TheLittleSongbird By all means it is far from great, but compared to the usual schlock from The Asylum, along with I Am Omega When a Killer Calls was actually tolerable. It does have its flaws certainly, most acting is not good, often pretty bad, though Robert Buckley's eyes are gorgeous. They were disadvantaged by that the characters really got on my nerves, not because they were stereotypical but they were made to do irritating things and just weren't that likable. The script also is left wanting, a lot of it has a corny and senseless quality to it, and the story aside from being very derivative has one too many moments where it is predictable and unexciting particularly in the middle. The stalking sequences are on the silly side. However, it doesn't look too bad, you don't expect much from The Asylum in this regard but it does at least have a decently atmospheric feel to it. Even the effects were creepy. The killings are bloody with some suspense too and the finale is truly harrowing. The killer, played by Mark Irvingson in the best performance of the movie, is quite sadistic and exudes menace, if there was any character that was at least convincing it was certainly him. Rebekah Kochan was also believable as the babysitter. All in all, not that bad for The Asylum. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Michael_Elliott When a Killer Calls (2006) ** 1/2 (out of 4) The Asylum's mockbuster of WHEN A STRANGER CALLS (the remake) has Trisha (Rebekah Kochan) going to babysit when she starts tor receive harassing phone calls. Pretty soon she starts to think it's her boyfriend but when he shows up at the house she knows it must be someone else and soon they're all under attack. WHEN A KILLER CALLS is a film that you'd think would be horrible but I have to give director Peter Mervis credit for actually delivering a pretty strong film and one that certainly isn't going to be for the weak. I say it's a film that's not for the weak because it has quite a bit of guts to go as far as it actually does. There's certainly lines that you don't cross in movies and especially in American movies but this film here pushes those lines to the side within the first five minutes of the picture. Normally killing a child or children is a major no no and when a film does it you know it means business. The body count here is extremely high, which is something that was missing from the remake. I think fans of gore should be entertained by this thing because it's quite savage in regards to the violence and there's a lot of the run stuff going around. I even thought Mervis built up some nice tension early on in the film, which must be a first for The Asylum. With all of that said, there are still some problems in the film including a pretty boring second act. Once all the teens get to the house things really slow down quite a bit and the 91-minute running time could have probably benefited from some of this stuff being cut out. Another problem is that some of the performances really weren't all that believable but Kochan is decent in the lead and Mark Irvingsen is good as the killer. WHEN A KILLER CALLS really shorts itself because many people are going to pass it up because of it being a rip of another movie but that would be a shame. While this falls well short of the 1979 film, this is much better than the remake and I'd say better than several genre pictures out there.

Chris Mackey (guestar57) WHEN A KILLER CALLS a TheAsylum release Starring Rebekah Kochan and Chriss Anglin "MOVIEMAKER magazine recently said this about TheAsylum movie paradigm,to piggy back your film upon other studios marketing-commercials-perhaps threats of lawsuits This is why you can have 3 War Of The Worlds( including TheAsylum w/C.Thomas Howell) make money." This is a brutal movie,We can blame the success of SAW and HOSTEL,They must be painful to sell to today's teen audience(Which a whole other article). Guestar was surprised how smart some scenes are,The phone has not been this abused since SCREAM. We were glad to see Chriss Anglin again,and the lead was impressive-REBEKAH KOCHAN,the lady is so sweet and strong in When A Killer Calls,This is most impressive after the mean-spirited friend she played in EXORCISM:THE POSSESSION OF GAIL BOWERS. Hey,Are we wrong or are all text messages on phone props-wasted. The special effects by Mili Rendler are brutal,yet real looking.Faces are contorted in a cutting fashion,and Hands get hammered(NOT DRUNK ).Two other performances we liked are Mark Irvingsen as the suspect and Sarah Hall as the other girl,Mark comes on as time-bombish and Sarah is oddly compelling to the viewer.Peter Mervis ( interviewed last time)delivers a smoother film than DEAD MEN WALKING,his first TheAsylum picture and shows the learning of a craft.

pilsner Just want to inform you guys that this movie was actually pretty good !!! Thought it was a lame ass movie, but not at all, many moments in this movie wore pretty horrifying. This movie has enough blood, gore, and some sexy make out scenes of course, to keep any horror buff like me 100% satisfied! The cast was also pretty good IMO. Even though its not a high budget movie, the effects wore definitely kinda creepy sometimes. Worth watching if u like a kick ass horror movie thats for sure!!Tom