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When a Stranger Calls
Screen Gems Inc.


4.7

based on 20 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 73 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for intense terror, violence and some language

Starring Jake Wade Wall, Tommy Flanagan, Tessa Thompson, Brian Geraghty, Clark Gregg, Derek de Lint, Kate Jennings Grant, and David Denman

A hundred miles away from the scene of a grizzly murder in small town American, Jill Johnson (Belle) settles in for a routine night of babysitting. With the children sound asleep and a beautiful home to explore, she locks the door and sets the alarm. But when a series of eerie phone calls from a stranger insists that she "check the children," Jill panics. Fear escalates to terror when she has the calls traced. And what the police find turns the perfect babysitting job into a 16-year-old's worst nightmare. (Screen Gems)

GENRE(S):	Horror \| Suspense/Thriller
WRITTEN BY:	Jake Wade Wall Steve Feke (1979 screenplay) Fred Walton (1979 screenplay)
DIRECTED BY:	Simon West
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: May 16, 2006 Theatrical: February 3, 2006
RUNNING TIME:	92 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

The Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck

Designed to capitalize on the title and premise of the original but offers little to those who fondly remember it.

Variety Joe Leydon

A modestly clever concept gets indifferent execution in When a Stranger Calls, another bigger-yet-blander remake of an allegedly "classic" '70s shocker.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

After an hour of red herrings, in which Jill investigates creepy corridors or opens rattling closet doors with no results, the only real danger is that we'll become bored to death. For real thrills, rent the original, turn down the lights and scare yourself silly.

Premiere Channing Joseph

Ironically, for all of Stranger's faults, director Simon West has probably made a perfect date movie: just suspenseful enough to keep you arm-in-arm with your beau or belle; but silly enough that you'll both laugh about it afterwards.

The New York Times Anita Gates

Jake Wade Wall's screenplay does deserve a word of praise. It has managed to incorporate the advent of cellphones, the *69 command and caller ID, which could have easily made the entire story impossible.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

The movie ends with a bizarre and unsatisfying denouement. The epilogue, which is designed either to set up a sequel or lampoon "Halloween 2," plays like a sour last note. I suppose someone thought it was clever, but it doesn't work.

Village Voice Matt Singer

This version is a thin, protracted study in shifting Hollywood strategies. The original, while dramatically spotty, was an almost experimental concoction of horror and thriller. The 2006 model, in contrast, is straight-up formula.

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

When a Stranger Calls never manages to convey the primal, almost atavistic terror that has earned John Carpenter's movies and the "Scream" franchise their places in the teen horror canon. The most lasting psychological effect of this pulp non-classic will most likely be limited to a deep pathological fear of Architectural Digest.

Empire Kim Newman

Loud, noisy, flashy but too rarely chilling.

TV Guide Ken Fox

Rather than remake the entire original movie, Simon West and screenwriter Jake Wade Wall have taken only that now-classic first act and padded it out into a dull, filler-filled feature that's remarkably void of any new ideas.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

This remake takes an alternate tack from the original feature, expanding the story of "The Sitter" to a full 83 minutes, but the result is dull and painfully generic.

LA Weekly Tim Grierson

Amounts to an assault of jarring music cues and peek-a-boo scares that starts off mechanical and ends up utterly desperate.

Los Angeles Times Jan Stuart

Droopy remake.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

The original should have been a short film; the new version shouldn't exist at all.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

When a Stranger Calls is ba-a-a-a-c-k, in frightless form, updated for the age of anytime minutes and caller ID.

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub

Even the element of surprise isn't enough to save this film, which has too many slow parts and features an ending that's extremely tepid by 21st century horror movie standards.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Ineptly directed by Simon West, the scare-free When a Stranger Calls is the worst of the seminal horror movies from the late '70s and early '80s that have been getting the remake treatment lately.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

Even by the lowest standards, this is a frightless, cynically made movie.

Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar

It's an inferior remake (of a movie that wasn't that great to begin with), it's poorly acted, and it's yet another in an unending string of PG-13 "horror" movies that do nothing to build even the most rudimentary sense of real dread.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Long distance information? Get me Hollywood, USA: I’ve got a rusty ice pick to bury in the gullet of whoever greenlighted this pointless exercise in masturbatory tedium.

The average user rating for this movie is 4.7 (out of 10) based on 73 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Javier V. gave it a7:
this movie should be called "The Telephone" lol , even that more than the half of the movie the girl is talking on the phone this movie really scare me , don't know why everyone hate it but this is a good movie for me , is not perfect , but its a good one.

Paul D. gave it a2:
One of the lamest horror movies I've ever seen. Many red herrings that don't lead anywhere and seems completely derivative. Don't waste your time.

A Movie Critic gave it a6:
When a Stranger Calls (remake); C+ I didn't find it to be as bad as people have said. It's pretty atmospheric and at times chilling. It can be a bit tedious, (especially when characters "slowly walk" when they should be RUNNING, and when the caller is just not as threatening as he could be,) but the movie overall is a nice little chiller with some cool atmosphere and a really cool ending. I just wish it had more tension and less "fake out jump scares" because it DID get tedious at times, but if it's ever on TV it's worth a watch.

Chieu N. gave it a10:
The terror is really great. It has a weird mystery about the stranger. Jill Johnson from the movie was very brave. The make-up and the hair-style are great too.

jack gave it a1:
Wow. I can't believe I attempted to watch this. Thank goodness for fast forward; I reviewed this dreck in less than 20 minutes. There is no a single gripping moment, semblance of brilliance, plot relevance, nor character empathy.

Mike K. gave it a0:
[***SPOILERS***]This is the worst scary/horror/suspense movie I've ever seen. It attempts to copy a whole bunch of good movies and does a horrible job at it. I knew everything that was going to happen before it happened in the movie. Then there's no development for the actual killer guy. You just assume he's just some crazy dude. they put a black cat in the movie (they thought that would be scary) and they have this stupid creepy lookin statue that these people are supposed to own (just there to be scary, which it isn't). The worst part of the movie is when the laundry door starts squeeking closed by itself and behind the door was these clothes that were like a mask and a black jacket with the wall white people colored, all perfectly spaced so it would look like a person. Why would that be there? who even would own stuff like that, and if they did why would they hang it up behind the door and in such a fashion. Every part of the movie is cliche from the killler's voice and his nonchalant walking to kill the victim. Another part that's stupid is how the girl can manage to slip through this dude's fingers a bunch of times when he looked to have a firm grip and leverage. very bad ending also. SOOO HORRIBLE!

Caleb gave it a10:
Brilliant, very brilliant. The movie kept my attention and kept me on the edge of my seat as I wondered who the caller was and what he wanted. You always got the feeling that he was gonna be there behind her, but he wasn't. The drama of the movie kept me in more suspense until the very end.

When a Stranger Calls Screen Gems Inc.

When a Stranger Calls
Screen Gems Inc.