Friday, February 23, 2018

200 Items Or Less: The Caller (1987)

A few thoughts: Wow, what a total 180 this movie took. The set-up is simple: a woman is interrupted in her house in the woods by a passerby whose car has broken down and needs a phone to call for a tow. But beyond this and for the entire runtime there is something much more bizarre and sinister to it. These people act like they know each other and are playing some bizarre game. Without spoiling anything beyond this, I was told this movie had a totally unpredictable twist (the poster itself even mentions the "surprise twist"), but even with the constant guessing I still never would have predicted the finale. That being said, this isn't a movie that requires a huge ending, since the journey there is very interesting. The Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf dynamic between the two leads is terrific, and Malcolm McDowell gives one of his best performances, more than making up for the failures of the female lead (an over-emoting Madolyn Smith), who plays it frazzled, but never quite believable. All-in-all, I enjoyed this a lot.


Who would I recommend it to? Fans of bottle dramas and anyone who really appreciates crazy plot twists. It's not a great movie in lots of ways, but it all comes together wonderfully.

My grade: B

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