For 11 years, Beth's life is limited to working nights in a convenience store while her daytime hours are spent caring for her bed-ridden, bitter and abusive mother. All that keeps her going is a voice on the radio of a psychologist, Dr Roland. Her obsession grows to the point where nothing, not even murder, will stop her from getting to the woman she desires!
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How sad is this?
everything you have heard about this movie is true.
This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.
The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;
Distributor: Image Home Video Plot: Beth Needham lives an empty life devoid of friends. She spends her days caring for her bed-ridden mother, and her nights working at a convenience store. All that keeps Beth going is a voice on the radio. Psychologist Dr. Roland advises callers on her radio show. When Beth calls in, she starts fantasizing about Dr.Roland, even starts to babysit her kid. Everything is fine until she kidnaps the doctor.Audio/Video: One word...excellent Extras: None.Final Thoughts: This late 90's thriller is actually pretty cool. Rent don't buy.
*** SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS***OK, I know this movie is marketed in the thriller genre, but it never came close to scaring me. Well there was the ear-piercing scene which I found slightly graphic, but other than that it was mostly laughs (except for the sad ending which I won't give away). This movie focuses on a young woman approximately in her early thirties named Beth Needham (played by Tracy Nelson). It's hard not to feel sorry for Beth. She has no self esteem, having been berated and ridiculed her entire life by everybody she knew, especially her mean invalid mother (played by Eve Sigall) whom Beth is forced to take care of (the most thankless job you'll ever witness). Beth has worked the graveyard shift in a convenience store under the manager Larry Brill, who is a total jerk. The only solace Beth finds in her unhappy life is in a radio call-in show hosted by psychologist Lindsey Roland (Shanna Reed). Dr. Lindsey focuses on self esteem issues mostly, and her advice has more than intrigued Beth (who calls herself "Stupid Beth" whenever she spills coffee or whatever). One night, Beth summons the courage to call the show (inspired in part to a vision of Dr. Lindsey encouraging her to call). After the call (where Lindsey has told Beth she's "Really something special"), Beth lashes out at Brill, getting fired from her job (even though Beth says she quit). Beth threatens him with a knife then runs out of the store. When she returns home she's further berated by "Mama" for losing her job. When Mama rudely requests an oxygen tank to replace the one that's empty (she has emphysema or something), Beth does not bring it and lets her die. Beth now has the time to become closer to Dr. Lindsey with Mama dead and her crappy job** history. She does everything possible, including going to work for Lindsey's answering service, babysitting her son and making a generous donation to a charity Lindsey is working for. However, when anybody gets in the way of their budding friendship, Beth will not have it, even if it means killing them. What makes it so funny is how she kills her victims, calling them names like "Snoopy Poopy" and "Baboon Butt" in the process. What I found amazing was how Beth was able to kill people and get away with it *every time*. Not bad for a self-hating retard (as she put it)!Check it out. It's a fun movie to watch.And Beth will make you laugh.
Being a fan of psycho-movies, such as Stepfather, The Shining, Halloween etc..I can not do anything else but like this one as well. It is not often you see a good female psycho hacking away in the pictures, so this one definitely goes right in to my video library.
It's hard to come up with a totally original idea in the thriller genre, so it's forgivable if a movie's plot is familiar as long as the execution is good. But when your thriller bears a superficial resemblance to a well-known classic like 'Play Misty for Me,' it better have something of its own to recommend it. 'The Night Caller' falls way, way short.Tracy Nelson has that haunted, hungry look that's well suited to one playing a mentally disturbed person, but she's not a good enough actress to pull this one off. Actually, any actress would have a hard time making this character work in this mess. The screenwriters decided to make it easy on themselves and the audience by having Nelson's character talk out loud to herself throughout the film, explaining everything and saving them some work. It degenerates from a just-below-par effort to a fiasco as the story nears the end. I'd avoid it.