When a Stranger Calls
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Movie Reviews of When a Stranger Calls
Movie Review: A true thriller
Summary: 5 Stars
This remake is an exemplary piece of suspense. The opening credits gives you a three-minute preview of what to expect in the movie and the movie delivers. We then move to bright scene of a high school gym where we are introduced to our star, Camilla Belle, as Jill Johnson. She is a teenager that gets the perfect babysitting job. A rich family, a very large beautiful 1970's style house built in glass and wood, a full fridge, and best of all, the children are already asleep. And what could be safer, the house is gated and has a security system.
But as the sun starts to set, the shadows start to make the large house look un-inviting and remote. She hears noises and creaks and we wonder what it is; is it someone, a pet, the children or our imagination. Then the phone call start to come and our baby sitter starts to grew less and less confident as she starts to realize perhaps danger is nearby. She does everything a baby sitter should do when scared; she calls her father, the parents of the children and the police. But at this time there is no reason for anyone to ask. After all it is just phone calls with no threats and she is in no danger. Then she gets the call that asks her, "Have you checked the children?" Once again our panicky babysitter phones the police who take her serious this time. They trace the call and find out they are coming from within the house. So of course she goes up to check on the children again and this quiet night of babysitting turns into her worst nightmare.
This movie is a classic thriller that is frightening. If you love Hitchcock's films, you will appreciate this. If you are looking for just gore and horror, do not watch this film. This film requires you to take the journey with the babysitter and actually use your imagination as you hear or see things to try and figure out what is transpiring. It is the type of film we use to call a nerve-shattering thriller or suspense film. Since this could really happen anywhere you will experience the suspense. And Camilla has to convey the enter range of motions without dialogue. It is the things you do not see that scare you the most in real life. The film has three stars, Camilla Belle, the House itself and the phone. If you like to be frightened and have an imagination, this film is for you.
Movie Review: very good, but could have easily been great
Summary: 5 Stars
I loved this movie. The atmosphere was incredible. The film has a look and aura about it that make it unique. One thing that I found to be of interest was the fact that, from the start, the viewer is aware that the house is a central character in the movie.This is something I have found to be true in most of my favorite slasher films. Halloween 2, Prom Night, Valentine, Friday the 13th- one thing they all have in common (aside from lots of dead folks) is that they all feature a building or location that is essential to the movie.If you subtract the hospital from Halloween 2, you don't have the same film. The same thing holds true of this story. Nearly everything is influenced by the geography of the house.The house becomes like a little world unto itself. I also liked the girl in this movie. All in all, it was one of the better movies of this sort that I've seen in several years. (Has anyone ever noticed that a lot of the people who write in to call movies like this stupid are also people who have difficulty with basic diction and spelling?)
Not that the movie is perfect. They made it a tad soft for my tastes. They were bending over backwards to avoid an 'R' rating, and that process detracts considerably from what it could have been.The movie could have used a couple of more murders. Especially the kids. I don't mean to sound ghoulish, but they should have died. It just stretches credulity a bit too far to imagine that they could have survived. Jesus, this guy kills people with his bare hands, but is unable to subdue two little kids? Why? Because they hid? They hid in a box, right in the middle of the room! Or, in other words, they were hiding in the first place anybody would look. They should have gone all the way with this thing-kill the kids, step up the blood and brutality, accept the 'R' rating, and they would have had a classic.
In the end, though, I liked it quite well. It is rather like an anemic version of Halloween. The atmosphere, for the most part, makes up for what is lost in violence.
Movie Review: Tense from start to finish...
Summary: 5 Stars
I have to say I had my doubts walking into this film. First off it only recieved a PG-13 rating and with flops like Cry_Wolf, you know, your just a litty weary. Don't be. From the opening frames this movie ellicits suspence higher than a lot of movies I've seen lately. The film revolves around Jill Johnson (Camilla Belle), a young high schooler who just got grounded for going over her cell phone minutes and is reduced to babysitting in order to pay the bill off. This also means that her cell phone has been turned off and she has no car. That means her father has to drive her out to the middle of nowhere so she can babysit for a doctor and his wife. So when she starts to get weird calls from a man she at first thinks it's her ex-boyfriend, and for a time she's half right since he's pranked her as well. But as the calls come in more frequently and it becomes apparent that he's watching her somehow she gets to police involved and they in turn tell her that the calls are coming from inside the house. From that point on the film takes a turn to the cat and mouse hide and stay hidden run and run fast type film and it delivers enough chills and thrills to satisfy the scarymoviejunkie. What I appreciated about this film is they used the old Hitchcock type method of letting the real thrills take more of a mental approach, relying on real intensity rather than gore for scares and it works...really works! I'd recomend this movie because it's intense and it's realistic...it could really happen and that makes the scares all the more real. I loved it, shockingly, and I really think a lot of people will enjoy this thrill ride from start to finish. Brilliant!Movie Review: Whatever You Do, Don't Answer The Phone, While watching this movie!
Summary: 5 Stars
Typical teen Jill Johnson has gone over her mobile phone bill and must make up the money to pay for it, thus why she baby sits for a rich family. Everything's go perfectly, the kids in bed, the alarm system activated... She settles down for a boring night...... But then... The phone rings.... A series of anonymous terrifying phone calls escalate until the stranger asks her "Have you checked the children lately?"
The events that unfold are truly terrifying....
This Film Is.... Absolutely amazing!!!!!
This would have to be without a doubt the best horror movie I have seen in a long time, the movies success is thanks to the amazing brunette Camilla Belle who plays the protagonist Jill Johnson (The Patriot), she gives an outstanding performance of the terrified victim. A refreshing change from the cliché blonde victim.
Based on one of the scariest of all urban legends 'The Babysitter and the man upstairs" this film is extremely suspenseful and will have you on the edge of your seat until the closing credits and last SURPRISE!
I extremely recommend this film to everyone, it's scary without making you feel sick at how scary it was. Amazing time and effort went into making it and this can be seen through extravagant surroundings (the house she baby sits at is UNBELIEVABLE!)and lighting is equally brilliant.
Plenty of scares and thrills in this!!!! Belle's acting is brilliant and your yearning for her to be ok...
Sit back and enjoy....
But whatever you do, DON'T ANSWER THE PHONE!
Movie Review: When a Stranger calls revew
Summary: 5 Stars
"When a Stranger Calls"
"We've traced the call it's coming from inside the house." Dead silence. Just think, someone watching you without you or anybody else even knowing. That's exactly what happened to Jill Johnson when a babysitting job went out of hand. This was more than just earning money for going over 800 minutes on her cell phone, this was dead torture. Jill was a normal high school girl with all the boyfriend issues and what not. After having a huge fight with her boyfriend and him costing her all of her minutes, her parents told her that she had to make her own money and she thought that babysitting would be the perfect job. The fridge was stocked and the TV was there with all the billions of channels. It was perfect, and to top it all of, the kids were dead asleep. But all of this ended when the perfect babysitting job went haywire. The phone rings, "Have you checked the children?"
This was a horror movie out of hand. This PG-13 movie was my kind of movie. This movie kept me on the edge of my seat and begging for more. The first time I watched this movie was at midnight and when it was over, the phone rang, I nearly had a heart attack! But from now on, I guess you can say that im not babysitting for a while.
This is not a move for babysitters, and if you are one, and you watch this movie, you will never want to baby-sit ever again. I also wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone under the age of 12 for terror and violence.
Christina Rich