azathothpwiggins 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, Peggy, which is a violation of their divorce agreement. Soon after his 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? Or, is something else going on? Helen is suspicious, and there are plenty of potential suspects for her to choose from. A school of red herrings, so to speak! 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 (BLACK CHRISTMAS, DERANGED) as Elsa Britton...

Bec_son99 An enjoyable atmospheric, psychological thriller; better than you might expect. A little odd and even humorous at times, but that's part of the charm. Pretty good for a TV movie.

Rainey Dawn 'Shattered Silence' AKA 'When Michael Calls' (1972) Craig (M. Douglas) has lost his brother Michael 15 years prior to the beginning of the story. Michael begins to call Helen (E. Ashley) on the phone, seemingly in distress every call. Doremus (B. Gazzara) is Helen's ex-husband or soon to be ex - but he is there to help Helen through this terrible nightmare and to solve the mystery of Michael.Micheal calls Helen "Auntie" which is odd. Craig and Michael are brothers and if Michael is Helen's nephew then Craig would be Helen's other nephew. *In reality Helen and Craig are just close to one another, friends - according to the Wiki article.* Why we are lead to believe that Helen and Michael are related/family and not Craig is strange in itself. Most every source says Michael is Helen's nephew or A woman (Helen) receives phone calls from a relative. - when he is not.A good thriller - bizarre. Worth watching if you get a chance to see it. Those phone calls from Micheal will have you shivering. :) 8.5/10

tamstrat As several others here have stated, I too watched this movie when it originally aired on TV back in 1972 when I was 11 years old and it was very scary then and is pretty creepy today, now that I am in my 40's. Helen (Elizabeth Ashley) lives alone with her young daughter and she starts receiving creepy, threatening phone calls from "Michael", her nephew who supposedly died in a blizzard after running away from home 15 years earlier. The acting is good, especially a young Michael Douglas, but there were several things left unanswered, why did Michael run away, why after all these years do the phone calls start up, etc? But overall the movie is a good little flick to watch with the lights off. Enjoy!!!