I'm a little stunned at some of the bad reviews this movies has had. It isn't that bad at all. It has it's typical character types for a movie of this type to give the story a bit of 'zap' and these characters emerge immediately. It's well done for a low budget movie, with good acting and directing ideas, and for once, I didn't pre-empt what the ending would be like. I was a little surprised, which doesn't happen often, yet viewers will determine the way the movie will go, as that is what it is..a game. I can tell you, there are some shocking movies out there that have ratings too high, with acting so laughable and the directing a nightmare to watch, yet this movie holds it own, actors and direction. See for yourself.

"The Call Up" really surprised me...and pleasantly so. Although this production was written and directed by a man with very little experience in the industry, Charles Barker, and the film most likely had a very small budget, it sure looked good and kept my interest throughout. Who knew that a guy making his first full-length film could come up with something as good as this?!

In the opening credits, you can see that various online gamers are receiving a special invitation to play some new video game. So why would these folks want to try it other than because it's so new? Well, the winner or winners will receive $100,000 each! That is a pretty nifty incentive and soon this small group of invitees arrive at an otherwise empty office building. A voice over the intercom tells them to put on their gaming gear--roughly a costume that looks like it's from the game Halo. So far, so good...until they activate their suits. They are instantly taken into a completely real environment--and it all disappears when they de-activate their suits. Cool...this looks like it is going to be absolutely amazing and several of these gamers are stoked....until one of them gets shot. It feels completely real and the pain is overwhelming. Good thing each of the gamers was given one emergency hypo--which restores them back to health. But what happens when a person is shot after they've used this hypo? Well, one of them soon dies..for real!! And soon they are battling virtual reality terrorists in a kill or be killed game designed by some company or government or madman! As the bodies begin to pile up, you soon wonder if any of them are going to make it out alive. And, if so,...how?!

This film is some ways reminds me of the Japanese film, "Battle Royale" but it is different enough to be well worth seeing. In particular, unlike the Japanese film, you find out exactly how and why it's all happening and there is a clear and perfect resolution. There also are plenty of excellent twists and unexpected turns in the film as well. In addition, the gear and special effects they created for the film look amazing and the direction and script by Barker are very intelligently done...so much that you swear that this guy must have been doing this for a long time! Overall, a very exciting little thriller and one that deserves to be seen.

By the way, I have no idea why but although this is a British-made film, the characters mostly speak with American accents and the city appears, at least to me, to be New York where the film is supposed to be set. You wouldn't think it was a British film just by watching it. Regardless...see the movie!

If 'The Call Up' was any worse than it turned out to be, the review summary may have been "is this for real?" But went against that, as that makes me sound like a horrible person that doesn't enjoy anything and gets annoyed by everything. Not true in either case, or at least there has never been the intent to be horrible when rating something here or writing a review despite how some of my reviews appear to be possibly in an immature period of my life.

There are certainly worse films than 'The Call Up', that may sound like a cliche that may annoy people, at least it didn't leave me angry or make me contemplate doing things to myself or anything (the latter just to say a very, very rare reaction). At the same time, 'The Call Up' just isn't a good film and poorly done in most areas, personal opinion of course, which is a shame because the concept of the film was a good one which is what is very frustrating.

Although the negatives outweigh the positives, 'The Call Up' is not an irredeemable film. For low-budget, it looked pretty decent with some nice photography and design and there are some neat visual ideas here and there. The effects are not as careful-looking, but even then they are not as amateurish as they could have been.

Despite the acting not being very good at all on the whole, Morfydd Clark came off quite well and seemed to know what she was doing in a controlled performance. The opening was promising and unsettles.

Can say little good about everybody else. They don't look interested in their roles at all and don't seem like they want to be there. Not a surprise though as the characters have no development to them and irritate to extreme levels, the way they act throughout the film makes one really difficult for anybody to get behind them in any way. Then there is the hugely undercooked and barely first draft-like script that not even the most conscientous of actors could have done much better.

Story-wise, there is very little momentum and basically there is nothing to it. Tension, suspense, emotion, fun, none of them are remotely in sight. Then there is the music, which sounds like cheap video game music in its infancy and even that is quite insulting.

In conclusion, weak despite some potential. 3/10