Like many of the movies at this year's festival, Horror Hotline... Big Head Monster eschews slapstick and toilet humor in favor of a more straightforward approach. Despite it's somewhat unfortunate title, Horror Hotline is a macabre and downright frightening movie rife with chills, spills, thr... oh, never mind. Let's just say it's a well-made movie that scared the hell out of me.

Ben is the program director for the Horror Hotline, a Hong Kong radio call-in show where listeners share their supernatural experiences. As Ben and his team are interviewed by an American TV reporter (Mavis), the show receives a strange call concerning a childhood encounter with a "big head baby". The show subsequently receives dozens of follow-up calls on the subject, so Mavis and her crew decide to investigate. The tension mounts and the happenings grow increasingly strange as they learn the horrifying truth behind the big head baby, in what turns out to be a genuinely frightening film.

The cast play their parts well, with subdued and reserved performances. The film earns high marks for its use of sound effects and music to craft a claustrophobic and oppressive atmosphere that made me fidget in my seat. The omni-directional baby squeals were particularly unsettling, while the jarring musical score sets the mood perfectly, reminiscent of Akira Yamaoka's work on Silent Hill 2. The sets are ominously lit to maximize the scare-factor, and while there are a few computer effects here and there, they look a little out of place and cheezy. We never see the big head baby, which is probably a good thing for this film.

The sub-par translation hampers the effectiveness of the film, I'm sad to report. The broken-English subtitles make it hard to follow the conversation at times, and of course the various misspellings only serve to elicit raucous laughter from an audience who should know better. Despite a strong showing, the ending to Horror Hotline left me very unsatisfied and wanting to know more. The storylines do not wrap in a cohesive manner, leaving many viewers scratching their heads or chuckling nervously. I hear the DVD features an alternate ending, which I'm curious to see. News of a sequel is welcome, although I hope the creators leave the title as "Horror Hotline 2".

Thumbs up.