The Calling (5/10): Its greatest crime is that it doesn't offer anything new to the genre.

“I’ve never seen anything like this.”

With so many great TV shows about serial killers and police procedurals, it’s hard to find The Calling appealing. It’s getting more difficult to direct an engaging and suspenseful film in just a two hour period because these series have more time to explore the characters and allow us to engage with them. If directors want to have success with this genre it’s necessary to come up with either an intriguing and original story or give the film a unique artistic style. The Calling does neither of the two. This is director Jason Stone’s first full feature length film, and despite having Susan Sarandon in the star role there is very little about this procedural that feels authentic or new. Everything about this film feels recycled from other better movies or series and even the fact that the story centers on a strong female lead isn’t new anymore (Fargo is a film that easily comes to mind) and neither is its sombre tone. 

The film was adapted by Scott Abramovitch from Inger Ash Wolfe’s novel and it centers around a local small town detective named Hazel Micallef (Susan Sarandon) who really hasn’t had much to do during her years of service. She drinks a lot of alcohol to fight her depression and she continues to live with her mother, Emily (Ellen Burstyn) with whom she doesn’t seem to get along too well. One day she discovers a gruesome murder of one of the town’s old ladies and as she investigates the case she is convinced it’s the work of a serial killer. Hazel and her partner, Detective Ray (Gil Bellows), welcome a new and young officer, Ben Wingate (Topher Grace), who has transferred from a big city and is eager to help on the case. They discover that there have been a number of unrelated murders in nearby towns and that these killings all seem to be spiritual so they consult on the case with Father Price (Donald Sutherland). But as they get closer to the killer the more exposed they are. 

To be honest the film does do a decent job at building the suspense and keeping the audience interested in what is going on during the first half of the movie. Unfortunately the film loses its appeal during the second part and the resolution is far from being memorable. It’s unfortunate because the cast is rather strong and Sarandon delivers a solid performance, but her character is a walking cliche and one we’ve seen represented in movies many times before. The talented Donald Sutherland and Ellen Burstyn are completely wasted in this film and they could’ve been given much more to do with their roles instead of simply showing up a couple of times on screen. There simply isn’t anything here that makes The Calling stand out from other films in the genre, and that is its greatest crime.  

My Review: House at the End of the Street (4/10)

"People don't notice all the secrets around them. Even though they're right in front of them, just hiding, waiting to be found."

If you thought the title of this film was bad, wait until you actually see the movie because it is pretty much a standard film in the horror genre. I don't even think you can consider this one a horror film, because there isn't much scares; it is more of a teen romantic suspense film.  It's formulaic and by the books. Jennifer Lawrence had a perfect rating until I got around to watching this film. She didn't have much to work with and she gives a decent performance but nothing like the work we've come to expect from her these days. This is a forgettable film and one that despite having an interesting twist towards the end ruins it by extending the absurdity a bit too long in the final act. The clever twist lost its appeal for me when director, Mark Tonderai, decided to continue stretching out the scene making each second more and more unbelievable and pointless.

The screenplay co-written by David Loucka and Jonathan Mostow centers on a single mother, Sarah (Elisabeth Shue), and her teenage daughter, Elissa (Jennifer Lawrence) who arrive from Chicago to a small town to start a new life. Their new home is big and beautiful and of course they bought it cheap because the house in front of theirs has a dark past. A 13 year old girl murdered her parents four years ago and never was found. The girl's brother, Ryan (Max Thieriot), who was living with her aunt at that time now lives in that house and leads a quiet and lonely life. The neighbors aren't too friendly towards him, but Elissa who happens to have a thing with fixing broken people takes a liking for him. Her mother is worried about their new friendship, but the town's Sherif (Gil Bellows) assures her that he's never caused any trouble. But Ryan has a secret he's kept to himself all this time which explains his lonely behavior. 

House at the End of the Street is full of cliches and borrows ideas from other much better horror films. I would've enjoyed the twist more if it didn't rely so much on these cliches and would have avoided the predictable ending. There's a scene where Ryan and Elissa stare at a tree and he tells her how he sees the face of a man on it. It's a straight forward metaphor in the film reminding us that sometimes we see things that aren't really there. Storytellers have the power to make us believe or see things about certain characters that are truly not there. The film might appeal to some teens and fans of Jennifer Lawrence, but this formulaic film has bad editing and relies on so many horror cliches like the "shocking" sound effects that don't necessarily work very well. It's ineffective and uninspiring and if we had never heard of Jennifer Lawrence before we'd never consider her as an upcoming star.