While she’s preparing for a dinner date, a woman (Madolyn Smith Osborne) staying in a secluded cabin gets an unexpected visit from a man (Malcolm McDowell) claiming to be a stranded motorist. Their conversation turns from small talk to interrogations as both of these people appear to be hiding something. Is the man a traveling serial killer or is the woman a murderess caught in the act of trying to hide her crime? Or is it both? A battle of wits ensues between two formidable opponents and I’m betting that it probably ain’t gonna end pretty!

This intellectual exercise disguised as your average thriller is quite an unusual and unique little treat. Prolific director Arthur Allan Seidelman keeps this two-person show crackling and the cast is more than up for the task at hand. Never one to play things safe, the ever-reliable McDowell is a force of nature in this film, letting his antagonistic charms come out to play. Madolyn Smith Osborne is more than capable of keeping her fierce co-star from stealing every scene and I immediately wanted to seek out more of her work before this film was over.

My only criticism of The Caller is that it feels like a TV movie but that’s likely due to the presence of writer Michael Sloan, whose career writing for television spans over thirty years. His writing is dynamic and the pacing is awesome, so the “waiting for commercial breaks” tone is only a tad distracting. The score by Charles Band is very classy and never lets things get stale. Cinematographer Daniele Nannuzzi, who shot Sante Sangre (1989), makes the most of the minimal locations and never misses an opportunity to make this film as pretty as possible.

I suspect that there will be folks out there who are going to go into this film and be disappointed that not only does it only have two lead characters, it only has two characters, period. But I highly recommend that you expand your cinematic horizons for this one because it’s a lot of fun. Imagine if the husband and wife from Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) had their meet-cute at a rented cabin in the woods and yes, there are weapons inside.

Kudos to Vinegar Syndrome for pulling this little gem out of the ether and giving it such a nice presentation. The Caller looks and sounds absolutely stunning on this release. Extras include an interview with director Arthur Allan Seidelman, where he details the strange way that this project came together (with Charles Band of Full Moon Features co-producing!) and how it could’ve been a complete disaster. There’s also an audio interview with screenwriter Michael Sloan and a promotional gallery of film stills.

Director – Arthur Allan Seidelman
Cast – Malcolm McDowell, Madolyn Smith Osborne
Country of Origin – USA
Reviewer – Richard Glenn Schmidt