Courtesy of Sony Pictures Releasing
Fred Walton’s When a Stranger Calls is a horror classic… mostly. Long before Scream, Walton took the horror opener to new heights with a protracted sequence in which babysitter Jill Johnson (Carol Kane) regularly receives menacing phone calls from a stranger. The gravelly, unknown voice frequently asks whether she’s checked on the children. After 20 minutes, the kicker shocked audiences everywhere—the caller is inside the house with her. Bam. How does the movie keep going from such an exceptional start? Well, it doesn’t. It goes on, sure, but with a police procedural twist that feels wildly at odds with what’s come before.
It’s long been a sore spot among horror fans. When a Stranger Calls just isn’t very good once the stranger stops calling. Made-for-television sequel When a Stranger Calls Back rectifies those sins, some (and, for my money, features an even better opening sequence), but the core conceit just isn’t sustainable beyond a gusto opener. But, what if it was? Enter Simon West’s 2006 remake, now streaming on Netflix. West’s film takes Walton’s opening and extends it throughout the film. For some, that renders it superior to the original.
Courtesy of Sony Pictures Releasing
The set-up is largely the same. Jill Johnson (Camilla Belle) is babysitting at the Mandrakis residence, though this time, it’s a labyrinthine lake house, not a copy/paste suburban abode. Cue the menacing phone calls, etc. Only, it’s not until the finale that Jill learns the origins of the call, with Simon teasing the reveal for as long as possible, including upping the body count considerably.
At the time of release, West’s When a Stranger Calls was maligned as just another glossy, watered-down take on a horror classic, one reduced to appeal as broadly to teenage audiences as possible. No, it never matches the terror of Carol Kane, but it does fix a cardinal pacing problem with the original, and that’s what the best remakes should do. Our own Tyler Doupè said as much when he defended the remake, arguing:
“All in, the 2006 remake of When a Stranger Calls doesn’t outdo its predecessor on every level. But it certainly improves upon the sluggish pacing of the second and third acts. If one were to take the best pieces of the original and the remake and assemble a Frankenstein’s Monster from the two films, you’d have a really effective chiller.”
Watch the Trailer Here:
When a Stranger Calls is now streaming on Netflix. What do you think? Is it better than the original? A match for it? Let me know either way over on Twitter or Instagram!
Categorized: Streaming News
