When a Stranger Calls ** (2006, Camilla Belle, Tommy Flanagan, Katie Cassidy, Tessa Thompson, Brian Geraghty, Clark Gregg, Derek de Lint) – Classic Movie Review 4524

Though not outstanding, Camilla Belle makes a pretty, feisty heroine as Jill Johnson, a high-school student baby-sitter in peril in a chic isolated house when a mad homicidal stranger repeatedly calls and finally threatens the kids upstairs – ‘have you checked on the children?’ She reports it to the cops who trace the call as coming from inside the house!

Taking only the first segment of the 1979 original, director Simon West’s 2006 horror movie is not nearly as good as that classic. But this slickly made teen chiller is fairly intense, eerie and atmospherically creepy throughout, with undeniably scary scenes of cat-and-mouse with the killer coming non-stop, after its lengthy, effectively unsettling build-up.

Thanks to the Scream movies, the yarn is now a shrivelled old chestnut, and you have to be prepared to suspend disbelief to cope with its illogical and contrived plotline.

It was a big number one hit in the US, taking $50 million.

Tommy Flanagan, Katie Cassidy, Tessa Thompson, Brian Geraghty, Clark Gregg and Derek de Lint are also in the cast.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 4524

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