NIGHT CALLER *** USA 2021 Dir: Chad Ferrin. 84 mins
After believing she’s seen a murder, telephone psychic Clementine Carter (Susan Priver) is pulled into a complex web of mystery when she receives a call from a serial killer. Predicting his murders before he commits them puts her into a terrifying game of cat and mouse. Enlisting the aid of her invalid father Charles (Robert Miano) and fellow clairvoyant co-worker Jade (Bai Ling), they must use their unique abilities to stay one step ahead of a maniac whose unspeakable acts in the present are nothing compared to his past and future.
This was a pretty solid and somewhat enjoyable effort. Among the better features to be had here is the fun setup at play here that attempts to do something original with the idea of the psychic seeing visions of a killer committing murders. The idea of her and her friend at the center trying to use their abilities to help others and getting caught up in the fray looking into the truth of her visions is quite intriguing. That leads rather nicely into the film’s highly impressive series of attacks and confrontations with the killer. Managing to spread itself nicely between actual present-day confrontations or the chillingly gruesome flash-visions of the killer attacking her, this comes together incredibly well with some strong scenes here. Along with the great gore in the brutal kills, these here hold this one up while there are some minor issues at play with this one. The main drawback to be had here is the utterly confusing and highly disjointed investigation that takes place here. This one jumps through a series of points that no real investigation would go through jumping to conclusions trying to convince her visions to others. This is all the better since hardly any of the motivations and purposes for the rampage make sense or make the killer threatening which overall makes this part of the film rather disappointing. As well, there’s also the rather jarring means this one attempts to showcase the psychic visions playing out which just appear without warning and are done without the context of them being visions so it comes off rather awkward in execution, leaving the entire investigation here being quite problematic and a big part of what holds this back.
Review by Don Anelli
NIGHT CALLER is out now on Digital Platforms