When Michael Calls

"When Michael Calls" was made in 1972 and stars Elizabeth Ashely as Helen Connelly, a woman going through a divorce from her high powered attorney husband (Ben Gazzara) and has moved to a small New England town with her young daughter Peggy (Karen Pearson). Her nephew Craig (portrayed by a young Michael Douglas)is a psychiatrist at the Greenleaf School for Boys, an institution in the same town for troubled young men.

Things begin to get scary when Helen starts receiving eerie calls from a young boy who claims to be Michael, her nephew (and Craig's brother) who died 15 years earlier after he ran away from home in a snowstorm. You have to remember this movie was made long before there were cell phones or caller id, and the calls are genuinely creepy.

My only complaint about this movie is that I wish that the makers of this film would have spent more time answering some basic questions such as why would the calls start suddenly after 15 years? Who is the voice of the young boy on the other end of the line? These questions are never explained and I think it would have been nice to have the answers to these basic questions. There are a couple of not real scary murders until the killer is revealed at the end. Despite some minor flaws, I love this movie and remember watching it when I was a kid when it came out in 1972. I recently got to see it again when it aired on the Fox Movie Channel. It was also fun to see Michael Douglas in the picture as he is very young and basically at the beginning of his long and storied career. Fans of 1970's Movie of the Week will definitely have to see this one!

Elizabeth Ashley is receiving phone calls from her nephew Michael--he's crying, screaming and asking for help. The problem is Michael died 15 years ago.

This film scared me silly back in 1972 when it aired on ABC. Seeing it again, years later, it STILL works.

The movie is a little slow and predictable, the deaths are very tame, it's never explained why it takes Michael 15 years to call and there's a tacked-on happy ending, but this IS a TV movie so you have to give it room. Elizabeth Ashley is excellent, Ben Gazzara is OK and it's fun to see Michael Douglas so young. And those telephone calls still scare the living daylights out of me. I actually had to turn a light on during one of them!

A creepy little TV movie. Worth seeing.

I remember being scared to death when this film first aired on TV in 1971. Of course, I was all of nine years old at the time. When Michael Calls was recently shown on Fox Movies, and I had a chance to relive my memories of terror. Surprisingly, the film holds up remarkably well, even with the tacked on and predictable happy ending that ties up all the loose ends. I even had to turn a light on while I watched!

Doremus and Helen Connelly (Ben Gazzara and Elizabeth Ashley) have been divorced for some time, and Doremus takes it upon himself to simply show up at Helen's home. He says he's come to see their daughter, which is a violation of their divorce agreement.

Soon after her ex-husband's arrival, Helen begins receiving phone calls from someone claiming to be the title character. Helen doesn't believe it, since her nephew Michael died fifteen years prior. Of course, the calls continue, becoming more urgent, eerie, and unhinged. Has Michael somehow returned from the grave, or is Helen losing her mind? Helen grows suspicious, and there are plenty of potential suspects for her to choose from.

Then, Michael begins forecasting death and doom, and everything changes.

WHEN MICHAEL CALLS is another made-for-TV horror movie from the early 1970's. This was a time when such quality films as this were being made for network television. All these years later, it's still effective, though I do admit to finding Michael's whiny voice a bit annoying!

Co-stars Michael Douglas as Craig, and Marian Waldman as Elsa Britton...

When Michael Calls or Shattered Silence is a fine film especially for a TV film. Michael Douglas, Ben Gazzara, and Elizabeth Ashley are in this movie. All three veteran actors all performed well. I was amazed by Gazzara and his character interaction with his daughter. The music was good and fits the film good. The movie has good direction by Philip Leacock. There are some cool scenes in the picture. The movie is unusual and will have you guessing through out so if you like thrilling mystery movies and like to see Michael Douglas, Ben Gazzara, and Elizabeth Ashley in a film then see if you can catch this movie on television, rent, or even buy it because its a good movie.