When a Stranger Calls | | Cast : | Charles Durning, Carol Kane | | Director : | Fred Walton (II) | | Studio : | Columbia/Tristar Studios | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen | | Released Date : | October 26, 1979 | | DVD Released Date : | October 04, 2005 | | Language : | French (Dubbed), French (Subtitled), English (Dubbed), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language), French (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | August 29, 2005 | | Summary | When A Stranger Calls | Content
 | Creepy..every baby-sitter's nightmare becomes real..."We've traced the calls...They're coming from inside the house!"
A terrified young babysitter...an incessantly ringing phone...and whispered threats set the stage for one of the most suspenseful chiller ever filmed. Carol Kane stars as the baby-sitter who is tormented by a series of ominous phone calls..."Have you checked the children...", until a compulsive cop (Charles Durning) is brought on the scene to apprehend the psychotic killer. Seven years later, however, the nightmare begins again when the madman returns to mercilessly haunt Kane, now a wife and mother. No longer a naive girl-though still terrified, but prepared-she moves boldly to thwart the maniac's attack in scenes that culminate in a nerve-shattering conclusion.
I saw this when it first came out and it scared me silly...since I was babysitting neighbor's children and a high school student. This is one of my favorite horror films in my personal collection and I highly recommend it. It won't disappoint as a horror/thriller. |
| Rating | | | Date | April 18, 2005 | | Summary | Do you fear for your child? | Content
| When asked by a friend if they should watch this film, I immediately replied "No. It's really bad. The first 18 minutes are scary, and the last 18 minutes are scary. Everything in the middle is a trainwreck." If you MUST see this film, take my word for it, after the first 18 minutes, fast forward to the last 18 minutes. What your left with is 40 minutes of great suspense. Carol Kane is about the only thing going for this turkey. The only other scary part is the three sizes too small mustard yellow polo shirt Charles Durning wears through the middle of the film. |
| Rating | | | Date | April 02, 2005 | | Summary | Sub-Urban Legend... | Content
| Jill Johnson (Carol Kane) is a young girl babysitting two children for a doctor and his wife. All is well until the phone rings. Jill receives several calls from a lunatic who keeps asking her if she's checked the children. The tension mounts as Jill grows increasingly terrified. We can feel her frustration when she calls the police, only to be told it's no big deal. Finally, the cops listen to her and put a trace on the phone. That's when we find out that the caller is using another extension from inside the same house! Jill heads for the exit, the cops arrive, the kids upstairs are found mutilated, the killer is apprehended, end of story, right? Nope. Seven years later, Curt Duncan (Tony Beckley) escapes from the mental institution he's been kept in. Now it's up to private detective John Clifford (Charles Durning) to track him down before he kills again. Clifford has a vendetta against Duncan and plans on murdering him. You see, Clifford was one of the cops who arrested Duncan, and has been hired by his victims' father to do away with him. This middle part of the movie is interesting, as we follow Duncan to bars and homeless shelters, watching him become all the more desperate and maniacal. We also go along with Clifford as he stays one step behind Duncan, even employing the help of the wonderful Colleen Dewhurst as a lonely woman who just may be on the madman's to do list! Then, in the final act, we catch up with Jill Johnson, now living her own blissful, married life in suburbia. She has kids of her own now, and has no idea that Curt Duncan has just seen her picture in the paper! Will history repeat itself? Or will Duncan get what's coming to him? WHEN A STRANGER CALLS is a variation on the old urban legend with the same babysitter / crazy caller on the other line / kids upstairs scenario. I first heard the tale back in 1970-71. It's been around for quite a while and was also used to great effect in 1974s BLACK CHRISTMAS w/ Margot Kidder. Watch and enjoy. Highly recommended... |
| Rating | | | Date | March 20, 2005 | | Summary | Still scary! | Content
| This movie single handily ruined my babysitting career! It didn't matter that I usually babysat in single floor homes, or that they only had one phone / phone number attached to the house. The whole idea of that movied scared the crap out of me! In '79, I was 10 years old, (telling my age), and roughly the time I began to babysit.... Wrong movie to see at that time!! LOL! But I can't WAIT to see it again! :) By todays standards, people might say it's not scary or that it's just plain silly... Give it a chance! It's one of the best supsense/thriller's I know of! By The Way: Have You Checked The Children???? |
| Rating | | | Date | March 20, 2005 | | Summary | "A Masterpiece of Horror Cinema" | Content
| In the movie "When A Stranger Calls", Carol Kane, Colleen Dewhurst and Charles Durning star in one of the best horror movies of all-time. In fact, the first 15-20 minutes of this flick is UNRIVALED as the scariest 15-20 in all of horror movie cinema in my opinion and I have seen them all. The ending is also extraordinarily horrifying as the killer returns to visit his old friend.
The score or soundtrack of this film is equally terrifying and presents the mood of the film perfectly every step of the way from beginning to end. In fact, I have searched for this soundtrack for years and have yet to find Dana Kaproff's masterpiece of dark theme music.
The plot is simple yet terrifying. A babysitter named Jill, played by Carol Kane, is tormented by ominous phone calls from a stranger who at first only asks, "have you checked the children?" Oh, but how horrifying a line that is when you are a babysitter who is alone in a dark two story house with two small children upstairs.
Carol Kane does a terrific job as Jill and really poignantly expresses the horror associated with such a situation. At first, Jill just thinks it is some weirdo making stupid phone calls, but then she suspects that he can see her from somewhere outside.
So, Jill calls the police who assures her that there is nothing to worry about, but they will trace the call nonetheless. Although, Jill is right in her suspicion that the phone caller can see her, she has no idea where he is and the location of this mysterious yet chilling caller is more horrifying than anything Jill could ever imagine.
This movie is very interesting because even though the audience may suspect what is going on, it is still unbelievably scary and that's the brilliance of this horror flick.
I do not want to completely give the movie away, but the above plot is the basic idea although the movie does develop into a thriller in another sense in the middle of the movie as Mr. Clifford, played by Charles Durning, attempts to track the psychopathic killer named Kurt Duncan, who is obviously insane.
It is amazing how such a simple plot can be so terrifying especially when you have top notch acting as you have in this film and such a great soundtrack that provides the horrifying theme and mood music which complements the action of the movie so well that is simply a joy to watch again and again...what a truly great movie "When A Stranger Calls" is and it is definitely one of my top 10 scariest horror movies of all-time!
Fellow horror movie fans, this movie just does not get enough credit and that is such a shame because this movie is such a gem. You never see this movie on television and I don't know why...the movie has very little cussing in it, no nudity and hardly any gore, but it provides some of the greatest horrors that we can possibly imagine as a society.
"When A Stranger Calls" is a must own and it is 5+ STARS worthy, but a word of caution if you have not seen this movie before, DO NOT watch this movie alone at night in a big house or you will be terrified beyond your wildest dreams!!! If you have not watched it before, I must say that I envy you because you are in for a real horrifying treat! They don't make them like this anymore folks!! I love "When A Stranger Calls" and if you are a true horror movie fan, you will love it to. After all, what does Kurt Duncan want...he just wants your blood all over him.
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