When a Stranger Calls (2006)

PROS: The best part about the movie would, hands down, be how scary it is. You really get taken aback by how frightening of an event this would be if it happened to you. The direct flawlessly sets up for a movie filled with paranoia and fear. From beginning to end you were delivered a film that grabs you and makes your skin crawl. Another thing that I really liked would have to be the character development. Although the acting wasn't super good, the way the main character was portrayed was nice. She was smart, and alert, and very capable which I like.CONS: The biggest thing to point out would be the acting. This movie gave off a very teen scream vibe, which isn't always bad, but it didn't work for this movie in particular. There was times where I felt the 911 operator was more realistic than the girl. The final thing that was really irksome was the ending. This ending did a crap job at everything an ending should do good at. It didn't clarify anything, it didn't leave me guessing or asking questions, and it certainly didn't have any relevance to the plot or story AT ALL. The whole premise of the ending was lacking and it certainly didn't help me develop the movie.www.chorror.com

I just saw this film the other night for the second time. The first time I watched was over 5 years ago. I remember it not being very good, so I wanted to see and confirm if this was the case. It was.*****Spoiler Alert******The film starts off with the baby sitter arriving at the rich peoples houses (I can't be bothered mentioning names) and it goes downhill from there. We do not even see the children until near the end, and the killer; he is super-human, until he gets to the babysitter. Anyway most people have already discussed the story and acting, so I will just get onto what annoyed me most.The house uses a secure alarm system that requires a code for entry. This was activated while the Dr was at home, so how did the killer get inside to kill the Rosa the maid??? And how did he do it so cleanly without being noticed?Then we have her friend, Tiffany, enter the house and surprise her, via an open garage door that connects to the house WTF??? I am sure the alarm system is advanced enough to tell us if one of the main entrances is open.Worst still, when Tiffany leaves the house and gets into her car it suddenly won't start WTF??? She's got a Toyota, the same model I had, and I never had issues starting it. Anyway, there is a branch blocking the entrance, so she has to get out of her car. Then she gets hunted by the killer who moves at super speed, so she never sees it coming. After this the film gets even stupider, if that was even possible.So our babysitter sees the guest house light come on, and decides to leave the relative safety of the main house, go through the creepy forest which has a magical wind blowing through it, to the said house. WTF??? Why would she even want to do this? She was a scared teenager a few seconds ago, and now she's going Rambo??? Needless to say she returns to the house, and the killer is there. Now how did he go from the guest house to the main house completely undetected and enter without the alarm code? More importantly the house is absolutely massive. How did he know all the rooms and locations so well? Did he have psychic powers or study the mansion plans prior to this attack? Obviously that would have been impossible, as there was no way he could be anticipating a babysitter would be there alone. Anyway, I won't waste any more time here. I give it a 2 star only for production value. The rest is simply not worth it, and I will not be watching it a third time. Avoid if you can.

The first thing that grabbed my attention about this film is that it boasted an attractive cast.The acting isn't that bad, the film fails to deliver solid thrills but I still found it satisfyingly interesting.There are ways it could have been better, or worse, but in the end its actually worth a watch. Camilla Belle portrays her innocent babysitter bring stalked by a serial killer role quite well. Its ending is predictable but we've seen worse. It may not go down as one of the greatest thrillers but it certainly does enough to earn a possible 're-watch' in the future.

****SPOILERS**** Grounded for telling a fib, about her boyfriend seeing another girl in school, has pretty Jill Johnson, Camilla Belle, forced by her outrage father Ben, Clark Gregg, to end up babysitting at the Mandriks' Will & Allison, Arthur Young & Madeline Carroll, ultra fancy smanchy, with all the most modern conveniences, house for the evening looking after their two young children. At first everything is all right and groovy for Jill until she gets these strange phone calls followed up by heavy breathing and what sounds like someone blowing his nose that starts to unnerve her. It's not long after that Jill realizes that whoever is calling is at the same time watching her every move from outside the house. The problem for Jill is how to keep the heavy breathing phone caller from breaking in before the police come to rescue her and the Mandrakis children!We've seen it all before in the 1979 movie of the same title but this time around-in 2006- the action and tension just doesn't keep together like it did in the previous and far better version. Jill for her part is so ridicules in her actions in trying to prevent the stranger in doing her and the kids in she by leaving the door open and taking a walk outside in what looks like a major hurricane in fact makes it that much more easier for him to do it. The stranger is ironically played by two people one on the screen and actor Lance Henriksen, no stranger in playing movie psychos, as his voice which has to be a first, having two people play one character at the same time, in movie history.****SPOILERS**** Thowards the end the policeman whom Jill got in contact by phone Officer Burroughs, David Denman, finally was able to trace down the stranger by her keeping him on the phone long enough to put a trace on. And sure enough, he must have gotten that from watching the previous 1979 version of the movie, the crank or threatening caller is right in the same house that she and the kids are in! By the book or number horror movie where practically every move is telegraphed well in advance eliminating any tension or surprises in it. Jill in the end survives all the carnage but she's now a mental case in what she went through and seems descant to be institutionalized for the rest of her life.P.S I don't know if it was the real deal in making the film or I saw a defective version of it on TV but all the scenes in it seemed to have been filmed as if it was done backwards, as if shot through the reflection of a mirror, making whenever there was any text to be read, like the opening and closing credits, by watching it seem as if you were dyslectic!