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When a Stranger Calls

Generally unfavorable reviews
Based on 20 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 75 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Horror | Suspense/Thriller
Written by:
Jake Wade Wall
Steve Feke (1979 screenplay)
Fred Walton (1979 screenplay)
Directed by: Simon West
Release Date:
Theatrical: February 3, 2006
DVD: May 16, 2006
Running Time: 92 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
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)
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Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
The original should have been a short film; the new version shouldn't exist at all.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Wesley Morris
Even by the lowest standards, this is a frightless, cynically made movie.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 4.8 (out of 10) based on 75 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.
