Stylish but barely mediocre overall

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Rachel is a successful roving reporter for a television station. One evening she comes home and all seems well. A home invasion occurs and the thief kills her significant other by stabbing. She's in shock. She loses her job, her place of work. She goes back to her home in Fillmore with her parents George and Marge, then gets a job at the local television station. Her first assignment is an ongoing one in which she is to report on some of the high points of the local architecture.When she goes to first stop on the list, the 'Sullivan House,' all seems as usual until she goes upstairs. Then she hallucinates a brutal stabbing of a woman by an enraged man. On her second visit, she meets Arnold, a photographer who is investigating paranormal events using very sensitive photographic equipment. When they are about to uncover a paranormal event, a big fellow gets in Arnold's way, then stabs him to death.Stephen does some research, and finds that Arnold was killed some years ago. Oh, my. The Chief would rather that Stephen and Rachel quit poking around the Sullivan house. So of course they go there the same night. The Chief gets a complaint about their skulking around, and confronts them in the house. Unfortunately for the Chief, Dr. Sullivan, who owns the house, has gotten out of prison, and he stabs the Chief to death.Rachel figures out that the killer is her father and the ghost in her first hallucination is the ghost of her birth mother.Does Rachel help resolve the ghost's psychological problems, so that the haunting stops? Will any of the cast survive Dr. Sullivan? Are there last minute surprises? ----Scores-----Cinematography: 6/10 Camera shake. Stupid camera angles.Sound: 5/10 There are some big shifts in volume for no particular purpose, except perhaps for shock effect.Acting: 0/10 Alexandra Holden and John Burke are both terrible in this film. Their delivery of lines is just poor, and their external affect seems irrelevant. Micah Costanza was wretched as Deputy Murken. Mike Korich as Arnie Howard was no prize either.Screenplay: 2/10 Does Rachel ever mourn Brian? Why is Rachel so snotty toward her parents? Why was absolutely nothing in this film scary? Bad writing.

In New York, the journalist Rachel Beckwith (Alexandra Holden) is attacked by a burglar and her fiancé Brian (Shawn Hoffman) is murdered trying to defend her. Rachel returns to her hometown Fillmore to recover in the house of her parents. Six months later, she is hired by Stephen Javitz (John Burke) to work in the local television and her first assignment is to cover the architecture of the mansions in Fillmore. Rachel is attracted to the abandoned house of Dr. Frank Sullivan (Tim Oman) and when she breaks in the house, she sees the murder of Mrs. Sullivan (Caia Coley) by Dr. Frank. She returns to the house later and also sees the murder of the journalist of the Fillmore Union Tribune Arnold "Arnie" Howard (Mike Korich). When she calls the police, she learns that Arnie died many years ago. Soon Rachel is contacted by the ghost of Mrs. Sullivan that asks her to help her family and her to find peace. Rachel decides to investigate her connection with the Sullivan's family and their house. "A Dead Calling" is an awful combination of a lame story with bad acting. It is unbelievable how a writer can create such poor and incoherent story. The way Rachel treats her parents when the ghost of Mrs. Sullivan talks to her is unpleasant and absurd. Rachel does not grieve George, who is simply forgotten in the happy end. The exterior of the haunted house is a beautiful white mansion. The snoopy neighbor is capable to see Rachel snooping around in the house, but does not hear shots in the end. The actor that performs Deputy Murken is terrible. Dr. Sullivan kills a deputy, a man on the road and the police do not chase him. Do not waste your time watching this garbage. My vote is two.Title (Brazil): "O Chamado da Morte" ("The Dead Calling")

You know those movies on Lifetime that they play around Halloween? If this didn't have the Lionsgate film company attached to it, I'd assume it was one of those cheesy made-for-television movies.The plot was just as contrived and convoluted as a Lifetime movie, complete with talking ghosts. Is there anything good to say about this movie? Sure. There's a small handful of competent actors. The scenery and props are good. Costumes are good. Music is good. There's even several parts that made me jump and cringe. But is it enough to redeem this hour and a half of life I wasted on it? No. The story, although unique, just wasn't written well enough to pull me in. Same goes for the characters. The mother and father acted like they dropped too much acid in the seventies. Then when she found out they weren't her biological parents, she immediately goes into spoiled princess mode and accuses them of making her live a lie; then comes out with some bizarre statement like "What if I have some genetic disease!?" Uh... what? You can find something like that out at any time in your life, adopted or otherwise. I'm surprised this even got an R rating considering the idea of talking helpful ghosts comes straight out of young adult novel for middle schoolers. Yeah. Talking ghosts that ask for help, give you true to life real secrets, and nod in support to encourage you? Last time I was entertained by something like that, I think I was twelve.Anyway, I ignored the other reviews and I won't get that hour and a half of my life back. You can save an hour and a half of your own life by learning from our mistakes. Or not. If you like bad Lifetime movies, this just might be the flick for you.

I can't chalk up one of my best attributes as being 'Sherlock Holmes' when it comes to predicting the outcome of most story lines, but about 30 minutes into this snail-paced "thriller" it was so obvious that even Anne Coulter could've figured it out.Someone wrote "not that bad"... Not that bad as ???? Uninspired plot line, jaded acting, not to mention John Burke as one of the leads. Hey, I liked him on 'FX - The Morning Show' and some other things along the way, but a lead he is not.Anyway, there may be some spoilers ahead... just thought I'd warn you...A young and upcoming reporter in NYC returns home late one night and is awakened by noises coming from the living room. She stumbles in the dark and comes face-to-face with a masked intruder. Anyway, her fiancée and the intruder get into a struggle, the fiancée is killed, the intruder escapes, etc., etc. Jump ahead six months... she has moved back in with her parents, gets a job at the local t.v. station doing a story on architectural details of local houses, especially one very ominous, abandoned home with a gory past. It seems the former resident, Dr. Frank Sullivan murdered his wife and daughters (except for one... see where this is going?) and is now on the loose.OK... nuff said... If you haven't figured this one out by now, then you probably are someone easily entertained by arena football or cock fighting. Save the $4.00 rental fees and choose something else, like American Pie 6 or the yet-to-be-released Bio pic about Milli Vanilli (yes, it is actually in the works at the time of this review).