- A young babysitter, all alone in the house with two children asleep above, is bothered by a stranger. Unfortunately, the phone's dead...
- Julia is babysitting two young kids while a doctor and his wife are out. During the evening, a stranger knocks on the door asking Julia if she can call the auto club so he can get a tow. The phone line is dead though. This is all part of the act as he has made his way inside and abducted the two children. Years later, Julia has become an introvertive college student. She claims the stalker is back haunting her. Enter Jill Johnson and now retired cop John Clifford, who have reunited to help Julia find the stalker. Can they stop him before he strikes again?—Pat McCurry <ccgrad97@aol.com>
- Julia Jenz (Jill Schoelen) arrives at the home of Dr. Schifrin (Kevin McNulty) for a routine babysitting gig. Shortly after Schifrin and his wife (Cheryl Wilson) leave, a mysterious man knocks on the door, claiming that his car has broken down and asking to come inside to use the phone. Julia refuses to let the man in the house, but agrees to call the auto club for him. The phone is dead. Afraid to divulge this, Julia lies and says that she called the auto club. Of course, the auto club never comes, so the man returns continually. Julia continues to lie, but their conversations become increasingly sinister. Meanwhile, Julia begins to notice things turning up out of place around the house, and it soon becomes apparent that someone is moving in and out of the house, at which point Julia also realizes that the children have been abducted. The intruder eventually comes after Julia; she narrowly escapes. It is later mentioned that the children Julia babysat were never found, dead or alive.
Five years later, Julia is an introverted college student still traumatized by the incident. Julia notices strange things happening in her apartment from time to time, and believes that the intruder is once again stalking her. Jill Johnson (Carol Kane), now a counselor at the college Julia attends, comes to Julia's aid, having gone through a similar situation herself. She contacts John Clifford (Charles Durning) to help track down Julia's stalker.
Jill and Clifford come to the conclusion that the stalker may be a ventriloquist, able to manipulate his voice to make it seem as though he was outside when speaking to Julia. While investigating, they are informed that Julia has shot herself in the head. Clifford eventually tracks the stalker down at a club, where he finds that he is indeed a ventriloquist named William Landis (Gene Lythgow), but Landis escapes before Clifford can apprehend him. Clifford visits Landis' home, where he finds photographs of Julia in the hospital and of Jill's apartment.
Meanwhile, Jill is at home when she realizes that Landis is in her apartment. She arms herself while he taunts her; Landis is revealed to be wearing full face and body paint that allows him to camouflage himself against the walls of Jill's apartment. He attacks Jill and, in the struggle, Jill is shot. Clifford then arrives and shoots and kills Landis.
Sometime later, Jill is recuperating in hospital and is wheeled to Julia's room to discover her out of her coma, having survived her head wound.
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Top Gap
By what name was When a Stranger Calls Back (1993) officially released in Canada in English?
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