76-Minutes DVD - "When Evil Calls", It Is Misleading.
Lionsgate cannot appropriately promote a Winstone Sister DVD. Ray should have a word with them.
Jaime's "Cravings" is not about vampires and Lois's "When Evil Calls" is not a Japanese, paranormal horror knock off. It is definitely not a full-length feature. Was this distributor trying to come off as trashy as the lesser Family Video DVD providers? Trash is what was rented when "The Dark Knight" was checked out. That is a sideways move.
Samantha is the headmaster's daughter at her high school, and she just wants to be popular. After the wicked popular girl Kirsty stomps on her cell phone, Sam cannot stand the torment any longer. Fortunately, a demonic clown arrives to repair her phone and make her an offer. She will be granted one wish as long as she texts the same offer to two friends.
Her desperation leads her to wish to become the most popular girl in school, cost be damned. And all goes well for her. But for those who continue to pass the text messages along to their friends, they soon find out that one must be careful for what they wish for.
I rented "When Evil Call" because of its ensemble cast. Sean Pertwee ("Dog Soldiers", "Event Horizon", "Formula 51"), Chris Barrie (Rimmer from "Red Dwarf"), and Dominique Pinon ("The City of Lost Children", "Alien Resurrection") being billed lead me to believe it would overcome any Asian horror influence. Thankfully, "When Evil Calls" is a British comedy. This may clash with the horror elements because dry humor and gore are not something you would immediately associate with slapstick.
This series of stories was conceived as the first horror series for mobile phones. I suppose Jeffrey Katzenberg failed to research this series when coming up with Quibi. Obviously this was not going to translate well to DVD in terms of effects and direction quality. The director Johannes Robert wisely uses an over-the-top Pertwee to hold the stories together. Barrie and Pinon make sure the audience is supposed to laugh and not expect to be scared.
"When Evil Calls" maybe a let down for a fan of mass produced horror, but if you are into "Monty Python Lite" humor, it serves as a nice retreat to celebrate the ridiculous nature of the genre. Gore of "Holy Grail's" levels with the appropriately silly violence, this series is not meant to be taken too seriously. Too bad the story about how one arrives at this title is more memorable than the series itself.
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