The Call (2013)

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General		Extras
Category	Thriller	Main Menu Audio & Animation Deleted Scenes
Rating	?
Year Of Production	2013
Running Time	90:04
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	?
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Brad Anderson
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Halle Berry Abigail Breslin
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	John Debney

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Thrillers tend to be quite formulaic at times and I enjoy ones that don't completely stick to the cliches of those that have gone before. This film is an interesting entry into the canon of police/psycho killer thriller finding a different approach and coming up with a non-formulaic conclusion.

    The plot involves veteran 911 operator, Jordan Turner (Halle Berry) of the LAPD. Her days and nights are filled with trying to help people in emergency situations as she operates her 911 station. She is experienced and knows how to handle most situations, however, one evening she faces a call which is from a young teenage girl who is home alone and a prowler is trying to get into the house. Things go wrong and Jordan believes that she is responsible for the young girl's murder. To aid her recovery she comes off the front line of 911 responders and instead trains new recruits in how to deal with 911 situations before they become full-time operators. 6 months later as she is showing a batch of new recruits around one of her recent trainees takes a call which she is not equipped to handle and Jordan steps in. The call is from another teenage girl, Casey Welson (Abigail Breslin) who has been kidnapped from a shopping centre and is in the boot of a car calling on an untraceable mobile phone. Based on clues given to her by Casey she must try to work out where the car is and direct police to her rescue.

    This film builds effective tension throughout and the pace doesn't really let up for the entire 90 minute run time. The acting is certainly good from the two leads and Michael Eklund as the psycho. Michael Imperioli also makes a fairly brief but effective appearance. There are some plot twists which stretch the bounds of believability especially in the last third, however, the end is refreshingly different to many similar thrillers. The film was directed by Brad Anderson whose career has mostly been in television. His direction highlights the tension and combined with a taut plot and a quality score by John Debney create a good atmosphere.

    An effective thriller. Recommended.

Video

    The feature is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio.It is 16x9 enhanced.

    The picture was sharp and clear for DVD. Shadow detail was very good.

    The colour is also very good for DVD.

    There were no noticeable artefacts.

    There are subtitles available in English for the Hearing Impaired which are clear and easy to read.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio quality is very good.

    This disc contains an English soundtrack in Dolby Digital 5.1 plus an Audio Descriptive track in Dolby Digital 2.0.

    Dialogue was clear and easy to understand.

    The music by John Debney is excellent really adding to the tension of the story.

    The surround speakers were well used for atmosphere, screams, the sounds of the boot and more.

    The subwoofer supported the music and action scenes.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

    The menu is good featuring animation and audio.

Deleted & Extended Scenes (4:48)

    A pointless selection of mildly different scenes and a different end title sequence.

    This DVD is available in other regions however I cannot find any details of its contents. It is also available on Blu-ray here and overseas.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is very good.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall