Close Calls (2017)- An Argento Style Throwback With a Modern Twist of Sheer Insanity-Fitz of Horror Review

Written by Bryan Fitzgerald (Fitz of Horror) March 6, 2018

Close Calls (2017), was writer/producer/director Richard Stringham‘s (10/31, Space Babes From Outer Space) directorial debut and looked as though it was the work of a seasoned veteran. From the moment the film starts you get the feeling you are watching a 70s or early 80s Giallo film, mainly the vibrantly colored early Dario Argento films like Suspiria, Tenebre and Deep Red which also featured distinct camera movements to convey emotions of the characters and intensify the drama or horror of a scene.

I am in no way suggesting that Close Calls is in the same league as the films mentioned above (yet) but I am saying that Stringham captured the look and feel of those movies brilliantly.

Synopsis-Morgan, a troubled young girl, must deal with her crazy grandma and a psychotic caller when her father leaves her home alone. But before the night is over, Morgan is forced to question her own sanity and face her own fears and inner demons when she believes everyone she knows is plotting against her.

As I stated before, the distinct feel of a 70s or early 80s horror film is established from the opening scene and the soundtrack provided by Rocky Gray was extremely inspired by the era and had a mellow “Goblin” vibe to it. This theme of music and scenery played well throughout the entirety of the film.

As we are introduced to Morgan (Jordan Phipps) we see that she is no angel but neither is anyone in her life. From her well meaning but fed up father to her possibly possessed grandmother who lives in the attic, she is surrounded by weirdness and conflict. She is also still trying to cope with her mothers untimely and mysterious death only a year before. To cope with these issues she turns to drugs and alcohol.

One evening her father leaves her home alone to watch after grandma while he goes on a date with a woman Morgan refers to affectionately as a “steaming fake pile of shit”. Shortly after her father leaves she receives a strange phone call, the first of many. As the movie slowly but methodically plays out we are made aware that Morgan has a serious boy/drug problem, still sees and hears her dead mother and is cursed with an unusually crazy grandmother.

After enough craziness has played out Morgan finally calls her father and asks him to come home, shortly thereafter is when Barry (Greg Falloon), easily one of the biggest psychos on the planet and one of her dad’s friends shows up unexpectedly and things get crazy because Morgan reveals that she knows something about him and her father’s fiance that he though nobody knew. This is where the film takes on a completely different tone. I don’t want to give too much away but I will say that there are some extremely cool shots in this last part of the film, including a very cool rotating character split screen argument between two characters that I don’t recall ever seeing in a movie before.

Overall I thought this movie was highly original and extremely inspired. My only complaint really is the 2 hour and 10 minute run time. The saving grace of the run time though was the break down of stories within the movie because to me, it felt as though this movie was an anthology of sorts with Morgan being the central character in every segment and Stringham was telling intricate and detailed interwoven stories and that all of them run together for a granddaddy of them all “WHAT THE FUCK” ending.

I also have to give big props to Jordan Phipps for her amazing performance. It is quite obvious that we are witnessing the birth of the next Scream Queen and I’m sure many men will have their eyes on whatever she is in next after this titillating performance.

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