When a Stranger Calls
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Brian Geraghty, Camilla Belle, Katie Cassidy, Tessa Thompson, Tommy FlanaganBrand: Sony
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Full Screen
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen, 1.33:1
Running Time: 87 minutes
Published: 2006-05-01
DVD Release Date: 2006-05-16
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Movie Reviews of When a Stranger Calls
Movie Review: When A Stranger Calls
Summary: 5 Stars
So why are they remaking that? It's a common question in Hollywood's quest to redo every single 1970s fright flick, including the baby sitter-in-peril screamer, "When a Stranger Calls," which opened.
The answer is usually, "it's the money," with "stupid" added for emphasis to address those foolish enough to continually waste their money on the next "Willard" or "Texas Chainsaw Massacre."
"Stranger" has a different answer, though, which it explains with ineffable calmness to viewers as they twist in their seats in the enthralled discomfort that comes from the most effective scary movies. For once, here is a horror remake that isn't content to pace through the steps of the original, but revisits an intriguing but flawed premise. The new film isn't a retread of the 1979 version of "When a Stranger Calls;" it's an optimization.
Screenwriter Jake Wade Wall wisely takes the original hook and runs with it, gutting the lukewarm original of its bizarre plot twists and agonizing extensions. Nearly the entirety of the new film occurs during one tense night of baby-sitting.
High schooler Jill Johnson (Camilla Belle), recovering from a rough breakup with her boyfriend and starting a one-month grounding, sits for a wealthy couple. She's irritated that she has to miss the big school bonfire party, but at least is content that the job seems easy. The setting is a lake house, and so what if it looks like the creepiest place ever? Its dark hallways and off-putting human-size sculptures are only there for decoration.
The place is laden with high-tech amenities, and the kids are sick and already have gone to bed. There's even an alarm system, all the better to protect young ladies from psycho killer stalkers. All Jill has to do is wait out the night. And all we have to do is wait with her, our hearts jumping along with hers at every potential sign that she's being watched and marked for murder.
Every creak of the house, every muffled disturbance from outside and, yes, every ring of the telephone brings its own series of chills. Is it Rosa the housekeeper? Or maybe the couple's college kid who might have dropped in for the weekend? Jill scours her mind for the possibilities as she fingers the fireplace poker, hoping she'll have no reason to use it.
All Jill can do is wait. And wait. And wait.
Director Simon West's calling cards are the explosion-a-minute "Con Air" and "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider," which means he's not exactly known as a paragon of restraint. This film is such the opposite of his usual work, he should have been credited as "West Simon." In turning the screw, West dispenses with the megapowered cordless drill in favor of the rusty flathead from the bottom of the toolbox.
Belle, a scream queen in training for excellence, is easy to get behind, because her character is so wise and resourceful. When she sees a dark, scary closet, she doesn't go in there. Jill is every bit as freaked out as she should be, and her adrenaline is racing so fluidly it flows off the screen and seeps into your own veins. When a stranger calls, you should definitely answer to experience one of the premier horror films of recent years.
Summary of When a Stranger Calls
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