{"id":11429,"date":"2008-09-04T17:56:08","date_gmt":"2008-09-04T21:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=11429"},"modified":"2008-09-04T17:56:08","modified_gmt":"2008-09-04T21:56:08","slug":"next-caller-2009","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2008\/09\/04\/next-caller-2009\/","title":{"rendered":"Next Caller (2009)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"next<\/a>Beware skeptics. If you have a radio show and you\u2019re daring to tap in to the supernatural, the odds are you\u2019re going to get knocked the fuck out by some spooks and ghouls. That\u2019s the case for Handsome Billy Bob Brown, the local shock jock in town who causes trouble by pissing people off and has been handed the duties of covering outlandish topics like UFO\u2019s and the after life. Patrick Rea seems to be building a compendium of short films that could work as a horror anthology if given enough time and clout and I\u2019d definitely buy it.<\/p>\n

Allan Kayser is great as the rabble rousing and utterly obnoxious Handsome Billy Bob, a typical Howard Stern wannabe relegated to talking about undead cats and grandmas choking on steaks. But when he meets Amy Fowler, a bonafide supernatural beacon, he comes to the realization that it\u2019s not all hogwash. As with all of Rea\u2019s short films, \u201cNext Caller\u201d is reliant on making the best out of limited scenery and a small budget and lo and behold he pulls off a one setting film that is really only good for a short format. The ultimate pay off paired with the collective performances keep \u201cNext Caller\u201d another good and sleek entry in to Rea\u2019s horror repertoire.<\/p>\n

The problem with the short horror films is that you will sooner or later come across a story that you\u2019ve seen before. \u201cNext Caller\u201d is that particular case where I was most underwhelmed because I\u2019ve seen this before. As a matter of fact I\u2019ve seen this almost a hundred times around. This type of evil radio DJ battles the supernatural before has been seen in horror fare like \u201cTales from the Darkside\u201d and \u201cNight Visions\u201d as well as a few forgettable thrillers and Rea really doesn\u2019t re-invent the wheel with \u201cNext Call\u201d which is a shame considering most of his shorts have been unique and original.<\/p>\n

As for most of the calls we see Handsome Bob come in contact with, in spite of Rea\u2019s struggles to keep them suspenseful, I really couldn\u2019t help but roll my eyes. Who knew Satan was on mental speed dial and adhered to the whims of a psychic? Who didn\u2019t see the big twist with Handsome Bob choking in the climax? Out of all the short films from Patrick Rea, \u201cNext Caller\u201d really isn\u2019t the best he\u2019s offered. The direction is as good as always, and Allan Kayser is steals this movie from everyone involved, but that doesn\u2019t particularly help outweigh the contrived plot and cheesy devices that ensue. While \u201cNext Caller\u201d is the weakest of the outputs so far, there\u2019s no denying that Rea\u2019s signature brand of sharp horror mixed with hilarious dark comedy keeps an otherwise sub-par affair pretty entertaining.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Beware skeptics. If you have a radio show and you\u2019re daring to tap in to the supernatural, the odds are you\u2019re going to get knocked the fuck out by some spooks and ghouls. That\u2019s the case for Handsome Billy Bob Brown, the local shock jock in town who causes trouble by pissing people off and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[477,501,706,758,938,1008,1087],"class_list":["post-11429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-horror","tag-indie-film","tag-n","tag-patrick-rea","tag-short-film","tag-supernatural","tag-thriller"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11429\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}