When a Stranger Calls (R)

Reading tributes and accolades that consistently ranked the 1979 psychological horror film “When a Stranger Calls” as one of the all time great scary movies, and specifically the single greatest and scariest open to any horror movie ever, I obviously got intrigued and had to give it a watch.  I was so anxious reading the synopsis I could barely muster the courage to view it at night by myself.

The movie opens with standard 70s gloom of dim lighting and less than hi-def filming. The ambiance is great as Jill Johnson (Carole Kane) arrives at the estate of Doctor and Mrs Mandrakis to babysit the couples two small children, who are already asleep according to the mother.

The empty house is large, and filled with the uneasiness of shadowy back rooms and halls. Upon being left alone, Jill receives a series of ominous phone calls from a strange man repeatedly asking if she has “checked the children.”

What starts as Jill thinking someone is playing a simple prank escalates as the calls continue. The Millennials of today’s generation will never fully understand just how unsettling and startling the sound of a ringing phone piercing an otherwise silent room can be.

While the opening scene is good, I find it impossible to rate as the best ever or even one of them. It does have moments of anxiety and is clearly the inspiration for the classic opening scene in “Scream” 17 years later.

Sadly the movie doesn’t end after the glorified “first 20 minutes”. The plot is anything other than horror. Curt Duncan (Tony Beckley) is a certified wacko who has escaped from a mental hospital and is stalking the streets of the city. Charles Durning plays officer John Clifford, a detective obsessed with finding him.

The problem is there’s simply no horror whatsoever. The opening scene has chilling moments but nothing we haven’t seen before. In fact, episodes of CSI or Law and Order on cable TV have done better in creating a creepy opening sequence. Which works well, since minutes 21-100 play out like just like a sloppy and boring rerun of CSI or Law and Order.

The acting is blah at best. Carol Kane does a decent job as the terrified babysitter but also leaves you scratching your head with questions like why does she not once go check on the children or why doesn’t she just take the phone off the hook as the calls pour in like wildfire.

Tony Beckley is hands down the best actor in his role of the stalking madman. Whats interesting to note is that Beckley was in the final stages of his own life when the movie was filmed. The 50 year old actor would succumb to a then unknown disease of AIDS just 6 months later and Beckley appears to be physically deteriorating as “Stranger” rolls along. It inadvertently makes the character that much more sinister.

Ultimately “When a Stranger Calls” is an abject failure. Despite the shocking glowing reviews I’ve found around the movie sites and blogs of the stratosphere, its simply not an enjoyable movie in any way.

by – Matt Christopher