Watching a movie about the Aztec death whistle, I think, is like the act of blowing the Aztec death whistle: what else did you expect? Admittedly, it’s an unsavory, unsavory situation in which the dreaded slice of teenage cheese is built – The call it’s a movie about a killer whistle. Adjust your expectations accordingly! But despite setting the bar down in the pits of hell, The call barely getting over it.
Recovering teenage addict Chrys (Logan.‘s Dafne Keen, finally taking the lead role 9 years later) – born in Chrysanthemum but not like other girls, you see – moves to the shadowy steel town after a personal tragedy. The call it’s not short on atmosphere (it’s the rare modern horror that feels deliberately lit) but when it comes to impactful scares it comes up empty.
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Chrys arrives at her new school and immediately inherits a locker that houses an ancient Aztec death whistle (If I had gasoline…) Hit it, says a compulsively-scary old woman (Michelle Fairley) at the start of the second act, and your death is brought forward. Are you destined to die of old age? You will shrivel right there. Have you passed away in a car accident? Your body will be violently placed in your room. It’s a curious twist on the Final Destination a concept that is given some life by Corin Hardy’s powerful, energetic direction.
But The call ultimately afflicted with plasticky panic and sloppiness. Keen starts off sad and always happy as the sad Chrys, and the film clearly thinks it’s doing something by emphasizing the sketchy little romance between Chrys and the sweetest girl in class, Ellie (Sophie Nélisse). The pair are supported by the cast of Breakfast club the knockoffs — the nerd (Sky Yang), the jock (Jhaleil Swaby), and the queen bee (Ali Skovbye) — aren’t cute enough to cry about or small enough to hate.
Strong pepper in the Easter eggs referencing famous directors – David Cronenberg, Paul Verhoeven and, eh, Andy Muschietti – so he is clear about his influences, but the underused ghouls and diminutive crones can’t come close to the thrilling body horror of his inspiration. Nicholas Emerson’s clear editing is final The call going at a good pace but everything is looking up. A grim industrial city has sprung up All That Goes Right and the inclusion of a young priest who is secretly a drug dealer (?) is a funny retro detail (there is a strong .‘don’t do drugs, kids!’ a very unironic feeling), but The call it never settled into anything memorable.
Above all, The call it wakes up 2017‘s Wish Uponthe same weak, CGI-filled horror about a haunted music box also comes up a lot 80s fear. Both films take B‑movie ideas and fail to give them the right amount of camp and realistic effects to really stand out. There was room for something funny here – it bears repeating: this is a movie about a killer whistle. Why does it take itself so seriously?
