Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Absolutely brilliant

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

I watched this film when I was about 12 years old which was a big mistake. The first 25 Minutes of this film is some of the scariest and creepiest pieces of film making I have seen even today. The film then builds up to a terrifying ending.

As I waited to buy my ticket for "When A Stranger Calls," the promotional poster to the right of me included the words: "Unequivocally, the most frightening movie I have ever seen." The critic who made that concise comment expressed well my own response, and apparently that of the others in attendance, considering the writhing and uncontrolled screaming.Writers Steve Freke and Fred Walton created suspense and tension very effectively by getting viewers to live through the potential victim by focusing attention, as s/he did, where they shouldn't. The actors, too, did their job to make certain scenes almost too much to tolerate by reacting believably, either with appropriate fear and panic (Colleen Dewhurst and Carol Kane), or with determination, frustration, and vulnerability, in the case of the seasoned but imperfect detective played by Charles Durning.For the many people who have known life only with phones they can carry in their pocket, When A Stranger Calls may not keep them awake late at night. While they know (but probably take for granted) the incredible capability of an I-Phone, they probably can't imagine the power of a telephone that remained seated on a table or attached to a wall. They don't know what one experiences when he answers a call at 11:30 pm, repeatedly says "hello," but gets something disturbing in return. Did the menace who called to breathe heavily or mumble unintelligibly pose a real threat? Did he know where the victims lived? Was he calling from just down the street? At least the four walls and locked doors of home made one feel protected... until he saw When A Stranger Calls. The story didn't clarify how the psychotic prankster could make those phone calls. A person couldn't pick up a telephone, dial that phone's number, and cause another phone in the house to ring. Occasionally, families did maintain more than one telephone number, but the young children in When A Stranger Calls would not likely have needed a line to themselves.

When a Stranger Calls (1979) *** (out of 4)Intense psychological thriller has a babysitter (Carol Kane) receiving phone calls from a stranger asking if she has checked on the children. Flash forward seven years when the psychopath (Tony Beckley) escapes from a mental hospital so a detective (Charles Durning) tries to track him down before he can harm anyone else.WHEN A STRANGER CALLS has become somewhat legendary in the thriller/horror genre due in large part to a nearly perfectly executed opening 20-minute sequence where Kane is terrorized by the mysterious man on the phone. There's no question that this sequence has gone down in horror history as a major highlight but I don't think the rest of the film gets nearly enough credit as it deserves. The middle portion of the film is pretty much a character study as we focus in on the psycho who is out in the streets and pretty much walking about trying to find friends. Even though we know the monster he is, the film at times paints him in a sympathetic light.The middle portion of the film has several thriller aspects that work extremely well including one where a bar woman pretty much gives a cold shoulder to the psycho. Of course, she doesn't know who he is and this helps with the suspense because the viewer very well knows what he's capable of. Even the detective is someone we get to learn about as the movie goes along because we can tell that this is a case that haunts him and you have to think that he dropped off the force and went into a private business in hopes of one day getting his chance to kill this guy.Director Fred Walton does a very good job at managing to build up the suspense during the opening sequence and the problem with a lot of thrillers is that they can contain one great suspense scene and then things just go flat or can never recapture that same tension. Even though the middle portion of this film is more laid back, the director still manages to build up a creepy atmosphere and the viewer is always on the edge knowing that this guy could flip at any moment. The cat and mouse game being played works out extremely well. The film also benefits from a very effective score by Dana Kaproff, which helps add to the tension and atmosphere. Add in some nice cinematography and you've really got everything working right.The performances are also another major plus as Durning is an actor that fits that "every man's" approach. He looks like a real detective. He acts like a real detective. You can look in his eyes and see years of experience and this here just helps the film. Kane is also very effective playing the "scared" female part and there's no question that she helps sell the opening sequence. The film, however, belongs to Beckley who is simply terrific in the role of the psycho. The character actually has quite a bit to do here and the actor perfectly captures not only the evilness that lurks below the surface but as I said earlier, there are scenes where he's mistreated and the actor manages to get some sympathy even when you hate the guy. This certainly reminds one of the performance of Boris Karloff in FRANKENSTEIN.WHEN A STRANGER CALLS is a very intense little gem but there are still some flaws to be found in it. This includes the movie running about five minutes too long and there's also another sequence inside a restaurant where you just want to scream at the Kane character to get up and do something rather than sitting around and crying on a floor. Still, this film deserves its reputation as a real gem.

Here's one of those movies that takes a few different turns, in one nice pay off with those immortal words "Have you checked the children?". Also in it's time, this horror would of been in the pushing the envelope territory, featuring some bloodied flashback scenes involving child murder. Carol Kane babysits for this family, oblivious to the fact, a killer is lurking inside. Throughout the night she's pestered with calls from an anonymous phone caller, using those immortal words, and some others, where Kane's driven to the point of "No more". She calls authorities and soon the gruesome discovery is made. Fast forward to our looney, Kirk Duncan, who's escaped in a truly believable, genuine, and unnerving performance from our English nutter, who Durning (in a likable and fun performance), once a Detective in charge of that horrible murder scene, now a PI, is tracking Duncan down with intent to kill, so may'be Durning, mentally scarred by the memory of that fateful night, can finally move on with his life, when the scummy psycho's disposed of. You would at first assume this movie was all to take place in one night, involving babysitter and talker/caller, but this is impressively different, although it does lose it's terrifying edge and oomph, when it changes direction, slowing down. This indeed is a palpable martyr here. Nothing equals the first 20 minutes or so, yet still there are moments, throughout, the majority in thanks to our prime performer nutso, and then there's a twist you won't see, made more terrifyingly real by the young actress's great performance. Colleen Dewhurst turns in a great performance as a forties single woman who frequents this dive where Duncan makes a goose of himself, in a pathetic display for companionship. The wuzz of a nonchalont bartender (I know people like this) lets the patrons control the show. WASC has a soft spot with me. A favorite I like to viddy now and again. If you want a good fright, this is one of the better titles to pick.