(1987) The Caller PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER/ SCIENCE-FICTION

It opens with the Madolyn Smith character leaving with some money to the gas station attendant after filling the range rover up with gas. And when she leaves the gas station, someone's hand is seen grabbing money after she has left. And by the time she comes home, which happens to be a cottage in the middle of the nowhere, someone appears to be watching her. Bringing packages in, one of the odd packages she brings inside is a hat box that has something dripping at the bottom. She first makes a call to her daughter and as soon as someone knocks on her door, it happens to be the character played by Malcolm McDowell, telling her that he has a flat and wanting to use her telephone. At first, she is reluctant since she says she is expecting somebody to show up for dinner as it was in the middle of the night. And it was at this point the mind games begins when both the Madolyn Smith and the Malcolm McDowell characters begin questioning one another's motives and making suggestions the person may have or might have done, ending with a twist the reason the movie is called "the Caller", and it is not what one would think.

A two person performance of Madolyn Smith and Malcolm McDowell as one is attempting to figure out the other from one day after the next. The ending rivals to anything from the "Twilight Zone" which requires some thought.

Strange, gripping drama for the first 90% of the movie. McDowell plays his character with a weird calm intensity that keeps your eyes glued to him. Madolyn Smith-Osborne, a terrific actress here and someone who I never heard of, plays a woman who looks like she's about to come unhinged at any moment.

Part of the problem with this very dialogue-intense movie is that it builds up to such a dramatic climax that it's impossible to keep it going through any explanation of what's really going on. And the explanation really cheapens things.

What's really great about this movie is the interplay between the two (and only two) characters. In some parts it's brilliant. I wish I had stopped watching some time before Smith-Osborne got all her points, however.

The suspense of this movie made me late for work, when I got to work I discovered everyone else was late due to this movie being so suspenseful! The movie description tells you all you need to know. The end is something you must see only because I did, and it's only fair you do too. Will say this though; I didn't see it coming. There really isn't much more to say and I don't want to spoil this for any of you so I will most certainly not do that. The acting is decent, and the direction is very good so this is not by any means a waste of time. I say that because I know this will be the initial reaction of most people.