The Caller

"A strange visitor. A mysterious woman. A surprise ending..."

1987 1h 37m EN

😐

5.9

MID

★5.9TMDB · 45

MysteryScience FictionThrillerHorror

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

One night, an unusual stranger in need asks a woman living alone in a house in the woods if he can use her phone. It soon becomes clear that they're playing a strange mind game and that there's something very wrong about the woods.

“A strange visitor. A mysterious woman. A surprise ending...”

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Cast

Malcolm McDowell
The Caller
Madolyn Smith Osborne
The Girl (as Madolyn Smith)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Arthur Allan Seidelman
Writers: Michael Sloan
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

39 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Arthur Allan Seidelman, shot by Daniele Nannuzzi. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Richard Band. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Bert Glatstein shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Malcolm McDowell and Madolyn Smith Osborne carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "A strange visitor. A mysterious woman. A surprise ending...".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0097007 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 45 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Arthur Allan Seidelman directs. Daniele Nannuzzi behind the camera. Richard Band scores. Bert Glatstein cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

139 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Directed by Arthur Allan Seidelman, shot by Daniele Nannuzzi. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Richard Band. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Bert Glatstein shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Malcolm McDowell and Madolyn Smith Osborne carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "A strange visitor. A mysterious woman. A surprise ending...".
7IMDB entry: tt0097007 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 45 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Daniele Nannuzzi
Original score: Richard Band
Editing: Bert Glatstein
Production design: Giovanni Natalucci
Makeup / hair: Rita Innocenzi
Sound: Gordon L. Day
Stunt coordinator: Sergio Mioni
Runtime: 97 min · 1h 37m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Caller (1987)

Also by

Arthur Allan Seidelman

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Community reviews

What people are saying

GenerationofSwine2026-03-17
★ 5/10
It was made in the late 80s but feels like it was a 1970s science-fiction flick on a shoe-string budget that has a big reveal that you can call at the start of the film with realitive ease. But, you know what? Who cares? It's actually very well acted, on both sides, and it's a pleasure to watch their preformances. And.... that makes it watchable, very watchable, even if the reveal is pretty predictable.
Wuchak2026-06-16
★ 6/10
Mind games at a cabin-in-the-woods with Malcolm McDowell and Madolyn Smith Originally intended to be a theatrical release, this was shot in late 1986 and debuted at festivals Cannes and MystFest in 1987 but not released to video until late Dec 1989 in America. It’s a psychological cat-and-mouse drama that turns into a thriller in the last dozen minutes. There’s a sense of unreality to the proceedings, but everything is explained by the end, albeit vaguely. You’ll have to make sense of the details based on hints in the dialogues. The climax is unexpected and makes the movie whereas the bulk of the film consists of the two stars meeting at the cabin and getting to know each other in a strange way. Fans of either McDowell or Madolyn Smith will enjoy their tug-and-pull dramatics. Yet there is a scenic mountain drive sequence at the midpoint to stir things up. The less you know the better, so I’m not going to cite comparisons. I’ll just say the creators had the gonads to be original. It runs 1h 37h and was shot at Empire Studios, Rome, with the mountain sequence done in the Central Apennine Mountains in the region of Lazio. GRADE: B-