When a Stranger Calls

 When A Stranger Calls

“Did you hear the one about the babysitter who gets the mysterious phone calls? The kids are asleep upstairs and the voice on the phone says ‘Have you checked children?’ Then she discovers the call is coming from inside the house!”  

What was the first Urban Legend? I wondered that while writing this series of reviews. I could go and look it up, but that would take time and effort ha-ha. In the meantime, here’s my review for a film, well two films really – one is the original, and the other is the remake. And the premise? When a strange person calls you, giving the film the aptly named titled of “When A Stranger Calls”. This was the first film to portray an urban legend on screen, or rather, the scenario it depicts became an urban legend after it. I don’t know. Urban legends’ get told and retold, so who knows for sure. 

When compiling this list of movies to review, how could I not include this on the list? It’s the stuff of nightmares; you’re home alone, the phone rings, and you hear heavy breathing on the other end. The mystery caller speakers, and taunts you. This was first portrayed on screen in 1979 and shocked audiences to their core with it’s opening twenty minutes. A young girl arrives at a rich couple’s house to babysit the children. The night goes by quietly and slowly, until the phone rings. At first, it’s just heavy breathing on the other end, until the voice asks “Have you checked the children?”. The girl is caught off guard at first, then calls her boyfriend to check if it’s him messing around. He denies it all. The phone rings several times, and the same raspy, sinister voices asks the same question… “Have… you… checked…the…children?”. I won’t give too much else away here. 

The original film opens with this phone call scene, then becomes a movie about the caller continuing to stalk people. It was a sleeper hit in its time, and released in a peak time for low budget horror, similar to “Halloween” in 1978. 

Jump forward twenty-five years or so, and Hollywood was in Remake Overkill, especially in the early to mid 2000’s. When A Stranger Calls got the rehash treatment, but in a different move, they took the scene from the opening of the first film and stretched that out into a feature length film. 

2006’s “When A Stranger Calls” borrows many elements from the original films opening scene, but elaborates on them. When first reading about that premise, I was intrigued and thought it would be a taught thriller of 90 minutes. Sadly not, as the film moves slowly spending too much time on minor details. However, it scores points for being set in an amazing house, belonging to a filthy rich couple. The house has sensor lights that only come on as you walk into that room, and turn off as soon as you leave, which plunges the house into shadows. In those shadows, are strange collections of art and sculptures, which at times looks like the figure of a person standing in the darkness. 

My advice? Watch the original, and you’ll see how it’s influence has continued to last over several decades. The opening scene of “Scream” where Drew Barrymore’s ill-fated character receives numerous calls from the killer, was inspired by “When A Stranger Calls”. And the way this film, and the urban legend itself, is so effective, is because it is simple and can happen to anyone. 

We’ve all been home alone, at night. Things seem quiet, then you hear that sound come from the other end of the house. Then the phone rings, and as you say “Hello” you expect to hear a voice instantly say “Hey”. But to only hear deep, heavy breathing, would be pretty scary. The stalker in this film uses that tactic as his weapon very well, and the whole idea plays on some very real fears – it’s in our homes where we expect to feel safe and secure, but in the case of this urban legend, it’s the place of your demise and you can’t call for help because your phone lines is being held up by a crazy guy who keeps calling you. 
 
Maybe, just don’t answer the phone? 

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