Call Back (2009)

Directed by: Ben Ross

Starring: Chantelle Barry, Rob Benedict and Monica Gambee

Genre: Horror/Thriller/Torture Porn

Rated: Unrated

Cocky young director, Levi is auditioning young women for his latest horror venture when he meets the breathtaking yet naïve Meadow (Gambee). He invites her over to his place that evening for a screen test in an attempt to seduce the wannabe actress. However, he’s in for a rude surprise when she turns on him. She, along with her girlfriend Sonja (Barry), restrains Levi, and settles in for the long night of torture she has planned for her victim.

I’m not quite sure how I feel about this film. It’s like a combination of Audition (1999), Hard Candy (2005), and Extremities (1986). A man is being punished for his bad deeds, but the punishment may not fit the crime – it may be a little overboard. The women are angry, as they should be, but for most of the film we have no reason for why, and even when we find out, I’m not quite sure the crime warranted the excruciating torture they put Levi through. In the end, they are just as monstrous as he is, possibly even more so.

The truth about Levi’s character is that he is a sexual predator – like many sleazy Hollywood types, he has no problem taking advantage of the young women who yearn for the spotlight. He can get them to do whatever he wants if he promises them a job in his film. There are instances where he pushes them further than they want to go, getting off on the power rush, and of course, filming the entire thing. He’s a control freak. Yet, by the end of the film, I was feeling sorry for him – like in Extremities, I felt the torture was taking things much farther than they needed to go. Did he deserve to be humiliated? Yes, an eye for an eye – he humiliated and took advantage of hundreds of young women. However, what they did do was far too extreme, and I ended up sympathizing with the man they have every right to hate.

This sympathy could also be generated by the fact that Rob Benedict is such a sweetheart in real life (seriously, watch his Supernatural Convention Panels) and always plays a clumsy, but charming, slightly wimpy character you can’t help but care about. He did a great job in this role as well, I’d never seen him play an all-out domineering jerk before, so that was interesting, and he made the torture scenes seem believable. I couldn’t help it, I wanted to climb in the screen and rescue him, but more because after a while, I didn’t see controlling, sexual deviant Levi anymore, but Chuck from Supernatural or even Rob himself being tortured instead. Or maybe I just tell myself this so I don’t get disgusted that I am sympathizing with such a nasty character.

The girls on the other hand, I didn’t feel any real sympathy for. They got off on the torture they inflicted on Levi. For instance, they are seen gleefully cutting into him with scalpels and then making out over his bloodied body. The man has his hands trapped in vices, is bludgeoned repeatedly, forced to taste his own blood, and sexually humiliated, among other things. All the while, Meadow and Sonja are giggling, making out, and making love to one another right next to him. These women are twisted and I was intrigued by their characters. I wanted to know more about them than the film revealed to me.

Some viewers have argued that this is a feminist film, but I disagree. While it does pass the Bechdel Test (contains two women who talk to each other about things other than men), I still wouldn’t argue that it has a feminist intent. For one thing, these women really seem to hate men and get off on degrading and torturing them. They’ve made it clear that Levi isn’t the first and he won’t be the last. These women are vigilantes, dolling out punishment that far exceeds the crime. Most viewers, feminist or not, would agree that Levi deserved a junk punch and a taste of his own medicine, but these women take it to the extreme.

It doesn’t really focus on any social issues. Sure it touches on the epidemic of sleazy Hollywood directors taking advantage of young women who want to be famous, and slightly touches upon rape, but never really says much about these things – just that they’re wrong. The women are just as despicable as the man, if not more so, and feminists rarely like violence in their films. This is more of a revenge film a la I Spit on Your Grave – a film that has been discussed, debated upon and often dismissed as trash by many feminist critics.

The acting was very good. I really believed the characters and I loved how they were able to pull off the plot twists with ease. As I mentioned before, up until this film, I’d never seen Rob Benedict portray a character like this, so it was interesting to see him throw his weight around and be very controlling of everyone around him. Also, the fact that he could make such a despicable man a sympathetic character is a bonus for me. Monica Gambee is gorgeous and she is able to portray both an innocent, naïve young actress and a sultry femme fatale very well. She has a lot of anger pent up inside at many men, but Levi in particular, and she aims to punish every man who has wronged her. Chantalle Barry pushes a little more innocence into her character – she is, after all, supposed to be submissive to Meadow, doing everything she is told, but there is definite evidence that Sonja enjoys the mayhem just as much as Meadow does.

The special effects are cringe-worthy. The cuts inflicted upon Levi’s body looked very real, as did the chafe marks on his wrists from the vices. The film made great use of practical effects, which is a rarity in these days of CGI, and that’s always better than what a computer can add in later.

Overall, it’s an average film with decent acting and practical gore-effects. If you can’t watch extensive torture scenes, it’s probably best to skip this one.

6/10