The Calling

"When all the sacrifices are complete God will forgive the trespasses." Hazel (Sarandon) is a detective is a town where nothing ever happens. When she stops in to see a local woman that hasn't been answering her phone she is shocked to see her murdered. When more and more bodies are found she suspects a serial killer. New officer Ben Wingate (Grace) starts to help her investigate and what they find is more chilling then they imagined. There are some movies that are very slow moving and hard to stay focused on. This is a slow moving movie that actually manages to hold your attention. This is kind of a mix of Seven and Boondock Saints in the way that the killings are related to the Bible but when you find out the reason for them you start to wonder if it's really a bad thing. This is a movie that you can not talk too much about without giving away something but I will say that I did enjoy this even though it did seem to drag in a few parts. Overall, a creepy movie that is worth seeing but you have to be in the mood for it. I give it a B.

Set in the wintry rural wasteland of Canada, 'The Calling' could be the bastard child of 'Fargo' and 'Omen'. The film begins with depressed, alcoholic, pill-popping Sheriff Hazel roused from her suicidal daydreams when the mutilated corpse of an elderly female acquaintance is discovered After Hazel learns several other mutilated remains have been scattered around the frozen countryside, she begins to suspect a deranged predator might be on the prowl in her precinct. Scoffed at by her superior, she marshals the small town's oddball duo of police officers and their perky receptionist to catch themselves a serial killer. Before too long, Hazel and her team are sipping strong black coffee in their cruisers and detecting like big city gumshoes.

The script reveals some glaring holes as Hazel's investigations uncover an occult connection linking the killings. Thankfully, decent acting papers over some of these threadbare patches. When a few of the loose ends are tied up at the conclusion, the killer turns out to be a routine lunatic, and the rationale for his murderous activities is the standard silliness for this genre of film.

'The Calling' is one of those movies that never tries to stand out in any way. It never tries to shock its audience and win points with extra levels of violence or shocking plot twists that leave your mouth gaping open. It is simply content being a solid, well acted film that audiences can appreciate and then most likely forget. And that's OK. It's better than a film trying to be more than what it's capable of and turning into a bombsite. Director Jason Stone, in his feature film debut, made the call to go down this route and I think it was a good decision all things considered.

The movie has a solid cast, but not an overly exciting one. Susan Sarandon, Donald Sutherland, Topher Grace, Ellen Burstyn - all fine actors, however none of them are going to steal a scene or bring a lot of energy to the film. That was one issue with the film, was that it always felt a little flat. No real action scenes or plot twists can find the movie going through the motions, discovering clue after clue, until the final showdown and then it's over. Solid, but a little tedious at times. Nevertheless it's more watchable than a number of thrillers being released today and it certainly isn't going to offend anyone. Give it a look.

This film tells the story of a female detective in a quiet small town, who is addicted to alcohol and pills. Her great friend is murdered one day, and she sets out to find the murderer. Two days later, another murder occurs, and she is determined to get to the bottom of it.

"The Calling" starts off very slow, and I have to say I was about to lose interest in it. Fortunately, the plot turns very engaging soon after the second murder occurs. The puzzle presented here is certainly different from other crime films, which makes this film more captivating. Topher Grace is very good as a young policeman who is intelligent and dedicated. Susan Sarandon looks very good in the film, and I can't quite believe she is already over seventy. I enjoyed this film, and I would recommend it to others.

Sometimes we want a fast paced thriller, but in reality life is not like that! Nowadays I like films with more realism, its not to say that a film cannot have more crammed into it. Silence of the Lambs - that's my favorite creepy serial killer film which had plenty of material rammed into that.

The drunken drug worn out sheriff, doesn't matter who you are in life that part can get anybody, she wasn't legless but needed a tipple here and there and painkillers for some ailment she had.

I quite liked the film, bit empty in some areas, and as said slow paced. Its not a film i would pay to watch at the cinema but if I sat at home one evening and watched it on TV i would not feel cheated out of any hrs watching it.

Very watchable - Not a bad film, far from it!