Starring: Susan Sarandon, Ellen Burstyn, Topher Grace, Donald Sutherland
Director: Scott Abramovitch
Rated: R (Restricted)
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
DVD Release Date: September 23, 2014
Running Time: 108 minutes
Film: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Extras: 1.5 out of 5 stars
“The Calling” is another recent film to get very limited release and yet back a stunning cast including Academy Award winners Susan Sarandon and Ellen Burstyn, along with Topher Grace and Donald Sutherland. The film is based on the popular novel by Inger Ash Wolfe. The acting is great and there are a few decent jumps weaved within this spine-tingling tale of a small town detective on the hunt for a terrifying serial killer with a higher calling. Worth a rent for sure.
Official Premise: Detective Inspector Hazel Micallef (Susan Sarandon) leads a quiet life with her mother (Ellen Burstyn), her painkillers, and an occasional drink. But when she checks on an ill neighbor, she stumbles upon a gruesome murder that shatters her peaceful existence. With the help of a fellow detective (Gil Bellows) and a transfer cop (Topher Grace), she unearths a series of similar killings across the country. When a local priest (Donald Sutherland) suggests a link to an ancient ritual, Hazel focuses her search on a religious madman with a deadly higher calling. Based on the novel by Inger Ash Wolfe, its a journey to the shadowy landscape between faith and fear.
It is kind of a bummer that Sony didn’t give this a Blu-ray release. All we get is DVD here and no digital copy either. There is only one special feature included on this DVD, which till allow thriller fans can go deeper inside the dark mystery of the film with “Divine Intention: Making The Calling”. It gives a unique look into the making of this highly original new serial killer murder mystery.