Watch When a Stranger Calls For Free

Did you people see the same film I saw?

An absolute waste of money

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

It´s been said, the opening and climax are great. I personally would add that Carol Kane is awesome. The middle part just hasn´t dated well. It can feel at times like trying to stretch a shorter concept but it adds to the psycho´s sociopathy and the cop´s motivation. That does bolster the climax, not as quotable as the opening but kind of scarier. It wouldn´t work as well without that "middle part" even if it should ideally be a bit shorter. After knowing what we learned about the characters, the suspense and the film itself have grown all the way up. I genuinely got the chills at the very end and that is worth more than all the jump scares in the book. It´s flawed, but a solid classic nonetheless. You´ll probably sleep with the lights on and isn´t that what horror films are about?

I think it's fascinating (and sort of sad) that a movie like "It Follows" (while not terrible, but very tiresome for those who grew up in the 70's and 80's and can call every one of its myriad influences that it flat out rips off.).gets rave reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and then a film as influential, terrifying, and so well made as this 1979 shocker (yes, even with its complete tonal shift into character study in the mid-portion) gets a 6%? Everything about this film is first rate, and I firmly believe the first 20 minutes is arguably the closest thing to a nightmare caught on film in the medium's long history (along with Chainsaw 74').The film requires patience. Younger reviewers who find the film tame and "not scary" have to be reminded of the time period that this film was released. Child killers like Gacy, and a dozens more were at their peak in the 70's, which is why Carpenter's Halloween, and "Stranger" resonated so much to the movie-going public. When a Stranger Calls may indeed be based on an urban legend, but do some extensive research on the horrors taking place in 70's suburbia, and "Stranger Calls" starts to look like a fairy tale in comparison. Again, it's all about context; on one hand, one must consider that "women in peril/stalker films" were a new sub-genre. Long before Jason, American Horror Story, Saw, etc. we had very few horror films that reminded audiences that horror wasn't just set in outer space, old creepy castles, rural wastelands, or even creepy motels. They literally could be one house away. For the sake of time, I want to recommend this really thought-provoking piece that had me seeing this 1979 mini-masterpiece in a brand new light: it's called "Giving When a Stranger Calls Another Shot" in a 2014 issue of BirthDeathMovies. IMDb won't let me post the link here, but I strongly recommend taking a look!

When a Stranger Calls (1979) *** (out of 4)Intense psychological thriller has a babysitter (Carol Kane) receiving phone calls from a stranger asking if she has checked on the children. Flash forward seven years when the psychopath (Tony Beckley) escapes from a mental hospital so a detective (Charles Durning) tries to track him down before he can harm anyone else.WHEN A STRANGER CALLS has become somewhat legendary in the thriller/horror genre due in large part to a nearly perfectly executed opening 20-minute sequence where Kane is terrorized by the mysterious man on the phone. There's no question that this sequence has gone down in horror history as a major highlight but I don't think the rest of the film gets nearly enough credit as it deserves. The middle portion of the film is pretty much a character study as we focus in on the psycho who is out in the streets and pretty much walking about trying to find friends. Even though we know the monster he is, the film at times paints him in a sympathetic light.The middle portion of the film has several thriller aspects that work extremely well including one where a bar woman pretty much gives a cold shoulder to the psycho. Of course, she doesn't know who he is and this helps with the suspense because the viewer very well knows what he's capable of. Even the detective is someone we get to learn about as the movie goes along because we can tell that this is a case that haunts him and you have to think that he dropped off the force and went into a private business in hopes of one day getting his chance to kill this guy.Director Fred Walton does a very good job at managing to build up the suspense during the opening sequence and the problem with a lot of thrillers is that they can contain one great suspense scene and then things just go flat or can never recapture that same tension. Even though the middle portion of this film is more laid back, the director still manages to build up a creepy atmosphere and the viewer is always on the edge knowing that this guy could flip at any moment. The cat and mouse game being played works out extremely well. The film also benefits from a very effective score by Dana Kaproff, which helps add to the tension and atmosphere. Add in some nice cinematography and you've really got everything working right.The performances are also another major plus as Durning is an actor that fits that "every man's" approach. He looks like a real detective. He acts like a real detective. You can look in his eyes and see years of experience and this here just helps the film. Kane is also very effective playing the "scared" female part and there's no question that she helps sell the opening sequence. The film, however, belongs to Beckley who is simply terrific in the role of the psycho. The character actually has quite a bit to do here and the actor perfectly captures not only the evilness that lurks below the surface but as I said earlier, there are scenes where he's mistreated and the actor manages to get some sympathy even when you hate the guy. This certainly reminds one of the performance of Boris Karloff in FRANKENSTEIN.WHEN A STRANGER CALLS is a very intense little gem but there are still some flaws to be found in it. This includes the movie running about five minutes too long and there's also another sequence inside a restaurant where you just want to scream at the Kane character to get up and do something rather than sitting around and crying on a floor. Still, this film deserves its reputation as a real gem.

Charles Durning, Carol Kane, Tony Beckley and Colleen Dewhurst star in this 1979 horror film. This begins with woman, Jill Johnson (Kane) babysitting a couple's 2 young children. She starts getting disturbing phone calls by a mysterious man. Soon, she learns that he's in the house and is almost attacked by him. The police get there to save her, but are too late when they find the children already murdered. The late, Beckley plays the killer, Curt Duncan who escapes from a mental hospital after 7 years and tries to find Jill. The late, Durning plays investigator, John Clifford who is determined to hunt Duncan and the late, Dewhurst plays Tracy, a woman who Duncan sets his sights on. This is a good, suspenseful horror film with a good cast I recommend.