Empire's When A Stranger Calls Movie Review

When A Stranger Calls
Remake of the babysitter horror. Isolated houses and teenage girls don't mix.

Plot
Babysitter Jill (Belle) is terrorised in an isolated house by calls from a menacing stranger. When the police trace the line, it turns out that the homicidal maniac is very close by indeed. The frightened teenager has to put up a fight to survive the night and protect the children she’s watching over.

Review

This remake expands on the first act of a reasonably well-remembered 1979 film, which was a self-contained short based on that old ‘the calls are coming from inside the house’ urban legend. Here, the anecdote is inflated to a long, fitful, busy night of menace for the heroine, with a few passersby to up the body count and a conventional air which means you know they won’t go near the biggest taboo-breaking shock of the original (the deaths of sleeping children).

In 1979, Carol Kane was an appealing but ordinary girl in a well-appointed middle-class home; here, teen-model princess Camilla Belle is in the sort of luxurious, overdesigned zillionaire’s mansion that is always trouble in a thriller (cf: The Glass House, Hostage), with an atrium containing a fishpond and rare birds in the middle of the living room and all manner of gadgets and hidden features which turn out to be of use in the struggle with the Stranger (scarfaced Tommy Flanagan, with Lance Henriksen’s raspy voice).

The melodramatics are amped up by the token storm raging outside — which is all very well, but the simple creepiness of those threatening calls (“Have you checked the children?”) is lost in all the Gothic thunder, and giving the killer a mobile phone ruins the premise.

Verdict
What you expect from 1970s horror remade by Simon West — loud, noisy, flashy but too rarely chilling.

Reviewed by Kim Newman

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Your Reviews

Average user rating for When A Stranger Calls

Impressive
Watch it on the PSP with headphones- you really get a sense of menace then. And Camilla Belle.... talk about cute ... More


Posted by blaud at 13:19, 10 September 2008 \| Report This Post



Nothing Scary Happened!
This movie is so bad that I refused to see the end, it was on the Sky the other day and I saw a hour of it. Totally apulling and no true scares, so cheap with unknown people and a whiny voiced teen in the lead. Once again, the remakes are the losers in this battle to make the perfect scary movie. Do you ever think they would forget the whole thing and find something else to do instead? ... More


Posted by joanna likes films at 15:34, 06 June 2008 \| Report This Post




This is a remake of the 1979 teen horror, in which a young female babysitter recieves phone calls stalking her, only to be revealed that the phone calls are being made from within the house. This film decided that in 2006 it would have to update the context with mobiles and special touch phones replacing the old handsets, and to take a couple of pages out of 'Scream's book of tension. In a word this film is shit. It manages to make 1 hour 20 minutes drag, by consisiting of an hour of stalking... More


Posted by ukedge87 at 13:02, 03 October 2007 \| Report This Post




i watched it last night, lucky me right? anyway, i was suprised that it ended so soon. because NOTHING happened until the last 15 minutes. ... More


Posted by Hughezy at 19:25, 09 August 2007 \| Report This Post



Pretty Lameo
It builds suspense well but its a pretty naff movie overall. And the ending was pretty rubbish. ... More


Posted by mrdoom14 at 11:05, 15 March 2007 \| Report This Post



RE: 2 Stars? BUT NOTHING HAPPENS!! continued -
Just watched the DVD. Average. It does build suspense quite well but when the killer does show himself (utterly miscast, at least physically) it ends just when it's starting to pay off. These types of films are mostly made bareable by a pretty leading lady and CB does a good job looking puzzled/wary/scared. But why take such a well known urban legend and not do anything new with it? (we know the girl is a track star but like so much of the film this is never ... More


Posted by Caster at 20:43, 22 May 2006 \| Report This Post



RE: 2 Stars? BUT NOTHING HAPPENS!! continued -
Ahh, I do enjoy a good debate. I can't wait till Garfield 2 comes out... ... More

Posted by mocfilms at 14:59, 17 May 2006 \| Report This Post



RE: 2 Stars? BUT NOTHING HAPPENS!! continued -
L: timlovesfilms Yeh, I apologize about the tone is in some of the comments but im glad you agree with the majority of my comments.I'm a film nut and i get carried away when i get wound up about a film especially if its awful and someone defends it.You are prob the first person i've come across who actually didnt mind it.Everyone i know has hated it. The reason i felt the need to say ive seen a lot of films is because of the comment you made on my friends post #9900cc]What I was trying to ... More

Posted by Merly at 10:55, 17 May 2006 \| Report This Post



RE: 2 Stars? BUT NOTHING HAPPENS!! continued -
Yeh, I apologize about the tone is in some of the comments but im glad you agree with the majority of my comments.I'm a film nut and i get carried away when i get wound up about a film especially if its awful and someone defends it.You are prob the first person i've come across who actually didnt mind it.Everyone i know has hated it. The reason i felt the need to say ive seen a lot of films is because of the comment you made on my friends post "#9900cc"]What I was trying to say is that the post... More

Posted by timlovesfilms at 23:04, 16 May 2006 \| Report This Post



RE: 2 Stars? BUT NOTHING HAPPENS!! continued -
Oooo this is fun. I do love a good debate. quote] Again due to the lack of good acting, i didnt believe for one second that anything bad had happened. And as for these blood covered bags, i think you'll find that only 1 out of the 3 bags had a tiny bit of blood on near the opening. Was probably a cat or maybe the guy caught his finger in the zip while doing it up.I dont know if its just me, but i dont find bags scary. o I don't find bags scary either unnily enough. I was simply poi... More

Posted by Merly at 12:49, 16 May 2006 \| Report This Post



RE: 2 Stars? BUT NOTHING HAPPENS!! continued -
t="arial"] A film doesn't need to be gory to be scary. completly with your comment.The majority of the scary films have no gore what so ever. Heres some examples, MISERY, POLTERGUIEST (maybe spelt wrong), RINGU, THE EYE,However, a film still has to build up the tension to be scary which all of the above achieved.Strangers lacks any tension prob due to Home and Away acting, not caring about any of the characters because they are ann... More

Posted by timlovesfilms at 20:20, 15 May 2006 \| Report This Post



RE: 2 Stars? BUT NOTHING HAPPENS!! continued
L: mocfilms L: Merly doesn't need to be gory to be scary. ut it does need to be scary to be scary. When a stranger calls is nothing of the sort. t say it was super scary though, however I did find it unerving in places. What I was trying to say is that the poster I was quoting seemed to be saying that without gore a film can't be scary. I was just pointing out that it can.quote] I thought the opening scene was done quite well actually. hey set up the fact that she wa... More

Posted by Merly at 19:15, 15 May 2006 \| Report This Post



RE: 2 Stars? BUT NOTHING HAPPENS!! continued
L: Merly doesn't need to be gory to be scary. p; But it does need to be scary to be scary. When a stranger calls is nothing of the sort. ght the opening scene was done quite well actually. p; They set up the fact that she was a runner at the start, but never before have I seen someone move so slowly through the rest of the film. Which is probably for the best or she would have searched all of the empty rooms in 5 minutes. s a very common device in horror films. It's u... More


Posted by mocfilms at 17:40, 15 May 2006 \| Report This Post



RE: 2 Stars? BUT NOTHING HAPPENS!! continued
the credits rolled. and me and my friend sat there and went that film was POINTLESS. i mean, it had the potiental to be 3 stars if things were actually just carried through. argh. ... More

Posted by stargirl at 01:00, 15 May 2006 \| Report This Post



RE: 2 Stars? BUT NOTHING HAPPENS!! continued
I do think the opening scene was very good, shame the rest of it seemed to falter ... More


Posted by DJ Rob C: Mark II! at 23:48, 14 May 2006 \| Report This Post



RE: 2 Stars? BUT NOTHING HAPPENS!! continued
The big twist of the film doesn't work now with the invention of mobile phones. ... More

Posted by Neo at 23:34, 14 May 2006 \| Report This Post



RE: 2 Stars? BUT NOTHING HAPPENS!! continued
L: Merly I thought the opening scene was done quite well actually. sp; I thought the opening scene was really good, and made the film look promising. However the rest of the film couldn't live up to that beginning, which is a shame. I like the fact they conveyed a sense of tension without ever even setting foot in the house until the police were in there. ... More

Posted by JV at 22:35, 14 May 2006 \| Report This Post



RE: 2 Stars? BUT NOTHING HAPPENS!! continued
L: maffew people seem to have skipped over the fact that this story has been done before? can't remember the film, but i do remember a film about a girl babysitter who recieves a phone call from someone and the police trace it back to INSIDE THE HOUSEshock sp; Yeah, this film is a remake of a film from 1979 (of the same name) which spawned a made for tv sequel in 1993. ... More

Posted by Shifty Bench at 22:32, 14 May 2006 \| Report This Post



RE: 2 Stars? BUT NOTHING HAPPENS!! continued
people seem to have skipped over the fact that this story has been done before? can't remember the film, but i do remember a film about a girl babysitter who recieves a phone call from someone and the police trace it back to INSIDE THE HOUSEshock ... More

Posted by maffew at 22:21, 14 May 2006 \| Report This Post



RE: 2 Stars? BUT NOTHING HAPPENS!! continued
Kinda' thrilling in a way, and a good lead performance, but I have to admit I found myself dozing off midway... p; Whilst its good to create tension, this just dragged on and then let everything happen in the last 5 minutes... p; Okay, but hardly anything original or drastically entertaining... 2/5 ... More


Posted by DJ Rob C: Mark II! at 22:16, 14 May 2006 \| Report This Post



RE: 2 Stars? BUT NOTHING HAPPENS!! continued
ingle bit of gore but there was slightly slight menace. film doesn't need to be gory to be scary. nbsp;The killer (debateable) was made out to be some kind of mass murderer, yet i saw no evidence of this thought the opening scene was done quite well actually. You do see evidence of it you just don't see exactly what he did. The policeman walking into the room, looking shell shocked and sickened and then the policemen carrying out several black bags covered in blood, should hav... More

Posted by Merly at 18:43, 14 May 2006 \| Report This Post



2 Stars? BUT NOTHING HAPPENS!! continued
iron and runs out the front door to be met by the police, who have heroically caught the killer and put him in the squad car before the girl has even opened the front door. This calls for a REALLY REALLY slow-mo of the killers face being revealed as car goes past! WHY? This is where normally someone assosiated with the babysitter would be revealed to cause shock and horror. NO! WRONG! this is where they reveal a man who has nothing to do with anyone and has never been seen before causing no shoc... More


Posted by timlovesfilms at 16:40, 13 May 2006 \| Report This Post



2 Stars? BUT NOTHING HAPPENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA 2 Stars!!!! The scribe of this utter tripe should have his/her laptop taken away and smashed into a trillion pieces as a punishment.Also why the hell was it a 15 rating it could have been a U, not a single bit of gore but there was slightly slight menace. The killer (debateable) was made out to be some kind of mass murderer, yet i saw no evidence of this, and appeared to be a bumbling fool who couldnt kill a damn thing.The cat was more of a killer in it than he was!! The fir... More


Posted by timlovesfilms at 16:38, 13 May 2006 \| Report This Post



Worst film of the year 2006 is awarded to...
Er... did the director work from a blank script or something? There is no dialogue, no tension, no action, no suspense, no character development, for the most part no "killer", and ultimately no point. The following is a plot spoiler for what happens in the ENTIRE film - read at your own risk! Spoiler finished. Come on Empire - 2 stars? I can only assume that you are now rating films out of 100, or you have less taste then some value cola. ... More


Posted by mocfilms at 02:06, 13 May 2006 \| Report This Post



Worst film of the year 2006 is awarded to...
Er... did the director work from a blank script or something? There is no dialogue, no tension, no action, no suspense, no character development, for the most part no "killer", and ultimately no point. The following is a plot spoiler for what happens in the ENTIRE film - read at your own risk! Spoiler finished. Come on Empire - 2 stars? I can only assume that you are now rating films out of 100, or you have less taste then some value cola. ... More


Posted by mocfilms at 00:49, 13 May 2006 \| Report This Post



More user comments

When A Stranger CallsRemake of the babysitter horror. Isolated houses and teenage girls don't mix.

When A Stranger Calls
Remake of the babysitter horror. Isolated houses and teenage girls don't mix.