Every time I get my hands on a Lionsgate straight-to-DVD horror flick, it’s a huge crapshoot. I was quite surprised at how much I enjoyed the last one I sat through (see Gnome Alone), but sadly, I have fallen victim to another wasted 84 minutes. Jason Cuadrado’s Devil May Call had tons of potential, but just couldn’t get the job done.
Sam (Corri English), blinded after a tragic accident, is trying to enjoy her last night at work as a suicide hotline phone operator. A repeat caller, John (Tyler Mane), calls specifically for Sam like he always does, but when he learns that this will be her last night, he loses it. Unable to accept the fact that Sam will no longer be talking to him, John decides to find his way to the hotline’s office and teach Sam a lesson for ‘lying’ to him.
Devil May Call stars Corri English and Tyler Mane. This alone was enough to get me excited about this film. I really enjoy English’s comedic work in Adam Green and Joe Lynch’s Holliston series and I don’t think I need to go into detail about how many great things Tyler Mane has done for the genre. I appreciate what each performer brought to their characters, English as a blind life-saver and Mane with his limping gait, but even with these great talents tied to the flick, there still wasn’t enough there for me to enjoy it.
I’m not sure how this film received an R rating considering there was virtually no violence shown on-screen. Do I need to see every single act of depravity carried out in full detail? No, not at all, but when you’re film is in the same vein as many modern-day slasher flicks, you’d better give the audience something to get squeamish about. I get the feeling that a lot of this film was left on the cutting room floor and I’d love to see a director’s cut someday, as I’m sure there was a lot more for us to see that just didn’t make the cut for the LG home release.
The story was good, the performances were good, and some of the characters were likable, but this film just couldn’t grab me completely. Give it a shot and let me know if you feel differently.
Devil May Call will officially be available on DVD and Digital from Lionsgate Home Entertainment next Tuesday, March 10th.
I give it 2 toasters out of 5.
