressions from the scene. The appearance of a ghost here is only a couple and those, for the sake of justice, are beaten without light and taste. The green image still tries to remind you of old movies, but that’s not enough. And yet, the most juicy scenes are shot in pitch darkness, where it is difficult to make out anything. However, in defense of the film, we can say that it has changed and adapted to the modern market. On the one hand, all this now does not scare anyone. On the other hand, teenagers may have more than they are given 'Calls' and don't need to. Is there a love line? Got it. The main characters fall under the criteria of modern youth? Quite. And even the good old video here is forced to dust on the shelf, and preference is given to the flash drive and smartphone. Other times have come, the world has become more technologically advanced and more tied to the Internet and gadgets.
In general, ' Calls' is an ordinary, passing, youth detective who lazily tries to impersonate a horror movie. It will be difficult to scare even teenagers with such a film. There is not a single dashing scene in it that can chill the blood and make you afraid, which means that the direct function of horror has finally failed. But even if you focus on him as a detective, then all the same to the writers and director there are quite justified claims on the quality of implementation. Essentially, ' Calls' illustrate the sad fact that a crisis of ideas and a lack of imagination can bury any franchise. And over the years, which is the scariest thing, this disease can befall any series of films. You can recommend this movie only to teenagers (especially girls), or the category of viewers, which is very easy to impress. In principle, the new part of the franchise can easily pass for a separate film in isolation from the series, even if you have not seen the previous ones. But still, it is too faded, boring and inconspicuous Movie, which exhales already in the first half. No terrible horror, no intriguing detective, no strong thriller, you will not see here.
4 out of 10
Probably, in the world of movie lovers there is not a single person who would not consider the original Call a classic of the genre of horror films. To this day, almost no one has managed to beat this rather old horror movie. In recent years, the main secret of good films have been remakes. Do you want to make a good movie? Do what you've done. What happened was what happened.
Overall, I wouldn’t say the movie is bad. If he had nothing to do with the Call, I might even praise him. But since this film is to some extent a continuation of the Call, you expect from it at least the same level. In the end, we have a very average horror. Not even a horror movie, but a detective, since there are absolutely no frightening moments in it. And this, by the way, is very surprising, because the image of Samara itself is one of the most frightening in the field of horror.
Let's talk about the plot. It was very, very strange in terms of logistics. As far as I remember, the story of Samara was told in its entirety. In the same film, not only new details appear, but also contradict the original. Is this a sequel to the movie or a new movie? If it's a continuation, why don't the stories fit together? If the film is new, why is it the same? That’s one of the biggest questions I’ve asked myself throughout the film. The tape has nothing to do with what is happening to Samara. What's the point here?
I also agree with almost all commentators who were unhappy with the acting of the main characters. The love couple is completely faceless. Johnny Galecki still can not get out of the image of Leonard from the Big Bang Theory, and even in horror appears as a crown in his image.
In the end, we get an average horror movie that wanted to go at the expense of its incredibly successful predecessor. And that was a mistake.
Briefly about the film - the nonsense of a siva mare. Incompetent actors, dialogue and absurdity, waiting with wild screams at every corner, truly frighten and will not leave anyone indifferent.
People in the world of this movie have a non-standard mindset, completely different from ours. It can be described endlessly, because the entire film is built on rudimentary junk.
The characters of this work are so ... stupid that if you ask any passer-by from the street about something hidden ... terrible ... he will tell you everything with a slight reluctance, but with a bit of mercy on your heart!
In principle, it was impossible to talk about any logic since the time of the classic version of “The Call” in 2002, but you know, in the original such trifles as the oversight of the tape (and, as a result, the inaction of the curse) or the absence of a phone in the house – not much striking. After all, the film captured all the audience’s attention and there was no time to look for flaws. If we were looking for them, we did it after seeing them. But “Calls” of 2017 are flaws in a sterile form, and you can only distract from them yourself.
The spirit of the comedian caught me while watching. The film is so dull and about nothing that to the replicas of the characters involuntarily begins to come up with harmonious statements and answers to each other, in a humorous style. You see, comrades, the film is so poor that when you watch it, you begin to unwittingly make a comedy out of it! I don’t know how to describe this phenomenon, the average viewer would probably fall asleep, and I was really eager to make a parody, the film has a huge potential in this.
Hulture everywhere. So much so that you start moving from macro to molecular. The interest from viewing begins to consist in the fact that the viewer begins to dig into the details. There's shackles lying too straight. Here the months on the wall of chalk painted tyap-gap - also a hulk (after all, the prisoner would probably have a coarser, straighter and winding).
I can now begin to pour out all my discontent in the smallest detail, but these details will be for an hour and a half of timing.
In general, the film is about the complexity of choice, about its unpredictability, about love, devotion and understanding. This is all just taken, crammed in as, and it seems that there is already some sense, motivation to watch, so to speak.
Don't watch this movie. Samara Morgan's curious victims, too, were watching the tape out of curiosity. We knew we didn’t have to, but we looked. And we paid. Do not repeat their mistakes.
I apologize for the unusual format of the review, because this is my feeling.
5 out of 10
For an intriguing trailer and selective stupidity in the parallel universe of "Rings."
The legendary American remake of the film “The Call” (2002), from which I had nightmares at night as a child, even now it is quite possible to watch – this is a very cool detective with an interesting plot and good actors. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen any other movies from this franchise, but Calls (2017) got me excited. Naturally, I was waiting for failure, because the trailer did not bode well, but the hope for something original somehow lived in me.
Before I turned on the movie, there was a strange call in the room. I went to the phone and picked up the phone. A distorted voice on the other end of the line said, "You're going to die of boredom in 1 hour and 42 minutes." To tell you the truth, it happened before.
This creation begins quite cheerfully, because we are immediately thrown into the pool of the plot, plus the face of Leonard from the “Big Bang Theory” (Johnny Galecki) pleases the eye. But good, of course, a little, so the movie immediately turns into a dull detective with elements of stupidity of the main characters. By the way, there is a complete trouble: a talentless actress and a faceless actor (it is more interesting to follow the trees). But the actors' problem is not as big as the local plot, whose twists are guessed faster than the mystery of the light bulb. It is funny that the finale is more or less dynamic, albeit obvious to the horror.
Attacks of yawning will not be experienced only by those who are afraid. Who's gonna be scared? Question for you. I, for example, was never afraid, although I did everything for this: I waited for the night, turned off the lights everywhere, looked in complete solitude. It is a shame that the idea of a girl from TV is creepy enough, but acquaintance with Samara is clearly not worth starting with this film. And finishing dating too. Simply put, don’t waste your time on this unideal and extremely dull film, even if you really want to.
"Stop!" - this immortal phrase of the fugitive President Yanukovych these days is extremely appropriate to address the modern bosses of major studios and producers, launching from any little shot at the box office of the film conveyor.
I did not expect much from this film creation, but from the first minutes of watching, I began to have a burning sensation in the area of a famous place, which I had not previously experienced, although I reviewed a lot of mediocre horrors in my lifetime. But after all, mediocre films (not all) are able to focus on themselves, to amuse at an extreme case with their frank stupidity and absurdity, but this is clearly not the case. From the already battered story about killing anyone who watched the video, you could make a great parody comedy, if the producers had more intelligence and hard work and less greed. Just think what the picture would be if people were maddened by the cut from the Green Elephant! Submitted in a serious manner, with a cameo of Pakhomov and Epifantsev, with an investigation of what happened in the end with the characters of the video ...
To be honest, I did not remember a single name of the main or secondary characters of this film, because too early I began to be covered with indignation from the stupidity and secondary nature of the plot, from the abundance of stamps characteristic of this genre. Apparently, the screenwriters decided that if you take a well-known story, and add a pinch of details and types from relatively tolerable modern horror films, the youth will swallow and ask for supplements (how imperceptibly copied the type of a fierce blind grandfather from “Don’t Breathe”), because everyone wants to cut crisp green bills, launching their “Astral” or “Spell”. And they are not frightened by the example of their colleagues in the workshop, without much success restarting or continuing the once forgotten successful stories.
The producers and the director were given a truly bare budget (relative to neighbors in the genre), which made it possible to use high-quality special effects and invite the guy from the Big Bang Theory, as well as Vincent D’Onofrio. If the latter at least somehow tried to play and made his character memorable, then the significance for the plot of the first was minimized. At the exit it turned out a complete hack, removed solely for the sake of earnings. I do not dispute that the modern film industry is focused mainly not on art, but on the enrichment of studio bosses, but after all, any successful franchise at first is kept at the expense of a high-quality script and the work of all members of the set (I will not talk about big budgets in horror films). People try to do qualitatively, without pouring sludge on their viewer, or trying to rub the history that has already become obsolete.
Gore Verbinski's "Ring" was fresh and interesting for its time, keeping it in suspense until the last minute of viewing, and Naomi Watts played quite well, and it was really scary. In my opinion, it was this film that gave rise to a wave of crypipastes about videos that kill those who watched them. The second part of The Call was obviously weaker than the first, but it was at least watchable. And now, in the age of the Internet, people who have watched The Goddes Bunny and Mereana are trying to rub the story of a murderous (literally) videotape 15 years ago?
Oh, gentlemen, I created this account with an idiotic nickname more than 5 years ago, and I was lazy to write reviews, only occasionally came to put dozens of films with undeservedly low (in my opinion) ratings. This masterpiece put dozens of girls guys who led them to this film to glue. They squealed and shuddered from the screamers, and the story about mother and daughter, shown with a fair amount of casual drama, found an emotional response in them. People like me, like me, put up units. By simple calculations, we get the arithmetic average, which now the film has.
Best horror film of 2017. To the producers of the restart or possible sequels of “Friday 13”, “Halloween”, “Nightmare on Elm Street” and other classics in order to earn bread with caviar, I sincerely wish creative longevity and great fees.
1 out of 10
Perhaps few would argue that the creators of most truly worthy horror films are Japanese filmmakers. Filmed in 1998, Hideo Nakata’s “The Call” is certainly the brightest example of this. Scared to hell the whole world, received several sequels and had incredible success around the world film. It is not surprising that after such a positive word of mouth, American filmmakers did not stand aside. But despite this, waiting for the intersection of one of the most long-suffering long-building genre finish line, the audience had to wait for a long 12 years.
For almost 12 years of production process, the script of the picture was repeatedly rewritten and remade from scratch. Hence, it is not surprising that this readily makes itself felt throughout the tape. The creators have preserved bits of the original script about the origin of the mysterious recording and the past of Samara, but all this turns out to be a very superficial element. When as a direct triquel to the previous films of Gore Verbinski and Hideo Nakata, the plot of the picture willingly repeats behind its predecessors on the screen. Almost nothing new on the screen. Predictable plot, template characters, incredibly boring narrative and transparent ending leave far from the most rainbow precipitation.
The only truly worthy innovation of the picture is only a fresh approach to the mysterious recording. Realizing the relevance of VHS tapes, the creators of the tape perfectly adapted this very recording to modern technologies. That naturally gives some positive results and brings some element of dignity to the picture. Especially on the example of a magnificent opening scene on board the aircraft.
Nothing significantly new is the direction of F. Javier Gutierrez, who like water on a hot day, lacks experience and it makes itself felt throughout the film. The film was shot in the usual clip style of shooting, but the intentional embodiment of a dull gray picture, as well as weak visual effects, leave far from the best impression.
The film is not fully disclosed within the genre itself. The film does not bribe the viewer with either the number of juicy spectacular moments, or a decent atmosphere and scenes that can really frighten. Allowing only with a non-decreasing yawn to count the minutes and seconds at the end of the picture throughout the viewing.
“Finishes” and the complete inability of actors to express any emotions on the screen. All without exception showed on the screen frankly weak game. Including the star of the sitcom “The Big Bang Theory” Johnny Galecki and such a talented artist as Vincent D’Onofrio, who simply turned out to be hostages of sparingly prescribed characters.
3 out of 10
Calls are not the continuation of the cult horror film franchise, which viewers have been eagerly waiting for for for 12 long years. Frankly weak, secondary, incredibly boring and absolutely not scary and not atmospheric horror film, which manages to watch “only for a tick”.
Another unnecessary continuation of the cult favorite horror movie. It turned out to be something like I imagined. Namely secondary, gray, boring, not scary, not bringing something new. It turned out exactly the same as most ordinary mediocre horrors, similar to each other as one.
They said it was a reimagined modern story of an unhappy girl. But why modernize and rethink what already looks modern and fresh? You can modernize those paintings that are fifty or more years old. The first American call is not fifteen. And he and his sequel won’t be out of date for a long time, and the fact that they made an extra third film is just an attempt to make easy money by playing on fans’ nostalgia. That's all. But let it be so, the main thing is to make a quality product. But the movie "Calls" I can not call that.
Through secondary and predictable plot, the level of the new “Witch of Blair”. If there was a strong detective component in the original, which made the film more interesting and tense, then there are only a couple of attempts to show it. The lack of tension, disturbing, oppressive atmosphere greatly affected the perception and it was not particularly interesting to watch what was happening on the screen. Also, the characters of the film do not cause any strong interest, because of which you do not worry about them and remain indifferent to them. Well, of course, this movie is not able to scare, at least, such a viewer as me, but I, to enhance the sensations, watch horrors at night, alone in the room, in complete darkness.
Anyway, I was expecting a bad horror movie and I got it. This film is up to the level of the original, like the moon. It's like heaven and earth. I'd even say it's a completely different movie if it wasn't for the girl getting out of the TV. I’d rather watch the first and second call now, adjust my impressions, improve my mood, and I’ll forget this movie quickly and try not to remember.
Watching a videotape, a creepy video lasting about a minute, and, in fact, a call. It was an interesting idea, authored by Koji Suzuki, the author of the novel of the same name, which was based on the Japanese original film and then an American remake. It was an exciting idea, the films were filled with mysticism, mystery, elements of detective and of course horror. But the idea of repeating the same great idea over and over again is a bad idea. Again videotape, and a little later and just digitized video, again viewing, again bell, again Samara, coming out of the screen.
Next, the idea of watching a video and finding a person to whom you need to “slip” this curse – alas, is also not new. In the second film, such actions were characteristic of the teenage subculture, but now a professor in college is trying to do some research on this and find out whether there is life after death, whether a person has an eternal soul. It's just too crazy and arrogant.
The main characters are now a young couple, they would be much more suitable for the genre of youth comedy, but not a horror film, which this film is still. From past films, we already know who Samara is, what happened to her, and there is a well, seven days and these sinister pictures in the video. This story is no longer told to us, but is greatly distorted, adding new elements and details to this terrible and tragic story. And it's kind of ridiculous. I won’t describe these individual details in order to avoid spoilers, but I will note that all these “new details” make the story known from previous films crazy, and some moments go against previous films.
Our main characters move to the place that is related to Samara, the girl periodically sees some visions and just claims that it all means something that someone wants to tell her something. So there is no complicated storyline here either. The behavior of the main characters, acting is very weak. They don’t show the horror of the whole horrific story, they don’t solve any mysteries like Naomi Watts, the guy just gets involved in the stupid idea of the professor, encouraged by the fact that his professor explores the secrets of life after death. The girl, out of love for the guy, watches this video herself, then sees visions and claims that she feels that she knows that they have to do something and so on. And the ending of this film seems to imply a sequel.
The first film directed by Gore Verbinski and the continuation of this story in the second was really exciting, in my opinion, some of the best horror films. And perhaps the sequel should not have surpassed previous films, but the above-mentioned reworking of this story, the main characters, with their absurd, sometimes stupid actions, all this definitely ruins the continuation of great films.
1 out of 10
Calls is a horror film, and is the third part of the famous franchise about the "Calling Girl". This film was directed by a little-known director F. Javier Gutierrez, and the budget of the film was a modest $ 25 million. At the same time, the film can be considered a success, since it paid off three times, making a box office of 83 million.
The plot is based on a story with a mysterious cassette, or rather with its digital copy, after watching which a person dies seven days later with a terrible death. From the very first part, we see almost the same thing, with the only difference that the actors, their characters and locations change. And if you expect to see something new here, you will be deeply disappointed. And if in the first part, we were worried about the characters who are trying to “get to the bottom of the truth”, and with some fear watched the unfortunate video, now there is no empathy for the characters, and “the broken record” is no longer impressive. In general, as for me, according to the script, the story was revealed in the first part, and everything else is already “sucked out of the finger” against the background of the success of the first film. For me, this story has already outlived itself, and does not scare or even entertain with its clichéd "BU-horror stories!"
As for acting, there is nothing to say. Heroes here are registered at the level of " household cardboard", so there are no feelings to the game of actors.
The musical accompaniment leaves much to be desired! The film in this regard is very far from such films as “The Astral” and “The Curse of Annabelle”.
As for the visual part, the film also falls short of the above pictures. The picture is too dark, the flies are only annoying, and we have seen Samara Morgan countless times! As for me, the 2005 film was shot much better, and could really scare a couple of moments.
As a result, we have a “hashed” plot, a script written on three sheets, cardboard, bland characters, as well as a gloomy picture with a weak atmosphere and clichéd “frighteners”. I don't recommend the movie. There are plenty of other more interesting films in this genre, so don’t waste your time!
2 out of 10
Let the picture turned out to be frankly weak, but it can be safely praised for its honesty. After all, in such Hollywood projects there are always two - three strong scenes, which are brazenly, but cursoryly, shown in the trailer - they include the opening scene. In this case, it is so crumpled that you do not expect anything outstanding from the rest. That is, the viewer is warned, and therefore armed. To look further or not to waste precious time - the choice is yours.
The film will definitely find its viewer, or vice versa, it does not matter, it is only important that this mess is filmed for young people who will be happy to see it. The younger generation no longer remembers, may not know, about the existence of that'Call', the very first, which really frightened, but not with these boom-moments, but with its atmosphere of hopelessness, which envelopes the viewer from the initial frame. New ' Calls' is a must-have thriller, with a stamped shade of mysticism. Only a girl with a sloppy hairstyle remained from the original, but even from this scenario borrowing, a perverted buffoon is turned. There is no curse, there is a small human vice. It's a little small for this franchise.
They are also surprised by their acting skills. Especially in this regard, I was struck by the main character, an emotionally empty person. Even in the most driving moment, she manages to keep a silly expression on her face, where there is no place for a single ounce of concern.
I will not recommend the film for viewing, this is a completely predictable product, completely devoid of any zest and in the end lost that very atmosphere. Don't waste your time!!!
The remake of the film ' Calls' turned out to be very weak and tedious: not scary faces, not scary scarecrows, which in the film are two times and cheated. The plot is kind of incomprehensible, weak, literally sucked out of the finger. I tried for a long time to believe the film was a horror genre, but my expectations were not met. All hope was for the ending of the film, but the ending was pumped up - another cliché with a hint of a sequel. Directors and producers, I have a huge request to you, do not dwell on this film. My friend did not master it at all, 20 minutes remained until the final credits.
In this film, disfigured faces after a ghost attack from a well look so funny, and not naturally drawn. It seems that the terrible face of the dead girl is not scary at all, but just well-made. The whole film was trying to scare me with unexpected moments, which, by the way, did not scare me. These moments were so obvious that I knew in advance what would happen and what would not. I have anticipated almost every new image. In fact, the whole plot of the film tells us about how for about an hour there are stupid and no one is interested in dialogue about anything. I was really hoping that at least something in this 'horror' could scare me, and so the film ended.
In the end: Calls is not a remake at all, but a weak parody of the previous 2 films in the series. The remake does not scare, but tries to scare, the actors’ play is completely bland, you do not empathize with such heroes, the plot, I repeat, is generally empty, and does not carry any semantic load, and special effects look extremely cheap, you can see that the production budget is extremely small. I didn't like the movie, so I'll give it to him.
2 out of 10
Almost 20 years after the release of the original film “The Call”, a new film called “Calls” was released. The 1998 Japanese “Bell” laid the foundation for a story about a mysterious videotape and a girl from a well. In 1999, the sequel “Call 2” was released. Then, the Japanese began churning out films based on the original story, which in fact are utter slag. But in 2002, the American version of the film of the same name was released, with an almost identical plot of the Japanese version, which gave a new round of interest in this story. And in 2005, there was a continuation of the mysterious story about a little girl Samara - "Call 2".
I vividly remember the beginning of the two thousandth, when I, as a child, came across the movie “The Call” on TV. I thought that was the worst thing I had seen in the movie. Well, think for yourself, the main character watches a cassette with a strange recording, which contains incomprehensible frames resembling 25 frames, and after watching a phone call sounds, where a “cute” female voice says “7 days”. She is given only 7 days to survive and unravel the secrets of the tape and how to avoid death. At the time, it really inspired fear and horror. But time has passed, and just recently, I came across “The Call.” Samara coming out of the TV, the distorted faces of corpses, the strange and unexpected sounds – now, grown-up people like me, all this is no longer inspiring fear. I hurriedly watched these 2 wonderful films that once horrified me and found out that in 2017, the continuation of the story about the video tape – “Calls” was released.
I'll start, as always, with the story. A young man who has left for college explores the mystical subculture associated with a videotape. Of course, he watched it and had 7 days to go to the other world. But that wasn't it. The main character had a very brave girl who found her boyfriend and took the whole blow on herself (We remember the law of “Call” – if you transfer the recording to another person and this person watches it, the curse goes to the one who watched the tape last) to save his beloved. She is waiting for many terrible discoveries, and the audience will learn the truth about the parents of Samara and her origin. Well, thank you to the writers for not copying the plot of a classic film, but for coming up with a new story in a new time. The plot is not intricate, but it was interesting to watch what was happening.
In general, as it seemed to me from the reviews, the movie was watched by people who either watched the old “Calls” for a very long time and have already forgotten the main plot of the tape, or those who have never watched films about Samara, who lived at the bottom of the well for 7 days (but decided to express their opinion). Therefore, if you have watched old movies, then the new “Call”, in any case, should interest you.
The actors are all new. None of the heroes of classic films moved to a new story. At one time, there were rumors that Naomi Watts (Rachel) would appear in the film, but unfortunately, she was not in the film. The role of a young man, Holt, was played by Alex Rowe. Julia - the main character - played by Matilda Anna Ingrid Luts. To be honest, I have not seen these actors anywhere, so I cannot give any objective and more detailed opinion. The only thing I would like to note is that the performers of the main roles did not overplay, and while watching the film I sincerely empathized with them. Who really liked the film is the performer of the role of Professor Gabriel – Johnny Galecki. Many, this actor is known for his role as Leonard in ' The Big Bang Theory. Immediately in the film you see professional actors, which I consider Johnny. His character empathizes and even supports in the difficult situation that has developed around him.
In horror films (although this film is not a horror, but a thriller), it is difficult to note the camera work, because it is the same in similar films. The musical accompaniment of “The Call” is at a height. I often say that if the music doesn’t interfere with watching a movie and you don’t even pay attention to it, that’s great. This shows the professionalism of the composer. Matthew Margeson did his job 100%. I categorically disagree with the assessment of film critics and those who give the film minimum ratings. The film was created in a completely different direction and waiting for what was in previous films is stupid. This is another story that has a right to exist. Look for yourself and draw conclusions. Do not listen to the opinions of critics.
Of course, there are a lot of questions about the film, mostly related to the plot. Why, why, how? These questions haunted me throughout the film. There are many incomprehensible plot endings that violate the logic of previous films. But, nevertheless, the film managed to bring to the modern generation the story of Samara, a story that once instilled fear in the audience and became a whole cult. And most importantly, rebirth. Everything in the movie brings us back to life. And from here, we can safely conclude that the continuation of the film will be. The main thing is not to screw up and not to lower the bar.
I definitely recommend the film to watch, but I will not compare it with previous films. I'll just give you my grade. You can watch the movie. At your own risk.
This is Javier's second directorial work in a big movie, but the first for the American public. I don’t know what motivated the choice of producers, but the job is done and now there is nowhere to retreat. Honestly, I was not thrilled with watching and, alas, did not get the proper pleasure. The film is neither frightening nor alarming. The plot moves are secondary and far from original. Although the picture itself is made very well and qualitatively. The visual series with the play of light and darkness does its job, but, unfortunately, old fans of the horror genre, it will not convince and will not lure to its side.
The film looks like an ordinary detective with elements of mysticism, in which there is no unexpected turn or shocking ending. Everything is very weak and superficial. But the most disgusting thing about this film is the ghost of Samara. The girl does not inspire any frightening emotions, as if she was an empty place. We were given a very poorly crafted character. There is no innovation in the image, which leads to visual boredom.
Honestly, I am very sorry that the story of the ghost from the well is completely exhausted in world cinema. The latest novelties in the Japanese and American box office, this is confirmed, although the films still pay for themselves, but the question is how long will it last? Devoted fans still believe in resurrecting the former grandeur of the Call franchise, but I'm afraid it's all in vain. It remains only to recall the bright and shocking moments from the first two parts of the Japanese version. It was really cool and fascinating! Now it's just a legend, old but still cool!
Have a good time!
Let me start with a little subjective opinion. Honestly, I’ve always thought the Call series was a bit silly, but I’ve always admired the franchise. The original Japanese film seemed strange, incomprehensible, and, because of it, creepy and frightening. We can say that the aesthetics of the Japanese authentic version was such that the stereotype of the “little dead girl” was firmly embedded in the minds of film and game makers and is exploited, probably, to this day. The remake by Gore Verbinski excites me with its beautiful gloomy picture. "The Call" with Naomi Watts was made with great attention to detail. No wonder that “The Call” of 2002 became a hit and a favorite picture for fans of the horror genre. For the remake, this is an achievement in itself. American “Call 2” was curated by Hideo Nakata himself, sitting in the director’s chair. As for The Calls of 2017 against the backdrop of its powerful predecessors... it is enough to ask one single question: how could such a fertile topic be reduced to the level of a teenage horror story with an overly complicated and loaded plot? In other words, why was such a frightening work allowed to degrade to a PG-13 rating in the Western box office?
Julia is in love with her hot young boyfriend Holt. The guy's off to college. After a while, the girl receives a strange Skype call, and then her boyfriend stopped communicating. Julia goes in search of him and immediately stumbles upon some extracurricular club of interests, where students watch the same tape to learn the mysteries of the afterlife. Naturally, the main character will by chance watch the video, answer the phone and wait for a cute long-haired lady who prefers television programs about wells to all others.
The first thing that catches the eye is simply a boring story about young lovers confronting an evil spirit. But, despite the scarcity of the main storyline, there are still successful ideas here. For example, I liked the storyline of a professor whose research would have been questioned by Peter Wenkman himself. In fact, when it comes to a scientist who, with the help of his students, tries to penetrate the mysteries of death in a very unusual and unethical way, watching the film becomes even more interesting. At least that's not what you'd expect from a damn video movie. Perhaps, if developed properly, this idea would lead to something potentially interesting. But, alas, neither the director nor the trio of declared screenwriters still could not adequately reveal this particular idea. For the most part, I offer the viewer a rehash of familiar material in a new way. Almost all of the elements in previous films are found here. The only difference is that there are superficial attempts to move the scene into the digital age of smartphones and social media. Not in the eyebrow, but in the eye – these days, people often spread dangerous content without thinking about the consequences. This correlates perfectly with the transmission of the curse of Samara and the writers could play on it. Alas, and it did not work properly – as if the writers suddenly ran out of ideas and developments, and they began to engage in self-repetition.
In a sense, The Call has always been about the horrors of virility: evil can pass from one person to another, through pressure and selfishness. This has always added metaphor to the plots of The Calls. “Calls” clearly tried to cover this topic, especially in the climax ... and again, the writers did not work. The whole screenplay crew for some reason tried to recreate the recent film 'Don't Breathe' but again somehow inferior. As a result, we can say that the main problem of the semantic component of “Calls” is an attempt to cover too many directions at once and make several plot lines intersect. This leads to the above-described uncertainties with the plot setting, as well as to the fact that the storylines that are important at first glance (Julia’s mother’s disease, a circle of students studying the afterlife) simply stop at the most interesting place.
Unlike Naomi Watts from the first two films, Julia and Holt are uninteresting characters. What can I say about them after watching? Well, they love each other, they're cute, attractive... I'm afraid that's it. The gloomy Johnny Galecki played the role of the most bloated and unshaven professor in the world. His character is curious, but he is not used to the maximum, although I think he should. Also noted is the apparently stubborn, fat and blind Vincent D’Onofrio. Alas, even such a characteristic venerable actor could not pull to a decent level the character he had the opportunity to play. It may be original in something, but it makes little sense.
The image of Samara itself is still the most memorable part of The Call. No matter what happens on the screen, she does what she was designed to do – escaping viciously from the TV with direct intentions. Of course, the script makes attempts to speculate about the reasons for her restless behavior, but, let’s be honest, is it necessary? However, in order to catch up with horror, sometimes some things are better left secret.
Despite the devastating reviews of critics, the general stupidity of the production and mediocre acting, “Calls” recouped the cost of production 3 times at the world box office, and in combination with the almost open finale (obviously, referring to the original books of Koji Suzuki), this means that the appearance of the sequel is almost inevitable. However, if the quality of the sequel is at the level of “Calls”, then the best characteristic of a possible sequel may be Holt’s warning to his beloved: “Don’t look.”
4 out of 10
Once such cult films as "Call1 and 2" Japanese and American versions, well frightened the viewer. These films were really scary and scary. I love the Japanese version and the Hollywood version. The dead girl from the well is one of the most creepy characters in world cinema. From her story, the blood freezes in her veins, only the thought of her becomes uneasy. It makes me feel bad when I see that this is my 2,666 review.
The story is really scary, full of surprises and shock. The time of popularity of those films is long gone, and more recently they began to release more and more stories about this mystical character, but they are all sucked out of the finger, and are aimed exclusively for commercial purposes to make a jackpot on the famous, terrible story.
The recently released Japanese horror film “Sadako v Kayako” was very intriguing and ambitious, but failed and is something doubtful. A complete failure, even worse, was this Hollywood movie called "Calls." I did not expect anything supernatural from this new picture, but I did not leave hope that there might be something curious after all.
We see again a very similar story as a young man watched a banned cassette with a cursed video, and now a mystical thing will come for him in seven days. The girl of this hero decides to help him and is drawn into this difficult and mysterious case, thereby taking on a terrible curse. The most interesting thing is that she is the only one to learn the truth about the hidden video inside another video.
This horror film is exclusively for new generations of viewers, so that they remember and discover the history of the “Call” films. This new movie is horribly second-rate, and its story is simply sucked out of the finger. If you have not watched the previous films, then know that the film "Calls" in no way compares with such horror films as "Call 1 and 2" with "Naomi Watts" or with cult, Japanese releases. This new film is mediocre, and by the way only spoils the entire impression of the whole story about the girl from the well.
There was a little nostalgia for a couple of scenes in this movie, but the movie itself is a failure and empty. It was completely unnecessary. I looked to the extreme banal, sluggish, and most importantly not interesting and not at all scary. The actors were not selected quite successfully, and the directorship of the amateur F. Javiera Gutierrez also made herself felt, resembling something questionable and disposable. This film is like something passing, which is especially not necessary to pay attention.
"Calls" is a 2016 American horror film to which I say no. I’m someone who appreciates and loves the curse story of The Call, and for me it’s one of the best horror movies in the world, but what we’re seeing in this new movie is not good. This movie is not worthy of attention and bypass it.
It’s a bit hard for me to remember the amount of slag that Koji Suzuki’s filmmakers turned into. No, at first it was more than good, I would even say it was just great. After all, the Japanese originals saw the light, which were able to scare the viewer quite qualitatively, contained a beautiful atmosphere and oppressive unknown. There were ambiguous spin-offs, as well as prequels, but they could still close their eyes. Then, in 2002, Gore Verbinski made a high-quality remake of the first part 'Call'. Makes it very skillfully and extremely dignified, gets into the concept, atmosphere and does not try to come up with completely unnecessary crutches. Since then, the franchise has gone downhill. Initially, we got a sequel with the same Naomi Watts in the title role, which was frankly weaker than the Verbinski film. And then, the Japanese themselves have collected a whole bunch of disgusting thrash. Here you have two parts 'Sadako 3D' and even an incredible spin-off about Sadako's confrontation with Kayako. The West had to respond to these demands and the answer was not long in coming, as 'Calls' Javier Gutierrez is followed almost on his heels by the thrash of the Japanese.
A group of students of one of the universities, led by a biology teacher, is engaged in a total study of the infamous videotape, which still walks hands, and also manages to kill people with enviable constancy. The essence of the research is to prove the existence of the human soul, that the spirit of Samara really exists and lives in the form of an ineradicable curse. The girl of one of the students goes to the university, after her boyfriend stops communicating and disappears without any news about him.
In fact, I probably won’t have enough words to explain the absurdity of Gutierrez’s new film. 'Calls' quite skillfully destroy the whole concept of the franchise. Almost everything that has been worked out by Suzuki and Verbinski is sent to a production urn, processed there, and in fact some deformed salt of total delirium comes out, which is simply unacceptable. But there are a lot of ridiculous analogies with 'Sadako 3D' as if the creators adopted that mediocre dilogy. I’ve already forgotten the plot of the first two parts of The Call 39, but in this triquel, if you can call it that, everything is turned upside down. The only thing that is at least a little happy here is the few references to the first two films, in the form of the same videotape and its contents, as well as the musical accompaniment, which is certainly very pleasing. There is simply no one to single out from the cast here, I was probably too keen on solving this ridiculous plot, that somehow I did not even pay attention to the acting.
If you love the franchise 'Sounds', then in no case do not touch the new film by Javier Gutierrez, since literally every aspect is spoiled here, from the atmosphere to the plot. To be honest, I think it's time to end this constant rape of the original Suzuki. The story has long said everything that could be said. At the moment ' Call' is unable to scare the viewer and no matter how the filmmakers do not twist and twist the plot, this will not change. After all, ' Call' took first of all the total unknown of what was happening. At the moment, the viewer is perfectly familiar with all the components of the franchise and to scare him once again, the same Sadako or Samara that will come out of the TV, well, just unrealistic.
3 out of 10
Although the new film is a continuation of the cult horror ' Call' caused some skepticism, still waited for its release with some hope. After all, a new series of one of the most famous horror films, the name of which is now known even to a small child. However, expectations were not met.
If the beginning looks quite cheerful, and you merrily remember it from the clipping of the trailer, imagining that something really unique will happen next, then after ten minutes of the film you realize that the old familiar clichés, clichés, clichés follow. . .
The main character (for some reason stubbornly associated with me with Daenerys Targaryen from ' Game of Thrones') immediately realizes its peculiarity and the whole further narrative revolves around it. There are no claims to this - the plot of the film is simply necessary, and its simplicity is still forgivable. But then the main plot of the film should be really cool! But no. About halfway through the film, you realize it’s already happened somewhere and you only watch it out of respect for the original film. Boo effects do not scare, although, I remember, the first ' Call' and not for that respect.
Alas, alas, if a stranger came into your room while watching this film, he would hardly distinguish it from any other horror film and would not distinguish old Samara (to my admiration, learned to get out of the small screens of modern gadgets) from any other ghost. Even the last scene, which connoisseurs of the genre always look forward to in anticipation of answers to all questions or intriguing moments, leaves behind a taste of triviality.
After watching, I don’t want to discuss the ending or recommend the film to anyone. I'd rather throw it out of my head like a bad idea. Remember that the second part ' Call' was very good, and it becomes a shame for the current ' Calls'. So, maybe you should leave grandmother Samara alone and leave alone her bright image of a girl coming out of the TV screen?
2 out of 10 as homage to genre classics
The backstory of the “well girl” asked for the screen, and in this regard, the next part of the franchise “The Call” was only a matter of time.
The film by F. Javier Gutierrez turned out. The sinister cassette continues its deadly harvest, and sooner or later someone must have thought that the key to putting an end to it is to look in the past for this creepy child, slow and steady walking from the well through the TV screen to sow death. However, although the horror that her appearance brings, it seems, is still genuine, nevertheless became, as wild as it may sound, something familiar - his feeling is somewhat dulled. Logic rightly pointed to the fact that the scarier of Samara could be only her story, as a result of which the girl was at the bottom of the well, so that, in fact, the only version of the script that could preserve intrigue and interest in the franchise, loomed quite clearly.
It remained only competently to work out the details, with which the creators successfully coped. The idea of a “film in a movie” as a starting point was a success. History acquires details, which in turn raise new questions, the number of which grows exponentially. Well, then there is the plot move, which I just love in thrillers / horrors, provided that it is properly furnished – a trip to a certain provincial town, full of sinister secrets and skeletons in the closet, and most often not only in a figurative sense and not only in the closet. To "Calls" in this respect do not find fault: nothing superfluous, everything is in business, every scene, every character. The inhabitants of a town, which one you can’t take, are just beautiful, in the sense that each of them fits into place and plays a role in what is happening and what is happening, given the fact that digging is going on in days gone by. Answers begin to appear to the questions, while the tension is growing at an incredible rate.
The climax in the picture is worthy of all praise, as is everything we have seen before. However, the actual finale is very lubricating impressions, even more so, forces you to grab your head. "Calls" were supposed to beautifully round out the story of the "well girl", put a point in it and in the course of the action everything set up in an optimistic manner. However, no, the ending is actually open, so wait for the next sequel, where with a probability of 99% there will be simply nothing to talk about, so in this cycle everything looks finished. In terms of viewing franchises, I am used to bringing everything to the end: if I have already caught on to any, I usually watch until the end. However, the possible (I hold my fists so that this does not happen!) continuation of "Calls" can be the first exception here, because you really do not want to spoil the impression of a very good franchise with a talentless and empty sequel. The chances that it can become any interesting and exciting, alas, minimum.
A few words about the actors: they liked the picture. They didn’t have to do too much, but they played and played well. This applies to Anna Ingrid Lou's Matilda, Alex Rowe, Johnny Galecki, and everyone else. And finally, just a luxurious role played by Gutierrez Vincent D’Onofrio, becoming a real find and the main decoration of the film!
My significant contribution to the success of paintings and music Matthew Margeson, whom I recently praised for the atmospheric soundtrack to Miss Peregrine's House of Strange Children, and even earlier for Kingsman: The Secret Service. Not bad worked Matthew and "Calls".
In short, everything would be great if it were a final. And so it remains to live a timid hope that common sense among the creators will still prevail, and they will not remove the almost guaranteed doomed to failure sequel.
8 out of 10
We pasted you a video into a video so you can watch the video while watching the video.
This book is for those who are going to watch this movie! After seven days after watching it (rather 7 minutes, from the beginning of the viewing) - you will die.
You will die of shame! But if you're still young, or too unassuming, and that's the original title of the movie, "Calls," didn't seem strange to you, then you can take a chance. The rest of us will be horrified!
This picture surpasses its predecessors, because I was able to watch the previous parts to the end. And while watching this movie, I had to leave the theater. All the way home, I had bad thoughts, I was annoyed, worried. Even in a seemingly safe place like my apartment, I still couldn’t feel comfortable. "I warned you! Don’t watch this video, my inner voice echoed me, but it was too late, too late.
...so I went to bed. After writing out a few phrases that came to my mind while watching:
- One of the best opening scenes in the history of cinema (no).
I'm ashamed of them.
Let’s make the movie a teenager, but we’ll write 18+.
We have more flies, more dark slime, more crosses, more Samara (this is not a city), more people, more distorted faces! More is better than that, isn’t it?
- Video inside the video. Video inside the video! Video inside the video!!!
- Is that a drama? - No, it's a drama. What is this?
We’re the characters in this movie, and we’re going to explain to you what we’re doing, whether you’re a child or mentally retarded.
- Ah, it's a detective! A la Pippa Pig helps George find the dinosaur.
Other thoughts are not censored.
If you have seen this movie, you only have 7 days to make a copy of this review and show it to another person. That's the only way you'll find peace.
The film Gore Verbinski ' Call' can rightly be called ' new' classic horror films. Despite the fact that the idea is not that not original, but really licked off the Japanese film, the first film is not harmed. The director made a beautiful tape. Captivating, frightening, interested. But. In modern society, there is a bright tendency to shoot sequels/prequels/... and similar related films, based on the benefits and popularity of the original. They remember the old and the new.
The film ' Calls', which conquered theaters in 2017, is a typical representative of such products of the film industry. To say that the film is absolutely bad ... for the second part of the tape. In the first, we, i.e., the audience is invited to look at something like 'And look how we can take other people's ideas and mock them'. There's a tie, but it's terrible. The first scene causes nothing but defeat and denial. Plus, it already appears for a split second! Bad graphics. Fortunately, there is not much of it in the film, which is already pleasing. The subsequent scenes are saturated with disgusting and banal dialogue, a strange connection (which, incidentally, has not been explained for a long time), and absurd actions.
The situation is more or less corrected by the middle of the film. There's no story here. Playing actors isn't exactly disgusting either. Watching becomes possible. Just one. Horror movie declared. There are screamers, there is something incomprehensible, but there is no fear. Even heroes don't seem to experience it. And it turns out some kind of mystical detective of average quality (and then unlikely).
The attitude towards the film is rather negative. Although it's not so bad, it's a remake of a beautiful original. And that's sad. If the creators had just one idea, it wouldn’t bother. But there's plagiarism here. Fully copied scenes, arranged mainly in a chaotic order (yes, one final scene is worth it).
Result.
Absolutely fearless plagiarism, resembling more like a consumer detective. I'm sorry.
It was the question ' Why?' that came to my mind when I tried to rate Javier Gutierrez's film ' Calls'. Why was this horror filmed? One gets the impression that the creator of this film aimed to raise more money, in which he was helped by fans of that non-trivial and so native & #39; call & #39; fifteen years ago.
Of course, one could say that the film is good, because the phone call that the main characters receive after watching a creepy and mysterious video and a ghost girl crawling out of a well should really inspire a chilling fear! We should have if we hadn’t seen it a decade ago.
The director did not bring anything new to his picture. Events are so predictable and banal that in the middle of the film I guessed what word was burned by Samara on the hand of the main character. But I do not like being Vanga, because I am an ordinary viewer who expects horror from the film.
The only thing that allowed me to stay awake while watching the film is the main character: a red-eyed, green-eyed, incredible beauty girl Matilda Luts. And Johnny Galecki, my favorite after the series ' The Big Bang Theory'. The actors are really good, and they cope well with the task assigned to them, which is still not enough to ensure that the horror turned out to be high-quality, so that it could not be said about it ' nothing'.