A woman awakes after being drugged to find herself tied up in a dingy, decrepit room, with a psychopath for company. Locating her belongings, she attempts to reach the outside world, but instead, it reaches out to her.

From Korky Films production company and director Lee Charlish, a short film dubbed The Cold Caller (2019) creeps into existence.

In the movie, a golden-haired dame awakens, tied up, disheveled, and disoriented. As she comes to, she sees the outline of a large figure through a tarp, menacing and chopping at some unknown object. As the backwards killer laughs to himself and admires his burlap-sack-mask in a small mirror, she appraises the room and fully comes to the realization that things are not going to go well for her, seeing photos of other young ladies on his wall. Whatever is going to happen to her, she is not the first.

Just then, joyful 1940s ragtime clicks on at the hands of the monster, who apparently wants some background music for his disturbing misdeeds. Noticing her bag and cellphone splayed out on a table, she attempts to reach for them despite her rope-tied hands, miraculously getting to her salvation just as it begins to ring. The voice seemingly of a savior sounds through the phone, “Hello.” She spies a wayward piece of mail also on the table that conveniently lists the address and the home belonging to “The Occupier”. She quickly rattles off the address to the voice on the other line, but it turns out to be a telemarketing phone call, the sick realization setting in just as the sound of the radio clicks off, allowing the Occupier to hear the voice of the auto-dialer “We can get you the help you need”. No, it cannot, as the Occupier advances towards the shaking Victim.

Starring Marian Elizabeth as the nameless victim, Mark Hancock as the sick psychopath, and Stuart Walker as the voice of the annoying cold caller, the film is well performed throughout its 4-minute run time. In that short time, they manage to weave in horror movie tropes – – perfectly placed musical stingers in the form of striking and sinister violins to put you on edge. The dimly lit shack they are apparently in has a swinging and dingy light barely illuminating the room, and the old shadowy silhouette of the ominous figure à la Psycho (1960) homage. Also, some Texas Chain Saw Massacre (the original) vibes from my favorite scene where Leatherface finally kills off Pam, that essence was weaved all throughout this movie. It even has a humorous factor; when the Victim miraculously does get to her phone, the only person who can help is a cold caller, and it is one of those non-human ones at that! With the tagline set as “How may I help you?” I’m not sure if this movie is simply a rant against cold callers, or rather, is more so speaking to the irony of how we think of our phones as lifelines, yet technology is often unhelpful in the end. Hmm…

No matter how you interpret this one for yourself, with it clocking in at 4 minutes, this little ditty is worth a watch, however, since it is very predictable it is not anything memorable – though there is a sweet payoff at the end for all your gore lovers, at least. With Chris Pemperton on music, and Lee Charlish writing, directing, and editing, The Colder Caller short film is now view-able via online platforms.