"When Evil Calls" (2006) TV mini-series

User Rating:

3.1/10   

Director:

Johannes Roberts

Writers:

David Cairns (script revision)
Tom Grass (script revision)

Release Date:

22 January 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Horror

Tagline:

Evil has your number

Plot:

When Evil Calls centres around the mysterious appearance of a text message that grants the students of at Wilburn High School their wildest desires.

Plot Keywords:

Evil | Mobile | Calls | TV Mini-Series

Cast

Jennifer Lim	...	Samantha
Sean Pertwee	...	The Janitor
Dominique Pinon	...	Detective Ringwald
Chris Barrie	...	Headmaster / Samantha's Father
Lois Winstone	...	Kirsty
Sean Brosnan	...	Nelson
Oscar Pearce	...	The Clown
Rick Warden	...	Mr. Dale
Lucy Barker	...	Miss Nibb
Shaun Hutson	...	Daniel's Stepdad
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Victoria Aitken	...	Jane
Katherine Baillie	...	Basketball Girl 6
Marc Baylis	...	Al
Benjamin Beechy	...	Charlie
Amy Bennett	...	Basketball Girl 2
Jo Blacknell	...	Ross
Vikki Blows	...	Hilary
Michael Buckster	...	Kenny
Gemma Chan	...	Molly Nelson
Rachel Ezekwugo	...	Nurse
Memi Ferlaise	...	Basketball Girl 3
Joanne Gale	...	Basketball Girl 1
Ben Grass	...	Mortician
Lia Hirst	...	Basketball Girl 4
Daniel Jefferson	...	Martin's Farther (as Dave Lee)
Ebony Johnson	...	Victoria
Marysia Kay	...	Alice
Carrie Anne Knight	...	Basketball Girl 5
Ksenia Lavrentieva	...	Carol
Luke Lynch	...	Peter
Gareth Martin	...	Martin
Shona McWilliams	...	Susan
Simon Nuckley	...	Neville
Yuriko Ogino	...	Samantha's Mother
Danny Parsons	...	Daniel
Virginie Picot	...	Goth Girl
Rebecca Pitkin	...	Laura
James Rees-Hunt	...	Mark
Leila Reid	...	Linda
Katharine Waugh	...	Mrs. Hooper

MPAA:

Rated R for violence/gore, sexual content/nudity and language.

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:R

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

Gatlin Pictures

Trivia:

The world's first horror series for mobile phones extended with extra footage for DVD release.

I wish, I wish...that Evil calls someone else.

Jennifer Lim stars in this flat-liner of a horror, cast too, in films such as Rogue Trader (1999), Hostel (2005) and 27 Dresses (2008) she, amongst others, is seen parading around school in what seems to be, literally, the bear essentials. Put together by Gatlin Pictures (Darkhunters (2004) and Forest of the Damned (2005), to date), Pure Grass Films (Beyond the Rave (2008 video)) and directed by Johannes Roberts, this was first released as a mini-series that was broadcast originally via mobile (cell) phones, and then ultimately released on 18 Certificate DVD with full extended footage.

Now in its entirety, and with stars as Dominique Pinon (Diva (1981), Delicatessen (1991), The City of Lost Children (1995), Alien: Resurrection (1997) and Amélie (2001)), Sean "Dog Soldiers" Pertwee and Chris Barrie (Red Dwarf's Arnold Rimmer) one would have hoped for a great film in tow, but alas, no. We can certainly see the target audience here, with the main attraction being these older teens to early twenty something's carrying their uniforms to maximum effect, with so little interest in production value, script and imagination, what merit is there for anything else? A bigger budget may have helped, after all and in all fairness, this is the two fledgling Production companies at their genesis, with hope and hindsight it may improve and no doubt, the overall experience for everyone may not have been a total waste.

The narrative isn't that new, a nondescript girl (Jennifer Lim) wishes only to be more popular in school, her wish comes true via an extremely evil looking clown (not a bad effort too) who has the ability to transform peoples wishes into reality via mobile phones, hence, when evil calls. This, of course, does not go according to plan; the butterfly effect has some pretty nasty (budget allowing) consequences.

The main cast here seems just as hyped, as too the short lengths of the girls skirts, then used to little effect but to add a name to the credits, then again, with only a running time of 75 minutes, it had to go one way or the other, and tails, the boys lost. It does have its moments, both of humour and fright, but they seem too dry, too fleeting and too far apart. Dominique Pinon's screen time here is tantamount to scandalous and Sean Pertwee's straight out of the rulebook script looked more inarticulate and uninspiring to say the least.

We know, or should have more sense to see, that this is more than straight-to-video; this is film-making on-the-knock. We can only hope that, in time, the two companies involved and their future projects will make a handsome return. If this were not to be the case, then the unfortunate evil Clown should stay behind after school and write out a hundred times: This tried its best, but it just wasn't good enough.