Nefarious Films

Review by Matt Compton

Running time: 15 min 50 secs

Where to see it:

Caller Withheld begins very strongly with some excellent scene-setting shots of a women's public toilet where something clearly very violent and...messy has taken place. There is blood on the door, blood on the taps, and bloody handprints on the white porcelain of the sink. There is just something about blood on porcelain that looks fantastic, it stands out so well, even in black and white - just look at Psycho.

After this montage of shots the film begins in proper with a young woman walking into a women's public toilet, though this one appears to be a different one to the one in the credits sequence as the sinks here aren't made of porcelain. Anyway, the woman hears a phone ringing from one of the cubicles which she investigates to find a very bloody young woman lying on the floor and close to death by the looks of things. This gripping premise leads us into the rest of the film which details the efforts of the woman to help the dying girl and evade the killer who returns to finish the job...

The whole concept and execution of Caller Withheld is a lesson in economy, very few characters, very few effects, and only one location. The public convenience setting is a great choice as it allows the space to be public yet secluded and safe yet claustrophobic and trapping. The only problem is that with a fairly hefty running time (for a short) the novelty does wear off. The running time is in fact the main flaw in this film. Though tension is steadily increased throughout and time is needed to do this the accumulative effect is that overall interest in the story is less.

This is a shame because this film is in most other ways very effective. The acting is solid, the photography is vivid spending plenty of time looking at all those lovely blood drips on the floor and on the cubicle door and the lighting is a particular achievement with shadows used very effectively throughout to broadcst the prescence of the killer.

Other than for a few other minor niggles, like the woman using the bloody toilet bowl to vomit in and then wiping her bloody hands over her mouth - nice visual but too divorced from reality - this is a quality film which would be an even better film if only it were five minutes shorter.

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