Those who remember Kayvan Novak’s excellent prank phone call show ‘Fonejacker’ might remember his Terry Tibbs character, a shady car dealer always looking to cut a deal with his catchphrase, ‘Talk to me! But the only shadiness here is in the dark corners of the room where co-directors brothers Danny (who also co-writes ) and Michael Philippou set the creepy séance like scenes
Set in Adelaide ‘Talk to me’ stars Sophia Wilde as a grief stricken Mia along with her friend Jade (Alexandra Jensen) and her younger impressionable brother Riley (Joe Bird) who along with their party loving friends get drawn into a ritual centring around an embalmed hand where they can conjure up the dead and be temporarily possessed by whoever is drawn up from the underworld. These party’s are about as sensible an idea as accepting an invitation to any held Michael Barrymore’s house and the catastrophic consequences are seen early on when one of the friends who gives it a go ends up repeatedly stabbing himself. You’d think this would be enough to put anyone off but for Mia, still grieving over the loss of her mother, decides it’s an opportunity to contact her and one that she can’t turn down. It inevitably goes awry with Mia’s experience leaving her slack jawed and blankly staring into middle distance in a manner not see since Brooklyn Beckham was asked what his job is and whatever spirit has inhabited her won’t let go.
Talk to me has some effectively creepy moments leavened with occasional humour from Jade’s over protective mum obsessed with keeping Jade from potential boyfriends and parties. The female leads are very good and there are several disturbing sequences that work well but the tension begins to dissipate when it begins to explore the nature of Mia’s grief and the third act that goes into her own back story is at the expense of the scares generated at the start pf the film. It’s an impressive low budget feature debut with enough gore and scares to impress and promises much for the directors future in the genre.
related feature: John Rhys Davies talks supernatural horror, ‘The Gates’ plus ‘Indiana Jones & the Dial of Destiny’
related feature: ‘The Boogeyman’ is introduced by the films director Rob Savage
Here’s the Talk to Me trailer…….
