JustWatch

Messages Deleted

2010

A quivering voice begs to screenwriter, Joel Brandt, to pick up the phone on a message from his answering machine. Thinking it a prank, Joel deletes the message. The caller is found dead. Another caller leaves Joel a message; there is another murder...then another...then another. The killer has Joel's attention, and Joel has the attention of the police. Now the prime suspect in a series of murders, Joel discovers this psychotic killer has targeted him for a reason found within his body of work. Will Joel be able to re-write his ending, or be forced to pay the ultimate price?

Matthew Lillard Deborah Kara Unger Gina Holden Serge Houde Chiara Zanni Michael Eklund Woody Jeffreys Ildiko Ferenczi Anna Galvin Xantha Radley Ken Kramer Brandon Jay McLaren Paul Lazenby Biski Gugushe Parm Soor

Alternative Titles

Mensagens Apagadas, Mensagens Deletadas, La Mort au bout du fil, Mensajes Borrados, Автоответчик: Удаленные сообщения, הודעות מחוקות, Mensagens deletadas, Silinmiş Mesajlar, 信息删除

Genres

Mystery Thriller Horror

Theatrical

05 Feb 2010

Germany16

26 Sep 2010

UK15

27 Sep 2010

Digital

07 Jan 2022

France12

06 Aug 2022

France16

Physical

20 Oct 2010

France12

France

20 Oct 2010

Physical12 DVD

07 Jan 2022

Digital12 MyCanal

06 Aug 2022

Digital16 Prime Video

Germany

05 Feb 2010

Theatrical16

UK

26 Sep 2010

Theatrical15

USA

27 Sep 2010

Theatrical

92 mins More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by Josh Lewis ★★

Post-Scream meta thriller about a screenwriter whose new script about a serial killer seems to actually be occurring around him in the real world. This was the last script by legendary exploitation satirist Larry Cohen and there's a couple cool self-reflexive elements from his great filmmaker-as-murderer horror film Special Effects and Matthew Lillard is a very underrated performer when it comes to pathetic, scared characters (his recent turn in twin peaks is amazing) but these two just can't overcome long-time Hollywood prouder Rob Cowan who decided to direct this himself and just has no idea how to shoot it. It has a really ugly, cheap grade to it and no sense for the rhythm of suspense; he can't even make a home run scene on the page (Larry Cohen channeling a Rear Window/Body Double-esque murder sequence) work. It's kind of embarrassing.
Review by rach 🍓🎰 ★★★

oh what i would give to be hit on by professor matthew lillard in front of all of my peers /hj
Review by CJ ★★★

This is a weird one. I found it on my DVD shelf while doing an exercise of "trying to justify why I have to keep this" on everything I have. I literally couldn't think of a single justification because I couldn't remember ever having watched it... and yet - the mystery thickened - apparently not only had I watched it in 2010 but I'd also rated it on IMDB (!). And a fairly high rating too. Go figure. Even watching it again tonight, I could not remember a single thing. It was like I'd never seen it before. Which is weird because it's actually pretty good? I mean, it's not the best movie ever but it's a perfectly decent thriller…
Review by Filipe Furtado ★★★ 2

Larry Cohen wrote this (his one credit from this century that didn't got rewritten by someone else, I think) and it has that Cohen mix of clever and very routine. It winks around every predictable bit and expect one to just nod along with it. Matthew Lillard is well cast as the douche failed screenwriter and the movie has fun shitting on him over and over again. I like how Cohen script has fun with the law of unnecessary characters. Very funny movie, in part because one is never sure if it is really in the joke or not. Efficient with not very imaginative directed by long time producer Rob Cowan. Mostly for Cohen auteurists, but a solid B movie.
Review by Blue Ghosts ★★★★

Matthew Lillard plays a very handsome professor who is being taunted and harassed for stealing someone’s screenplay. Fun straight to dvd whodunit that reads like a feature length criminal minds episode (I mean that in a good way).
Review by Rachel

This has migrated from the "Watch and Rid" pile back to a shelf
I enjoy Matthew Lillard what can I say

Edit. Eeeee nah, so I read other reviews after I post my own, and I'm in love with fellow letterboxders who were also rewatching this during a dvd clear out. I love that for us.
Review by ghostsarereal ★★★★ 3

A rewatch forced by a DVD clearout, I had literally zero memory of this film - even watching the ending play out didn't ring any bells.
So, in case a similar thing happens again, I'd better write about it here. Matthew Lillard plays a screenwriting professor whose own screenwriting career ended before it started. One day, though, he gets a weird message on his answering machine: a man is in danger, and only he can save him. He figures it's a prank until the guy's corpse nearly falls on him when he's visiting his ex-girlfriend's coffee shop. A string of apparently unrelated murders happens, but each time there's a message on his answerphone first. Who's doing it? And why do…
Review by Márcio Rosa 3

Esse aqui é tão obscuro, tão filme de DVD perdido na prateleira da locadora, que o Letterboxd tem os créditos apenas do diretor e do roteirista. O roteiro não é tão META quanto poderia ser e Matthew Lillard (artigo de luxo) interpreta um professor de roteiro cujo curso parece péssimo. Mas sou um homem simples: eu vejo um filme do Larry Cohen, eu gosto. Aqui, completando a sua trilogia dos telefones dos anos 2000. Que época para se viver.
Review by CJ ★★★

I posted about this back in 2017 when I was having a clear-out of DVDs. I couldn't remember anything about it so put it on the "rewatch" pile, rewatched it, quite enjoyed it and kept it. Since then, I've had about 3 ro 4 subsequent big clear-outs and, yes, it's time for another one! Messages Deleted popped up and, STILL, I could remember nothing about it, despite having watched it at least twice now. The best I had was "I think Matthew Lillard plays a university professor".
He does indeed.
Most of the other stuff I forgot, I already wrote about in my 2017 post so I'm not going to repeat it. This is still a perfectly enjoyable thriller with a good cast and a lot of daft Larry Cohen humour.
Please look forward to my post in 2027 that begins with "I'm having a clear-out of DVDs and couldn't remember anything about this one..."
Review by SpookyGhosts ★★★

Predicted the killer right away but still fun watching Matthew Lillard be a goon 👌🏻
Review by Dom ★★★½

Pros: Shaggy from Scooby Doo shoots a guy.
Cons: Nobody says Zoinks.
Review by Crawlspace Dweller Matt [♥] ★★★

It's really nice to see Matthew Lillard as the lead role in a pretty solid thriller. Lillard obviously isn't a top notch actor but he did a good enough job in this. It is not flawless and especially at the end he lacks believablity but it's probably still his best peformance after SLC Punk and Scream.
It's funny to see Lillard in another meta movie. This time instead of horrormovie knowledge it's general movie stuff. A movie about screenwriting is a pretty interesting idea in my opinion, although I think the theme of a killer that uses the protagonists written work as inspiration for murder was done before on multiple occasions.
I guess if you are into movie terminology and…

Letterboxd — Your life in film

Where to watch

Messages Deleted

Synopsis

Cast

Director

Writer

Stunts

Country

Language

Alternative Titles

Genres

Releases by Date

Theatrical

05 Feb 2010

26 Sep 2010

27 Sep 2010

Digital

07 Jan 2022

06 Aug 2022

Physical

20 Oct 2010

Releases by Country

France

20 Oct 2010

07 Jan 2022

06 Aug 2022

Germany

05 Feb 2010

UK

26 Sep 2010

USA

27 Sep 2010

Popular reviews

Where to watch

Messages Deleted

Synopsis

Cast

Director Director

Writer Writer

Stunts Stunts

Country

Language

Alternative Titles

Genres

Theatrical

05 Feb 2010

26 Sep 2010

27 Sep 2010

Digital

07 Jan 2022

06 Aug 2022

Physical

20 Oct 2010

France

20 Oct 2010

07 Jan 2022

06 Aug 2022

Germany

05 Feb 2010

UK

26 Sep 2010

USA

27 Sep 2010

Popular reviews

Director

Writer

Stunts