The Calling (2014)

Detective Hazel Micallef hasn't had much to worry about in the sleepy town of Fort Dundas until a string of gruesome murders in the surrounding countryside brings her face to face with a serial killer driven by a higher calling.

Director:

Jason Stone

Writers:

Scott Abramovitch, Michael Redhill (novel) (as Inger Ash Wolfe)

Stars:

Susan Sarandon, Gil Bellows, Ellen Burstyn

4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Susan Sarandon	...	Hazel Micallef
Gil Bellows	...	Detective Ray Green
Ellen Burstyn	...	Emily Micallef
Topher Grace	...	Ben Wingate
Donald Sutherland	...	Father Price
Christopher Heyerdahl	...	Simon
Kevin Parent	...	Spere
Katy Breier	...	Melanie Cartwright
Paulino Nunes	...	Officer Mathieson
Ted Whittall	...	Ian Mason
Amanda Brugel	...	Officer Vongarner
John Ralston	...	Andrew Pederson
Natalie Radford	...	Glynnis Pederson
Alex Poch-Goldin	...	Bob Chandler
Ella Ballentine	...	Rose Batten

Storyline

Detective Hazel Micallef hasn't had much to worry about in the sleepy town of Fort Dundas until a string of gruesome murders in the surrounding countryside brings her face to face with a serial killer driven by a higher calling.

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Plot Keywords:

serial killer | house fire | bouquet | tied to a chair | praying | 

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Taglines:

Pray for the Prey

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violent content, disturbing images and some language

Details

Country:

USA Canada UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 August 2014 (USA)

Also Known As:

El llamado

Filming Locations:

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Stage 6 Films, Manis Film, Breaking Ball Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

A number of scenes where shot in Dundas, Ontario. Specifically the house that belongs to Grace Batten (Kristin Booth) is now a Bed & Breakfast in Dundas. The front of the house, front door, entrance hallway can all be seen in the movie. The bedroom scene with Simon (Christopher Heyerdahl) and Rose Batten (Ella Ballentine) is one of the rooms in the B&B. When Simon goes to visit Tamera Lawrence, who is supposed to live in Saint-Dominique, Quebec, but the "hot water kettle" scene is shot in the kitchen of Dundas Glen Bed & Breakfast.

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Goofs

Toward the end of the movie, a woman at the Catholic Church is being interviewed by the police about the last time she saw Peter. She responded that he was present at a "Sunday service" 3 months ago. A Catholic Church employee would have said that he was at Mass - not a Sunday Service.

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Quotes

Rose Batten: I'm going to die, aren't I?
Simon: Hmm. We're all going to die. That's how God intended it. But how we live and how we die, that can be meaningful.

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Connections

References Clue (1985)

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Soundtracks

Winter Sets In
Written and Performed by Mark Petrie

User Reviews

Uneventful but solid thriller

'The Calling' is one of those movies that never tries to stand out in any way. It never tries to shock its audience and win points with extra levels of violence or shocking plot twists that leave your mouth gaping open. It is simply content being a solid, well acted film that audiences can appreciate and then most likely forget. And that's OK. It's better than a film trying to be more than what it's capable of and turning into a bombsite. Director Jason Stone, in his feature film debut, made the call to go down this route and I think it was a good decision all things considered.

The movie has a solid cast, but not an overly exciting one. Susan Sarandon, Donald Sutherland, Topher Grace, Ellen Burstyn - all fine actors, however none of them are going to steal a scene or bring a lot of energy to the film. That was one issue with the film, was that it always felt a little flat. No real action scenes or plot twists can find the movie going through the motions, discovering clue after clue, until the final showdown and then it's over. Solid, but a little tedious at times. Nevertheless it's more watchable than a number of thrillers being released today and it certainly isn't going to offend anyone. Give it a look.