PlatinumRead Just so...so bad

Micransix Crappy film

Spoonixel Amateur movie with Big budget

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

tohkwongweng Although the beginning was really good the rest of the movie was a little draggy,and Duncan as the killer cuts a pathetic figure. Hard to believe someone so scrawny could have the strength to murder with his own hands. The ending wasn't scary in the least. I'm being generous with the 6 rating it's more like 5.5.

BA_Harrison When A Stranger Calls opens in fine form, with babysitter Jill Johnson (Carol Kane) having a really bad time of it, a menacing nuisance caller repeatedly ringing to ask whether she has checked on the children. In a panic, Jill contacts the police, who put a trace on the calls-only to discover that they're coming from inside the house! When the cops arrive, they find Jill hysterical, the caller-a psycho named Curt (Tony Beckley)-having killed the children in their beds.The ending of the film is also pretty good, the killer returning after 7 years to menace poor Jill once more, this time threatening her own children.What a shame, then, that the middle section of this slasher is such a bore, with cop turned private detective John Clifford trying to track down the recently escaped Curt and make him pay for his horrific crimes. It's dull, drawn out police procedure, Clifford making his enquiries, eventually staking out the home of middle-aged bar floozy Tracy (Colleen Dewhurst), who is being stalked by the dangerous maniac. This part really drags and goes nowhere, Curt always managing to make his escape.Worth watching for the tense bookend scenes, but it's a shame that the film wasn't consistently good the whole way through.

laylastepford Acting: 17/20 Writing: 31/40 Directing/Editing/Production/Etc: 27/40Overall: 75/100 CReview: Carol Kane did not really prove why she deserved to be in Hollywood with this performance. There were a couple scenes where she really hit her mark and did a good job, but all of her other scenes were the opposite: very mediocre and unconvincing. The rest of the cast did a great job though.*Spoiler Alert!*I'm not quite sure why Carol Kane is billed as the star of the film as she's hardly in it and isn't very good in it. I suppose at the time this film came out, it was a twist that the film would follow the "private detective" and the murderer more than the babysitter and the murderer etc. That being said, she did do a better job playing the mother at the end than she did the babysitter in the beginning - particularly the scene in the restaurant on the phone.The real star of this film, was Tony Beckley as the psychotic murderer. He genuinely captured an insane man and portrayed him in a way that was much more realistic than the more common Hollywood route of showing people who are insane. The way they showed his descent back into madness after experience "shock-therapy" a total of 38x over 6 years was actually very realistic and compelling. From the writing to the acting to the way it was shot, all of the scenes involving this character were very well-done, particularly where he was being reborn into the "monster" that he had been.Charles Durning as the officer-turned-private detective/hit-man, also did a great job playing his character. It wasn't outstanding but it was very convincing, the second-best performance in the line- up.Colleen Dewhurst as the potential victim and/or romantic-interest of Curt Duncan did a decent job as well. Nothing great but still better than Carol Kane's performance in some scenes.Sort of like the acting, the writing had some extreme highs and extreme lows. The originality and creativity if the writing of this film needs to be commended. I went into this film expecting the entire thing to be about the original Babysitter-Caller legend yet it was only about the first 20 minutes of the film. Taking this route actually made the film even more exciting, as well as bringing it back full-circle to Carol Kane's character as the mother out for a date instead of being the babysitter.The fact that the film went so much into the character of the psychotic killer and followed his descent into madness - along with the ex-cop trying to hunt him along the way - was very riveting.Unfortunately, there were a few plot holes that really took away from the quality and consistency of this film. The idea that Curt Duncan was able to find the babysitter at the end of the film - as well as wanting to, almost out of nowhere instead of having that desire the entire time - was not very credible. Jill Johnson was supposed to be married with kids now, so she presumably changed her name so how could Duncan have known what that name would be to be able to find her? The edit to this didn't explain anything about how he found her which is a shame because it could've easily been done. For example: Durning was already going after Duncan and knew he was loose. It would be reasonable for Duncan to start stalking Durning, since he knows he is trying to kill him and Duncan's already a stalker. If Durning got into contact with Jill Johnson to see if she had been contacted at all by Duncan, it could've been the perfect way for Duncan to have found Jill, through following Durning.Furthermore, the fact that Duncan didn't try to stalk and kill Durning after he knew that Durning was after him, was illogical as well. It's odd that he just ran away from Durning and randomly decided to go back after Jill Johnson. In addition, the fact that Duncan went after Jill and her husband before her kids was also inconsistent with his character. I think a more accurate and even more frightening ending would've been if Jill Johnson had come back completely full-circle to find her kids slaughtered by Duncan with the babysitter running out - just as she had before.*End of Spoiler Alert!*The film did a great job of keeping the suspense building and creating a very suspenseful atmosphere with the right pace, etc. However, there were some scenes that were very characteristic of B- movies. A fight scene where fists obviously weren't making contact and blood randomly appears out of nowhere with inconsistent injuries, along with a shooting scene that doesn't match up when taking in the angles and positions into account, were some classic production mistakes. The music had some great moments of adding to the film but there were also some moments that it wasn't so great and took away from the scenes just a bit. Overall this film was very suspenseful and original - despite being based on a common urban legend. It's not one of the best films ever done but it's definitely still worth a watch, especially if you're a horror or movie fan in general.

markcope1981 jill johnson is babysitting for a couple she is soon getting creepy phone calls from a man who wont stop calling they trace it to discover spoiler alert he has gotten into the house jill escapes but the kids aren't lucky soon the killer curt duncan is caught but breaaks free a pi is hired to find him soon he is after jill now a mother for the second time i liked this movie first and last part but that second half and people hate the remake pros likable people good acting terrifying score the killer is scary cons the second half overoll i like this film has moments pretty good except for the middle nothing happens at all unless you consider a pi flashing a picture of the lunatic asking about him action then jill returns it picks up pace becomes good again i like it carol kane is the saving grace in a sea of nothing