When Michael Calls (1972)

 

When Michael Calls (1972)

 

Horror fiction, both in prose and film, changed in the 1960s and 1970s. I’d argue it changed in film earlier than prose, I remember walking into bookstores around 1979 was there was no “Horror” section, Author Stephen King was still shelved with the Mysteries, even though that match was obviously, increasingly, awkward.

 

The reason for that shelving is that Horror and Crime usually reflected each other in both Style and Story Structure; this is perhaps demonstrated in works like Dorothy Macardle's novel “Uneasy Freehold” (1941, and now best known because its 1944 film adaptation, “The Uninvited”). Film, mostly, learned to exploit the most sensational potentials of Horror earlier, the Horror-boom of the 1950s film was mostly defined by teen-age Audiences, so less Ghost films structured as Mysteries to solve, more Monsters, while prose often kept to the older formats/assumptions. Author King was a child of that cinema boom, and that was reflected in his prose work.

 

So, the Horror boom went from film, then to prose, and finally to TV, specifically TV movies, so we’re still talking the 1970s. There was an obvious attempt among the TV Producers, competing with cinema for an Audience, to choose the known-to-be-popular Structures and Themes that cinema was then-leaving behind. After the phenomenal success of Director George Romero’s movie “Night of the Living Dead” (1968), which was too vicious in both its Violence and its Satire to translate to TV, TV movies was more likely to be reminiscent of Author Macrardle because those stories were disappearing (had already disappeared) from cinema.

 

(An irony, though that Ghost Story was by far Macrardle’s most popular work, the bulk of her output, and that which was of greatest then-contemporary impact, where her Political Tracts and Popular Histories. But then, she was Writing in an era when Ghost Stories were seen diversions for more serious-minded writers, which is likely why they became so intertwined with Mystery fiction).

 

I call this fusion of the Ghost Story and the Mystery novel “Old School” and I doubt many would object to the moniker. Maybe my favorite TV movie of that flavor from that era is “The House That Would Not Die” (1970), which is pretty obscure now, but here I’m not working from my list. This is Stephen King’s list, the guy who might be blamed for killing this narrative attitude in prose. His favorite was the even more obscure, “When Michael Calls.”

 

This is a Woman in Peril tale wherein Helen Connelly (Elizabeth Ashley) has been receiving phone calls from a Stalker, and soon there are Murders that seem connected to the calls. There were a lot of films like that, both then and now, but here the hook is that the caller appears to be Helen’s nephew, Michael, and he's been dead for fifteen-years.

 

Oh, did I mention that the film is set during the Halloween Season? That works nicely into one of the killings.

 

Not always true, but notable, is that Old School Ghost Stories are about long-standing Relationships, really Family Dramas, while what was emerging in other Horror at the time generally weren’t. Lack of grounding in pre-existing relationships is obvious in the junkiest stuff, like the soon-to-emerge Slasher films, but also much of the great stuff, like “Night of the …” which was very much about Relationships, but those were mutually distrusting Strangers in a Crisis. Meanwhile, Old School is Gothic, Old School is about Family Secrets, Old School is about finding out you have Secrets you didn’t even know you had.

 

The three central Characters are the above-mentioned Helen, her ex-husband Doremus (Ben Gazzara), and her nephew, Michael’s brother, Craig (Michael Douglas). Helen and Doremus have a child in common, Peggy (Karen Pearson), and Doremus is trying to win his family back. That’s the films strongest, unstated, theme, is the crisis of families without strong father figures. Doremus, trying to win his family back, is the Hero. As we finally learn the back-story, Micheal and Criag lacked that, only their disturbed mother gets mentioned. And what of Helen? Both her father and mother figures remain unmentioned. This film is no classic, but it is well-crafted. Based on a novel of the same name (1967) by gifted Horror vet John Farris, and adapted by James Bridges, who would soon become one of Hollywood’s leading Scriptwriters, it keeps a solid pace with both what is said and unsaid.

 

For example, as the crisis escalates, Doremus leans he know far less about his ex-wife’s family than a husband should; given the age of Peggy, the Family Tragedies shaping everything happened only a few years before Doremus got involved with Helen, so how is it that he’s so in the dark?

 

In one scene, full of both plot and emotional Exposition, Director Philip Leacock avoids a slackening of pace by finding a deft way to keep a longish dialogue visually engaging: Doremus takes Peggy to the park and they ride the Merry-Go-Round/Spinner together. As the camera is locked on their faces, and world spins around them, Peggy casually explains a great deal that Doremus should’ve known, but didn’t. This was before the first Murder, and after that, with the world really spinning out-of-control, Doremus will learn far more.

 

To both its benefit and detriment, the script by Bridges applies a rigorous Narrative Logic. I guess it is a spoiler to say that the resolution of the Mystery proves contrived, but non-Supernatural; nicely though, it becomes increasingly uncanny even as the Ghosts are chased away. The down-side to this rigorous logic is that Whodunnit aspect doesn’t work because setting up the reveal in a believable manner also gives away the Villian to the Audience long before any of that Characters catch on (I mean geez, Louise, aren’t these potential Victims paying as much attention to the plot as the Audience is?). Still, the believability counts, and is especially effective when the trapped Villian engages in one more ploy, a few deft steps to assure the main Victim is alone and helpless even after the gig is up.

 

It also has all the flaws we associate with TV movie production of that era. The meanest review came from someone whose name I have lost (sorry), “Whenever you watch a movie about a mysterious homicidal murderer whose identity is supposed to be a secret, make sure to pay close attention to whichever cast member is credited as ‘Special Guest Star.’”

 

That era’s TV movies are better often unremembered, and God knows there was a lot of crap, but that was true in cinema as well. It’s sad that its finest and most creative, are so often forgotten now; but then, this wasn’t one of the greatest. Still, it deserves more respect.

 

The film had a significant Cast: Ashley was, and would continue to be, an important TV actress. Gazzara was, and would continue to be, among the greatest Character Actors/occasional Leads the USA had. Douglas was the son of Hollywood Royalty and just months from becoming a Household-name in his own right. But when the movie finally made it to rental market, almost two decades later, it was obvious that the distributor hadn’t taken the time to watch the damned thing:

 

“’SHATTERED SILENCE’ [it was renamed] is a story of a torrid romance that takes on suspenseful overtones as Michael Douglas and the irresistible Elizabeth Ashley are driven to desire in this shocking love triangle. What sets out to be a romantic love affair, with Michael Douglas (Craig) using his irresistible charm to capture the heart of Elizabeth Ashley (Helen), becomes a triangle of horror and sheer terror as the son Helen believed she has lost 15 years ago returns to terrorize her acquaintances.”

 

And every single sentence in the above paragraph is completely wrong.

 

Blogger Amanda by Night actually did watch it. “Small town. Halloween. Creepy phone calls. Dead kid. Now that's a recipe for success!”

OK, maybe not that good, but defiantly good enough.

 

Trailer:

When Michael Calls (Trailer) - ABC Movie of the Week -1972