THE
CALLER (1987) Blu-rayDirector: Arthur Allan Seidelman
Vinegar Syndrome
Charles Band's Empire Pictures takes a subtler approach to mystery and suspense with THE CALLER, on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome.
A woman (Madolyn Smith, FUNNY FARM) living in an isolated cottage is getting
ready for a stormy night in with her boyfriend when a motorist (Malcolm McDowell,
CAT PEOPLE) appears on her doorstep asking to use the telephone. She is on edge
from the start, claiming that her boyfriend is soon to arrive for dinner, but
lets the motorist in to call a garage. During a tense fifteen minute wait, the
two circle each other, picking at her nerves and his detached demeanor, trying
to catch one another in inconsistencies and mistakes about the personal information
they reveal to one another. Sure, he's the interloper and quite sinisterly amiable;
however, she's got a hatbox dripping red liquid and tells him her theory about
committing the perfect murder…
A
two-hander set somewhere in the United States but shot in Italy by Charles Band's
Empire Pictures, THE CALLER is a very odd duck in the studio's catalog even
if the climax does include some John Carl Buechler (DOLLS) effects. The film
does hinge on a big twist, so rewatching the film reveals a certain deliberation
in some of Smith's actions and her aggressive attitude from the start. On the
other hand, at ninety-seven minutes, one is also aware upon rewatching how much
it drags out the mechanics of suspense; more so because the characters do seem
very aware and remark upon the genre clichés inherent in their situation.
Even before one knows the twist, the adversarial game-playing between the two
is open to interpretation as such that the film's seduction scene appears less
obligatory than another approach for one to get at the other. Much of the film
is set within the confines of the woman's spacious cottage designed by Giovanni
Natalucci (CATACOMBS) – the location exterior mockup of the cottage would
be reused in Empire's CELLAR DWELLAR – but the action is opened up into
the surrounding woods, a nearby town which appears to be functioning but devoid
of actual people, and some Italian countryside familiar from other Empire productions.
Some fluid photography by Daniele Nannuzzi (BLACK ANGEL) – son of Armando
Nannuzzi (SILVER BULLET) who was in the process the same year of filing a suit
against Stephen King for an accident on the troubled set of MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE
that cost the cinematographer one of his eyes – obviates the staginess
of such a story while a Synclavier score by Richard Band (THE HOUSE ON SORORITY
ROW) greatly seesaws symphonically throughout the film before giving away to
full electronics for the end titles. Director Arthur Allan Seidelman made his
directorial debut in HERCULES IN NEW YORK and worked in television throughout
the seventies, eighties, and nineties while his work in the genre includes 1982's
ECHOES and the TV movie THE PEOPLE ACROSS THE LAKE.
Released direct-to-video by Trans World Entertainment in 1989, THE CALLER was
a sleeper on tape, and that tape master was all that MGM would cough up for
their limited edition made-on-demand DVD-R series while no other label licensing
from the studio seemed interested in the title. Vinegar Syndrome's 1080p24 MPEG-4
AVC 1.85:1 widescreen Blu-ray comes from a new 2K scan of the 35mm interpositive
is quite the revelation in regards to Nannuzzi's cinematography which looked
alternately flat and murky on tape. The new transfer reveals some considered
lighting choices from the eerie blue glow of a tropical fish tank light to the
sculpted shadows of dark corridors and lesser-used rooms. The 1.85:1 framing
creates a sense of landscape in the Italian location shots that open up the
film from the studio sets while also revealing peripheral details long before
they are noted by the characters including a tabletop chess set and a mounted
crossbow. The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 rendering of the Dolby Stereo track gives
spread to the symphonic and electronic elements of Band's score, thunderstorms,
lightning strikes, and some more directional effects during the climax. Optional
English SDH subtitles are also provided.
Extras
include "Boiling Over" (15:10), an interview with director Seidelman
who had made a film who had worked in Italy a few years before and believes
some of the production personnel had recommended him to producer Frank Yablans.
He recalls shooting in Italy, the challenge of directing a movie with only two
characters in limited settings, working with the Band family – particularly
composer Richard – designing the set with Natalucci, and trying to communicate
his desire to Nannuzzi not to repeat himself visually given the limited opportunities
for setups on the sets. The disc also includes an audio interview with writer
Michael Sloan (9:35) who discusses his lifelong relationship with the show THE
EQUALIZER, the two film spinoffs, and the more recent novels and his idea for
THE CALLER. He was very involved in the casting and production, having been
on the set for ten days of the shoot, and thinks well of the results even though
it never got screened for the public theatrically. The disc also includes a
photo gallery (0:47). The cover is reversible – although neither side
uses the original blue-lit artwork from the poster and VHS (instead favoring
the red-lit image also used on MGM's DVD-R edition), and the first 2,500 copies
ordered directly from Vinegar
Syndrome include a special limited edition embossed slipcover designed by
Ralf Krause.
(Eric
Cotenas)