The Telephone Box?

Question

I once saw a type of film about telephone boxes called "the telephone box" I remember it being a bit strange as people used to get caught and locked in them and then they would be taken away in it. Does anyone know where I can see it again,I have been looking for years. I just remember it being weard (a bit like me LOL) and would love to see it again. Cheers Folks

Answer 1

There are a handful of films I saw on television when I was a young boy moving into adolescence that became firmly etched on my psyche. They were horror movies of course, screening late at night. I was probably babysitting, or perhaps dad had allowed me to stay up for some reason or another.

A couple of them were in stark black and white; the giant ant invasion of Them! (1954) and Eraserhead (1976), David Lynch’s “dream of dark and troubling things”. The other two were in vivid colour; the creepy remake of Day of the Triffids (1981) and a very strange film from Spain known in English as The Telephone Box (1972). Its original Spanish name was La Cabina (The Cabin), which after viewing the film in its entirety conjures a much darker and nightmarish vision.

It is a short film, roughly half and hour long and has virtually no dialogue. What are spoken are peripheral utterances from bystanders. So although it is nearly impossible to find a version with subtitles it doesn’t matter if you see the original version as it is a film told purely in images.


In a nutshell a truck arrives at a plaza and men erect a brand new red telephone booth. Later a business man arrives and enters the phone box to make a call. When he tries to exit the booth he finds he can’t. The door is apparently jammed. Or perhaps it automatically locked? People begin to gather round, some try to open the door, but to no avail.

As the day wears on the entire situation takes on an absurdist tone. Where on earth can this tale be heading? Eventually the men from the phone company return, and much to everyone’s surprise - including the viewer - they simply load the phone box – with man inside – onto the back of the truck and drive off.

They continue driving through the streets of the city, and in the film’s most surrealist moment, stop at traffic lights beside another truck also carrying a phone box with a man trapped inside. The two men stare at each other in horror and disbelief; a bizarrely chilling moment.

What ultimately transpires is the stuff of pure nightmares. But I’m not going to spoil that delicious little treat for the unsuspecting viewer. Why not discover La Cabina yourself?

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Yes I do remember !! thort it wierd but... would suggest
you go to BBC archives, or the Film Archives in Manchester,
good luck...................

Answer 4

Is it the one where they go to a mansion and get chased by a ball and they can't escape

Answer 5

Are you sure it wasn't a candid camera sketch, 'cos there was one like that.

Answer 6

sounds a bit like `candid camera`

Answer 7

Go to amazon and buy it on DVD

Answer 8

try the internet movie database

www.imdb.com

Answer 9

Are you sure it wasn't a dream?