When Evil Calls (2006)

In the frightening vein of FINAL DESTINATION and URBAN LEGEND the mysterious appearance of a text message granting the recipient's wildest desires triggers a series of freakishly gory accidents at a remote boarding school.Cast: Jennifer Lim Dominique Pinon Sean PertweeDirector: Johannes RobertsSystem Requirements:Run Time: 90 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR/MURDER & MAYHEM Rating: R UPC: 031398223719 Manufacturer No: 22371 Product Description

 Apparently the world's first horror series for mobile phones
"When Evil Calls" is the sort of horror movie you put on if you are having a party comprised of guys drinking mass quantities of beer, even though I am sure this film will disappoint in the nudity department with the exception of one obvious sequence. The film has an interestint genesis in that it was originally produced as a "mini-series" for mobile phones, which explains why it is basically a compilation of shorts links by episodic title cards. The premise is simple: a demonic clown sends text messages to the kids at some English prep school telling them they have won a wish. They text the wish, forward the message to two friends, and it gets granted. The cover art makes it look like this is going to be a standard low-budget horror flick but really it is a horror comedy. You know it is not to be taken seriously since all of these kids get all excited when their cell phones tell them that they have won a wish and actually make wishes (Has the concept of spam not crossed over to mobile phones?).

So the wishes get granted but apparently nobody in this school has every read "The Monkey's Paw" or any of its descendants which make it clear that when an evil force grants your wish there is going to be some sort of catch. Making a simple wish like "I wish I was prettier than Victoria" or "I wish I was skinny" becomes an invitation to very bad things happening. By time one of the characters says "I wish that I never see you again" you know full well what is coming with this runing gag (which really goes not involve anything that really would make you run and gag). Like I said, this is done for laughs, albeit it sick laughs and a grim lesson in why you should never wish that your girlfriend had bigger breasts. The ones that end up standing out are the ones that are the most tongue in cheek, such as "I wish that I had X-Ray vision" and the twisted little twist on "I wish that I could kiss Molly." The episodes here run the gamut and if the hits do not outnumber the misses in the end, then do not be surprised.

It is ironic that the various episodes are narrated by the Janitor (Sean Pertwee) in pseudo-Crypt Keeper style because watching "When Evil Calls" reminds me of when I when I got The Complete Tales From the Crypt and started reading the classic E.C. comic books one after another. It does not take you long to start anticipating the "E.C. Twist" in each story (known prior to that time as the "O. Henry Twist" and after those days as "The Twilight Zone Twist"). So reading them back-to-back-to-back starts to wear on your pretty quickly, and that is what happens with the episodes in this movie. Delivered periodically over your mobile phone works a lot better with these stories than watching them all in one run. That is why I can see it going over well with a bunch of guys who are partying hard, because it does not offer a complete narrative, the episodes are brief enough to be easily comprehended, and the humor appeals to the stereotypical mentality of this, um, stereotype, because this is a hoot-n-holler horror comedy. January 31, 2008

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