Veteran 911 Emergency Call Centre operator Jordan has the kind of job that’s not for the faint of heart: navigating the public’s distress in order to save lives. But when a young woman’s frantic report of a prowler ends tragically, Jordan is devastated. Reassessing her life, Jordan wonders if perhaps she’s experienced her last fraught-filled phone call. With a supportive cop for a boyfriend, maybe it’s time to step back, enjoy life, and teach others the ins and outs of her high-pressure profession.

That lifeline to strangers isn’t over yet, though. When average American teenager Casey is abducted by a serial killer, she manages to place a 911 call from the trunk of the killer’s car.

Jordan, leading a group of new recruits through the massive call centre operation, is in earshot of the call. It’s an all-too familiar scenario for this experienced public servant, but before long, Casey’s situation reveals itself as eerily, shockingly familiar. There’s only one thing Jordan can do: take charge in a way she’s never done before. She must turn Casey into a partner in helping them track down the killer, and prove that this call is Jordan’s calling.

Presented in a 1080p AVC encode the video for the most part is very good.

Details are fantastic across the board from facial, clothing, building and objects are all shown in great definition showing all the superb details. Most notably close up of facial textures replicate a fine and lifelike reproduction on the screen, with skin tones appearing natural. Interior shots, specifically the call centre, are superb showing some great detail yet again with a more ‘cooler’ look on screen. Daytime colours are fantastic and shine off the screen which can be seen during the shopping mall shots during the movie. The only real negative I can say about the video on this Blu-ray aside from some slight motion blur, are the more darker and black colours. They don’t appear to add much depth to the detail and seem quite soft, which is unfortunate as aside from this, it’s a top notch transfer.

‘The Call’ arrives on Blu-ray with a fantastic English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that’s nigh-on perfect.

As soon as the track kicks in, the superb surround mix use of the cluster of 911 calls that fill your room spreading across all speakers, front and rears fill the room with chatter from the calls, which is also showcased again later on in the film. It’s a superb little trick that really immerses you into the movie right from the off. Dialogue is delivered with great precision and clarity sounding as natural as it could possibly sound and is never drowned out or lost within the course of the film. Music and the film’s score is never overpowering and sounds natural, building atmosphere and adding to the tension of the movie when needed. Whilst LFE is not used in a great deal throughout the movie, when it’s needed it’s there. From car crashes, smashes, helicopter buzzing or chases it pounds out from your subwoofer sending those deep pulses through your room.

Whilst the track isn’t the busiest or most dynamic track out there, it’s a superb and flawless audio track to accompany a very good video transfer. Also included on the disc is a English 5.1 Audio Descriptive track as well as English HOH subtitles.

‘The Call’ comes with the following extras on the disc –

* Emergency Procedures (HD, 15 mins) – A making of featurette of the movie with cast and crew interviews, going into things such as the 911 call centre, casting, filming, make up and the film’s ending.
* Set Tour of the Call Centre (HD, 5 mins) – Production designer Franco Carbone talks about the construction of the call centre set.
* Set Tour of the Lair (HD, 4 mins) – Cast and crew talk about building and working with one of the film’s major sets
* Inside the Stunts (HD, 7 mins) – A closer look at the making of some of the bigger stunts in the movie
* Deleted and Extended Scenes (HD, 4 mins) – ‘Call Centre Class’, ‘Jordan and Officer Phillips Talk on Rooftop’, ‘Michael Moves Casey to Another Car’ and ‘Last Warning’.

The check disc I received also seemed to omit the audio commentary and Michael Eklund audition footage that are also included on the US Blu-ray. Because of that I’ve had to mark it down slightly for losing some of the special features, but with just over 30 minutes of bonus material fans of the film will be happy with what’s on offer here.

When I first saw the trailer for ‘The Call’ in the cinemas I thought to myself I wouldn’t mind seeing the movie, but didn’t make that effort to watch it during its short theatrical run in UK cinemas. Upon watching the Blu-ray, it’s safe to say I wish I did take my time out and ensured I watched this on the big screen as it was a pleasant surprise to watch. Whilst ‘The Call’ isn’t going to win any awards, it’s safe to say that the movie is a very good take on the kidnap thriller genre, with all seeming the same kind of movie that we are all familiar with, right up until the last few closing minutes. The cast do a fine job all round putting in some good performances which in turn makes for a decent little movie.

Overall, ‘The Call’ doesn’t change or bring anything new to the genre, however the film is very well made and very well put together, and I would urge any fan of the thriller genre to seek this out and give it a watch. The Blu-ray itself comes with a top notch video and audio package with a decent set of extra materials and will fit in well with any thriller fan collection.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmhyUuLKwa4

Purchase your copy from Amazon.co.uk