When a Stranger Calls (1973) Review

 

When a Stranger Calls (1973)

When a Stranger Calls follows Jill, who, while babysitting one night, receives strange phone calls threatening the children. When she finally realizes that it's not a joke, she calls the police, only to find that the calls are coming from inside the house.

Making the jump to the more realistic side of horror, we move to the downright frightening When a Stranger Calls. There’s the first 30 minutes of this movie, and then the rest of it to come. A prime example of an amazing concept with bad execution. As I just mentioned, the first 30 or so minutes of this film are probably the scariest thing I’ve ever seen, with the creepy phone calls, the constant nagging to check on the children, and then the crippling realization that these phone calls are coming from inside the home. It’s a sequence that made ever hair on my body stand on end and had my blood running cold. The timing, the acting, hell even the shitty sound design all play into this being a downright terrifying opening. Then of course, the rest of the movie happens, taking the mystery away and jumping forward 7 years to Duncan’s escape, where we follow him and a detective, completely removing us from the story with Jill again until, out of nowhere, the last 10 minutes (which are also quite freaky). 

A lot of this film, for it’s faults however, tries to pose and answer the question—do truly evil people exist? And if they do, is they’re any changing their inherent nature to kill and be evil. In Curt’s case, no. He’s as evil as they come; a sadistic, brutal, and nightmarishly weird dude who almost can’t sense it, played to perfection by Tony Beckley. 

Speaking of him, we got a pretty decent cast here too, starring Ron O’Neal, Colleen Dewhurst, Charles Durning, Tony Beckley, and Carol Kane. Any time Kane was on screen, you can’t help but perk up due to her portrayal of pure terror and emotional vulnerability. Match that with Kane, who is as creepy and weird as they come and you’ve got spine chilling dynamite when the two share scenes together. 

When a Stranger Calls, directed by Fred Walton, is quite possibly one of the scariest movies ever but it’s impossible to recover after such strong opening but weak middle act, leaving the film to be a mixed bag where not all the pieces fit together enough for a feature length film. 

6.6/10