When a Stranger Calls Movie Review:

Yet another horror remake, When a Stranger Calls is not nearly as pitiful as the recent remake of 1980’s The Fog.  However, the film offers mild thrills and no flavor in its tense moments.

The original 1979 When a Stranger Calls was a part of the late 70’s horror-genre that John Carpenter started with Halloween (1978).  The premise followed a babysitter’s worst nightmare of a murderous prank caller that continuously phones her until she learns he is in the house and after the children. The film itself was nothing special, but it had a terrific opening sequence, which Wes Craven pay homage to during the open of the first Scream (1996) film.

This remake follows the same premise added with the update of cell phones and a new age house as director Simon West’s set piece.  Jill Johnson (Camilla Belle) is an average high school teenager that takes a last minute babysitting job from a rich family to pay off her high cell phone bill.  Jill’s job is to watch over a doctor and his wife’s two young children for the night.  The night starts out as bore for Jill, with the children already in bed and in a house so unique that it seems she is afraid to touch anything.  The house has a top-notch security system, glass panes covering its exteriors, sensor lights that turn on once one walks into a room, and an indoor green house.  Jill begins getting phone calls from her friends, including her best friend’s arrival at the house, which leads to a pointless boyfriend drama.  She then begins to receive calls from a stranger (Tommy Flanagan) who asks, “Have you checked the children?”  As the stranger continuously calls, Jill begins to take measures for her and the children’s’ safety.  Things change however, when she learns that the calls are coming from within the house.

This film is full of the typical PG-13 jolts and pop-out moments that will keep teenagers at the edge of their seats.  However, adult audiences will find these gimmicks for the most part cheap, with setups looking for easy thrills.  The stranger himself is not revealed until the last 20 minutes of the film, which is when the film actually picks up steam and has a few moments of focused tension.  The climax itself is flat as are most of the setups as well. 

The best thing that director Simon West (Con Air, The General’s Daughter) had going for him in this film was the house itself.  The very new age design of the house is reminiscent of the set for another lame thriller The Glass House (2001).  The lighting, the shadows, and just cold feel of the house are terrific for a film of this nature.  However, West and screenwriter Jake Wade Wall lose their consistency with all of the house’s unique features.  Examples are inconsistencies with the alarm system and the light sensors being forgotten.  This sums up the entire film, which is full of inconsistencies for cheap pay off thrills.  Not to give away any spoilers, by the end of the film if one thinks of all the information that the babysitter was given about the house in the first twenty minutes, a lot that proceeds would have never happened.

Camilla Belle is a fresh presence as Jill, however during the tensest moments she is very flat.  It seems that her reactions were artificial rather than natural.  The rest of the cast is modest at best, but it was amusing to see Tommy Flanagan in a small role as the stranger himself.  He is a character actor that was in Braveheart (1995) and Gladiator (2000).

Teenagers will flock to this thriller and love it.  However, there are just way too many loose ends to even make it plausible.  It is one of those thrillers that setups up a lot of information to supposedly help the hero in trouble, but then ultimately forgets about what was setup.  The original When a Stranger Calls was not all that great either, but at least it had some consistency.  Though this remake has some tense sequences, it is nothing memorable or appealing; most audiences will agree that have experienced everything that this film wants to achieve. 

2 out of 5 stars

By Bailey Henderson

Site Contents Copyright© The Z Review, unless used with permission.This site has no intention to infringe on the rights of the film owners of When a Stranger Calls and intellectual copyright holders of the movies mentioned herein & hold copyright over the movie, characters, merchandise & storyline.