Halloween is just around the corner and with only a few horror movies to get your BOO! on, there have been a few shorts I've seen that may replace that empty shivering feeling you so want to enjoy. Dropping me a line is Peter Podgursky, who sent me and all of you, a little 7 minute short called "The Night Caller" that had me hearing old time ringtones that gave me the chills. It premiered at Screamfest yesterday.Peter gives a bit of info on his latest project which he co-directed/wrote with Donna Thorland.
Peter’s other short, Cheerbleeders (see review here), screened at festivals around the world and is currently available on iTunes. He is also the producer of Night of the Little Dead, and Dracula’s Daughters versus the Spacebrains.
Donna is a former ABC/Disney Television Writing Fellow, worked as a staff writer on the primetime drama, Cupid, and most recently penned several episodes for Disney’s new animated series, Tron: Uprising.
The Night Caller is adapted from a short story by horror writer Gary Raisor who was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel for Less Than Human in 1992.
Synopsis: A father's promise to read his daughter a bedtime story begins a night time descent into terror and madness for his young wife.
Check out the short and then read my review!
the jaded viewer says: Remaking that "old spooky phone call in the house" genre (is that a genre?) The Night Caller introduces us to a typical American family from a time where landlines, tacky wallpaper and family dinners were all the rage. At 7 minutes, the short gets us acquainted with our mom and "princess" and gets the cute and fuzzies just as dad arrives. Acting here by all (Laurel Vail, Angela Ryan, and Mike Horton) are all solid. But as dad is called away, the mysterious phone calls start up and Mom gets the willies.
I keep thinking I already know this genre (maybe it's somebody in the house!) or maybe it's a prank caller or the daughter play a mean old trick. But it does keep you guessing and the mild twist is predictable but still effective.
Podgursky and Thorland play a bit of nostalgia and if you can remember those old timey landline phones and that echoing deafening ring, you'll get a kick out of The Night Caller. It has a bit of Twilight Zone and Outer Limits creepiness and takes you into Drew Daywalt like spookiness.
It's a nice Halloween short while you're eating your suspiciously opened candy.
Check out the below for more info.
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Whenever I see indies like this, I wonder why I bother to see Hollywood films anymore. It gave me a start, and the answers are not spelled out in tedious obviousness, and it's not in your face, and I am still sitting here asking myself questions about what the hell happened.
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