When a Stranger Calls (2006)

Director:

Simon West

Writers:

Jake Wade Wall (screenplay)
Steve Feke (1979 screenplay) ...

Release Date:

3 February 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Evil Hits Home

Plot:

During an otherwise routine babysitting gig, a high-school student is harassed by an increasingly threatening prank caller.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Prank Call | Death | Guesthouse | High School

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Camilla Belle	...	Jill Johnson
Katie Cassidy	...	Tiffany Madison
Tommy Flanagan	...	Stranger
Tessa Thompson	...	Scarlet
Brian Geraghty	...	Bobby
Clark Gregg	...	Ben Johnson
Derek de Lint	...	Dr. Mandrakis
Kate Jennings Grant	...	Kelly Mandrakis
David Denman	...	Officer Burroughs
Arthur Young	...	Will Mandrakis
Madeline Carroll	...	Allison Mandrakis
Steve Eastin	...	Detective Hines
John Bobek	...	Officer Lewis
Brad Surosky	...	Boom Boom
Karina Logue	...	Track Coach

Also Known As:

Bell Ringer (Philippines: English title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for intense terror, violence and some language.

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | Hungary:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:PG | Norway:15 | Germany:16 | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | South Korea:12 | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Sweden:11 | Brazil:14 | Malaysia:U | Australia:M | Netherlands:16 | Ireland:15A | Iceland:16 | Argentina:13 | UK:15 | Finland:K-15

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Screen Gems

Trivia:

In preparation for her role as Jill, Camilla Belle had to do two months of weight training and learning how to run.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: When Jill calls 911 the second time, she is not redirected from the central to the local police station as she was the first time she called.

Quotes:

Jill Johnson: [phone rings] Hello?
[no answer]
Jill Johnson: [sighs] Mandrakis Residence.
Voice of the Stranger: Have you checked the children?
Jill Johnson: What
[stranger hangs up. Jill runs and checks on the children. Comes Back downstairs]
Jill Johnson: [phone rings] Hello?
Voice of the Stranger: [pauses] How were the children?

Movie Connections:

References The Wicker Man (1973)

Soundtrack:

Lock It

When A Stranger Bores You To Death

This starts out interestingly, as there's a carnival right next to someone's house with an oil rig right there too and some kind of store-front church across the street with a neon "Jesus Saves" sign, all right in one tiny area....Now that's pretty dazzling, if improbable...and then we go right into the movie which takes improbable to new levels. Of course this is a lame remake of the 1979 thriller starring Carol Kane as the babysitter Jill Johnson....now Jill is some chick that ran her cell phone minutes up so high her evil parents are punishing her by making her work it off, probably something that the audience this movie targets can identify with. Jill is taken to this huge and fancy house on a lake in the middle of nowhere (of course) by her dad to babysit for the Mandrakis family. The children are already nestled all snug in their beds when Jill arrives, and the housekeeper is still there, huh, she couldn't babysit? Of course, despite the remote location one of Jill's friends pops by, one whom with which she apparently has issues as in "boyfriend stealing" or something. Anyway, of course the alarm in the house goes off for no reason and then calls from someone start coming in, calls from someone that wants to kill her. Of course Jill calls the cops and since there hasn't been any actual threat on her life they blow her off, but tell her to call back if there's anything else they can do for her. Check out the scene with Jill calling her friends at the high school bonfire/pep rally or whatever it's supposed to be, it looks like some kind of "Burning Man" festival, ??!!?? There's all kind of contrived scares in this including the cool cat Chester who of course pops up here and there, one of the tiredest "horror movie" clichés there is. I will admit that I dozed off at some point during this, and did I miss anything? Hard to tell, or care, really. This is one of those films that makes me wonder how bad the remakes of "Amityville Horror", "House of Wax" or "The Fog" could have been. Anyway, from reading online reviews, it seems like the folks that were the most scared by this were 12 year old girls, and I can only assume that from statements like "it made me pee-pee my pants". Well, one can only hope that this will put an end to Hollywood remakes of films that weren't exactly stellar to begin with, but don't bet on it. 2 out of 10 and I'm being overly generous.