Not entirely sure where I heard about the 1972 made-for-TV-movie When Michael Calls (also known as Shattered Silence), but it may have been as I was looking up information about When a Stranger Calls (see yesterday's post). Whatever the case, when I saw the cast, which includes Michael Douglas and Ben Gazzara, I was intrigued.
I probably shouldn't have been; it's pretty standard TV fare. Divorced mom Helen (Elizabeth Ashley) begins to get phone calls from a child claiming to be her nephew Michael, who died 15 years earlier. Is it a ghost calling from beyond the grave? A grown up Michael out for revenge? The angry farmhand? Helen's brother, Craig (Michael Douglas)? Or her ex-husband, Doremus (?!?!) (Ben Gazzara)?
Frankly, it's pretty easy to figure out the who of the mystery, though the why of it doesn't make a whole lot of sense once it's revealed. As dumb as it was, I always find something nostalgically comforting in watching these 1970's TV horror movies, so, not a complete waste.
I watched it on Plex, but there are plenty of free places to stream it, including YouTube, below. This version has the original ABC Tuesday Movie of the Week intro, which is fun to see.
1 comment:
Saw this a long time ago, too. I think I recorded it from TCM. Good enough TV movie.
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