Devil May Call

Pretty blind counsellor Sam (Corri English) is on her last ever shift at the crisis centre when serial killer John (Tyler Mane), a regular user of the hot-line, pays a visit.

Devil May Call is pretty much what I expected from a horror film starring an ex-WCW wrestler and an ageing ex-pornstar: nothing to phone home about. To be fair, the film opens promisingly with a neat title sequence during which we hear a series of desperate calls to a crisis hot-line, followed by a tense scene in which a victim of serial killer John attempts to escape from the psycho's home while he is speaking to Sam on the phone. If only the rest of the film had been as 'edge of the seat', we might have had a unexpected treat on our hands.

As it stands, the film is a massive disappointment, with a predictable plot that plays out in dreary fashion until the forgettable finale (I won't go into detail since I've already forgotten how the film ends). Mane, as hulking weirdo John, is mildly menacing due to his size, but the film fails to chill or thrill as it should, director Jason Cuadrado fumbling the intended jump-scares and delivering zilch in the way of gore. Traci Lords, once every teenage boys' wet dream, plays Val, an unmarried middle-aged counsellor obsessed with cats.

How many blind people appear; in glasses

How blind people always appear - in film; they never wear glasses, the performer always tries to show their... 'range' by never making... Eye contact, instead always having a gaze whisk is somewhere in the far-of distance.

Voila! Instant 'blind' person.

One is the best blind performances was Audrey Hepburn in the (truly) scary, Sola en la oscuridad (1967).

Hee is yet another performance, done by something straight out of 'Acme School of 'Acting'.

One thing I've noticed; since the argument of affordable professional(-like) equipment is 99.99% of ALL people involved in these truly awful (amateurish performers, terrible, cliché'd scripts) come from the southern states of the US.

Rarely do you see this...need to.. put their (un)talent in front of as many as possible from anger other than this area.

Their IS a logic (however pathetic); this is the same area of the country where 'beauty pageants' (even when they're babies), cheerleading, and all that is taut and repulsive is as big an industry as McDonald's and 'born-again' religion.

Here's what's wild; this area is also lounge to begging incapable of taking criticism - no matter how nicely put.

'Criticism' is a 'critique', i.e. laying out what's positive and negative in a given medium.

I've never (wasted my time and) watched (any) ('reality' show, nor) any contest, such as X Factor, but, the other dayci watched a video of try-outs for it, and all the ones I saw had the contestant walk in - always enthused, and then after giving a dreadful performance and told (politely) 'thanks, butt no thanks', they all turn into the most viscous children imaginable.

I didn't see one judge say anything rude (and when they did, it was only after having been repeatedly geared on by the contestant).

When a person is critiqued - especially in any entertainment area, it can (esp. at first) seem to be an attack, which it isn't. Rather than then trying to improve themselves, the outsole in there's shows just act like spoilt little monsters (and some - who are actually chronologically and physically adults) winner for their mums and dads.

I say this because there's many people who want to enter into the entertainment business (and it IS a business), and they study Ann's work at it for YEARS.

Until the past decade or so, there were real very few ways to 'get ones t for in the door', but now - with so many avenues, i.e., YouTube, the many cable, streaming channels, etc, as well as the cost of professional-like equipment dropping very low, one would think that people who are interested in trying to break in, would say to themselves,'i'm going to make sure that this project will be the best possible one. I'm going to find like-minded people to work with me on it, so the finished project will be a terrific showcase of all involved'.

One would think.

One would.. HOPE so.

But it seems that rather than grasping this - that the old adage - 'you get one shot at showing your best' would try, but, the amount of garbage cranked or is frightening.

No one - not in front , nor behind the camera - not any actor, nor writer, nor director, cinematographer, etc. shows anything worthy of praise, let all-in-one standing out. The best one can say is that they were smart enough to take the cap of the lens, but the script is pedantic, rather than having, showing any cleverness, originality. It's like everyone involved in this simply copied the multitude of (fill-in-the-blank), and did it.

Rather than studying acting, for even a semester, the actor seems to have said to herself, 'll saw so-and-so be blind, I'll just do that'. Same goes with the 'psycho killer', as well as all the tech people.

There's no originality, no creativity.

Someone like Robert Rodriguez - who came of age right before this glut of avenues to exhibit and the cheap cost of equipment worked - VERY hard - and then financed their first film ) El Mariachi) with his credit cards.

I guess that's a big part of what's the difference, even when he did this, he had to put himself on the line.

When one feels a connection between themselves and what it is they're offering up, be it a movie, a cake, a manuscript, or whatever, they really care about their 'baby', but, that care and concern seems to have been all but forgotten by many new wandse-be's of the last few years.

Not only is that a 'shame', but, as this deluge of drek continues, it'll finally reach a point where the people who control the 'faucets' will say, 'enough; no one watches it, no one requests it, it doesn't generate ANY returns'z

A the saying goes, in Hollywood, you're only s good as your last picture '.

These (primarily) southern US states wanna-be's better wake up, because in a business all about 'how much did you make' is paramount, the taps will turn dry on them.

One last thing; anytime you come across one of these.. films, and you see high ratings, when the majority are abysmal, they're almost always cranked out by a 'friend-of-a-friend' of those involved. Rather than trying to play by the rules of this business, they try to 'game' it, and is painfully obvious.

Rather than attempting to make a really good film with little budget,and focusing on a terrific story, they just crank out garbage, and then say it's 'the best film, ever', and all that does is anger people even more.

Lying never works.

First, a golden nugget of wisdom: "I always believed that survivors of trauma make the best counselors. Knowing the road, that's what makes a great guide. Every bit of change has a certain amount of push-back. You have to find the strength to know that you can fight it again, no matter what shape it takes."

This movie has a lot of great quotes, but I want to focus on the story.

Corrie English did an amazing job as Sam. I love the realism in this movie, as most of the characters have substance, a backstory.

As someone who has friends who've worked in call centers, and as someone who's volunteered for sort of a peer role in a similar way, this film hits home in a lot of ways.

John was an interesting character, but he wasn't explored very much in the ways of depth. He's clearly seen as an outcast with anger issues, and he hates the way people treat him. The only thing that makes him feel normal, or at peace, is talking to Sam, so he's become a repeated caller to Sam's crisis center. When he finds out through someone else that she's leaving, well... he tracks her down. What was once his place of comfort was the source of his greatest anger and rage.

Things like this happen, sometimes. It might not happen in the same way, but the story is pretty realistic in the way it represents the emotions of both the staff and the callers with certain issues.

Great film, and I especially like the narration at the end.

I'm not sure why this movie has such a low rating. I think it's great the way they implemented horror vibes to an otherwise dramatic plot of a suicide call center. The film was well done in all aspects.

If you're looking for a movie to make you jump out of your seat this is it. The setting in a dilapidated building at night really adds to the creepy factor. Corri English is really convincing in her portrayal of a blind woman and her confidence while roaming around alone makes for a terrifying movie. I wanted to yell at her to be careful - a lot. Van Hansis is great as Jess. He's the typical sensitive insightful guy in a helping profession who you'd want on your side against a killer. There is one scene when he talks about being a bully and, in my opinion, it was the best "non-scary" scene in the film. Tyler Mane is his usual scary self and the stunt work in the scene with him and Van is pretty great. Check this one out if you want to be creeped out.

The nice thing about Devil May Call is that its a compact story that packs a lot of punch. I was on the edge of my seat, and the nice thing about it was that I could watch it with just about anyone... without feeling the need to cover their or my eyes (or ears).

Corri English is fantastic and so is queen Traci Lords! She definitely stole the show.Though I would have liked to see her in the film more. I think the casting was done well, because not one star takes over the story. I was able to believe all of the actors in their characters.

The story flowed really well, I didn't have much to catch up with and I didn't get left behind by the story going too quickly.

I like that the gore wasn't excessive and I was never grossed out. A great thriller nonetheless!