When a Stranger Calls: A Remake That Delivers Despite Its Flaws
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- Опубликовано: 2 июл 2024
- The first twenty minutes of the 1979 horror film When a Stranger Calls really creeped out movie-goers. It stuck in their heads, earning the movie cult classic status. The rest of the running time, viewers don’t often remember so clearly. So when Screen Gems gave the greenlight to a remake, they decided to expand those first twenty minutes to feature length. Stretching out the thrills and suspense for as long as possible. It was a clever idea that was brought to the screen in an entertaining way. And if you haven’t seen the When a Stranger Calls remake, this is the best horror movie you never saw.
WATCH OR OWN THE FILM HERE: shorturl.at/lmwAK
Written by: Cody Hamman
Edited by: Juan Jiminez
Narrated by: Kier Gomes
Produced by: John Fallon and Tyler Nichols
Executive produced by: Berge Garabedian
SERIES SYNOPSIS: Our Best Horror Movie You Never Saw series is dedicated to highlighting horror films that, for one reason or another, don't get as much love as we think they should. We know plenty of you horror hounds out there will have seen many of the movies we pick, but there will be plenty of you who have not.
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When someone brings up movies that I love that others hated, this is what immediately comes to mind. Maybe it’s nostalgia (or maybe it’s because my sister used to bring me along babysitting at a house very similar to this that always creeped me out) but I always found it so damn suspenseful.
I agree, definitely nostalgia.
The movie is unwatchable. The acting by the lead is baffling.
@@TDW2364your comment is bafflingly wrong
Enjoyed this remake more than I thought I would. There are some great creepy moments and the house they used is amazing. Those huge windows and dark corners worked very well. It does have its flaws but I liked it enough to buy the dvd when it came out. I'll still watch it occasionally.
Glad to see the remake getting some love!! It’s so hated by most people but I rather enjoyed it and found it damn suspenseful!!
Couldn't agree more! Love the original, but love the 'remake' if not for the house alone!
The house is amazing. I love when movies use this* style of house for their sets. I just wish they did more often!
I especially loved the indoor garden it had, which even had birds and a fish pond!
@@justanotherfaceinthecrowd8573 Absolutely! 13 Ghosts, The Shining... even Amityville with the 'eyes' of the building!
@@pamjones7426 So right! It works so much better for me than your typical 'spooky house'. I'd seriously have something like that as my dream home!
@@scouseofhorror104 Yes, not the usual Victorian Mansion/Obviously Creepy Old House With Creaky Floorboards type house. It was very modern and new, and obviously people who live in places like that have high security measures, and some have 24-hr security guards at the front gate.
Camilla Belle was an awesome final girl. She really was. I always think horror movies live or die by whether or not you're rooting for the hero of the story.
Even the original Halloween was inspired by this urban legend. It was originally titled The Babysitter Murders, then it was decided to set it on Halloween to give it a holiday theme, which ultimately made it much better
Despite only 2 babysitters being murdered.
Glad I’m not alone in loving this movie
Glad to see this film is finally getting some love. I was very impressed with it when I saw it in theaters, but I soon realized that I was in the minority. It almost felt that critics and even filmgoers hated it because that was the correct way to respond. It may have been the PG-13 rating that turned a lot of horror fans off, but I thought director Simon West put together a strong suspense show and given the creepy statue art, it felt that the house and the stranger were both parts of the same antagonist.
On a different note, I would like to ask a quick question. Have you guys ever thought of doing a retro review of "Cold Creek Manor"? I remember that your producer John Fallon gave that film a very poor review back in its 2003 release (shout-out to classic Arrow In The Head reviews), but maybe it could get a re-look? Big fan of Mr. Fallon's reviews going back to 2000. 👍
Most 2000s-2010s horror remakes were hated at the time, simply because, as you put it, that was the correct way to respond. :( sad
It's funny how MANY who prefer the original avoid mentioning that the ONLY thing scary about the original was its first 20 mins! After that it was a slog and bore to get through. The remake did the wise choice to expand on that to feature length & did a decent enough job (it's horror, are u expecting Schindler's List?!) and that's reflected in its box office success!
Sounds like you’re describing the remake.
This is the second horror movie I ever watched! So cool you made a video on this film 😄
The actress is hot. Remember when back in the 00 and early 10s they remade all of the classic horror movies from way back in the day, now it’s only getting worse with every Movie getting remade but that small period of time when they kept remaking horror movies from way back in the day was just interesting and funny.
I saw it,and man she's pretty.Great remake.
I totally remember the website, the number you could call and text, and going to see it I loved it
When a stranger calls back is still the creepiest of the 3 films overall.. The opening babysitter scene in that one is equal to the original and the fact that they explained that the stranger is a ventriloquist so he can manipulate his voice in the house... But I own and enjoy all 3 films
When A Stranger Calls Back is so damn good.
I had no idea they had built the house. Excellent decision. It is a huge part of the isolation and anxiety that builds in the movie. All that glass doesn’t feel as safe as stone walls. It’s so large. The modern art is creepy. The birds caged echoing the babysitters own situation. And it was stunning.
The original movie has a great opening and that’s it, the opening is literally just the short redone and not as good. The remake is a good PG-13 horror film and better than the original movie. But the short is still the very best version of this story.
The problem with both is that the trailers for both movies give away that the caller is in the house
Well I knew the plot of the movie based off of urban ledgends and the fact it was a remake
I've always liked this one. I was shocked when I saw how badly it was reviewed.
Camilla Belle walking around for 90 mins is worth it
She was so hot
This movie was actually sooooo good! One of my favorite movies to watch with all my siblings
Gosh what a throw back. The remake was the very first scary movie I ever saw in theaters.
The remake is my favorite.. I will always remember my first time watching it and seeing him watching over her creep tf outta me 😂😂 great movie 👏🏽💐
The remake house is indeed a character itself. It's probably the most incredible house I've seen in a horror movie. It's so cool, yet eerie... it doesn't matter not much is happening the first half of the film. You just want to explore that glorious house...
Anyone loves the 1993's When a Stranger Calls Back?
I remember that! I believe it was a Showtime Original Movie!
Personally Out of the 3 movies that belong to the franchise. I think when a stranger calls back is the best.
I like the tv sequel for what it is. Love the OGs beginning and last like ten minutes haha
Calls Back also has a great beginning!
Does that have the same girl as the original WASC ?
I love Camilla Belle!
She's an awesome final girl. Very beautiful human being.
My favorite sequence was when she hid in the water, saw Rosa's corpse, yelped, went back up, signalled the kids to flee, and got attacked by the stranger.
I love that movie for some reason. I was around the same age as the baysitter when I first saw it and was home alone. I know it's not well loved, but I don't care, I still like rewatching it from time to time
I was obsessed with this movie when I was a child I watched over and over
This is a pretty recognizable and cool cast
The 1979 Version Still Stands The Test Of Time.
The intro does for me. However the whole film does a 180 and tries to make me pity a child killer. That never sat well with me and the film just falls flat for me after that
Yeah most people didn't have 2 phone lines in the house
I've always loved this one seen it in the theater
I love Tommy Flanagan but if they had constantly kept him in shadow, his face somewhat covered, maybe hooded it would have been so much better. And in the car at the end show only the bottom part of his face lit and just the catch lights in his eyes, so much creepier. Who is he? No one knows, just adds a menace and mystery than we lose every time the killer is revealed.
The only time a killers face reveal really adds to the story is in The Hitcher with Rutgers Hauer. He still kept the dark edge with mocking humour despite us seeing him. But he was still mysterious. A very underrated actor despite some bad movies.
Love this movie!
The only movie where when *SPOILERS* *SPOILERS*
the killer is caught, not killed, and he seemed scarier now. We never found out who he was or why he was doing this. But we knew what he was capable of, and he seemed a little too calm sitting in the back of the police car.
In defence of the 1979 film I think the last act that reintroduced Carol Kane's character was pretty good almost on par with the opening
The mistake was trying to focus on the stranger in the middle section of film if they had stuck with Carol Kane throughout the whole film and kept the stranger in the shadows the film would have been more consistent
I saw the original when young & I was also later scarred by the reveal in A Stranger Calls Back!
This was my very first horror movie!
I have always had a soft spot for this movie. I wish they had made the sequel even if it had a new girl.
When I saw all the negative reviews I was like "Okay, it's not an oscar worthy film but it definitely wasn't THAT bad." I actually enjoyed it and it was pretty creepy!
The hills have eyes had developed characters and an engaging story. The 20 minute (original) idea of When a... is an idea alone, a concept. As for the original When a.. the last 10 minutes are good too... where the stranger is in the final scene... creeped me out as a kid, as you can imagine.
The original has a sequel with the same director and 2 main stars titled When a Stranger Calls back, which also has a terrific opening 20 minutes or so, then slows down considerably
I actually like this remake. Not as good as the original, but enjoyable none the less.
This is one of the first horror movies I ever watched as a kid , and it terrified me to ever babysit lmao
Ok, Joblo, I will check both films out o7
This was an outstanding movie. But the one flaw is the very thing that they seem so proud of...yes, this IS supposed to be a horror movie. The fact that they had to use pretentious language to lure the actress just tells you how fatuous she is....the basic movie is the same, either way. Of course, the premise is challenging...it's hard to add more violence, since the motif hinges on her being so isolated while she gets these calls. By definition, if she's alone, there won't be many people for the killer to go after. But I do think that if they had included more violence, this would have been a truly great movie. They had everything else...
my fav movie when i was seven
11:43 Lance HEINriksen?
Seriously!!! I put this on when I want fast scare lol that house is nightmare fuel!!
The one thing I remember from this movie was her dad was on Poltergeist: The Legacy.
I loved when a stranger calls
I could never figure this out. This story is old. Was there a way to call one phone from another phone inside the house? I grew up in the 90s with landlines, and if you tried to pick up a phone in a household and call yourself, it wouldn’t work. Maybe the house in the film had two separate lines?
Separate lines
According to Reddit, you used to be able to test-call your own phone to make sure it was working. For this legend, you really just needed the phone to ring and then both parties would be on two extensions of the same phone line.
You absolutely could dial another phone in the house, and you didn't need separate lines. You picked up the phone, dialed your own number, *hung the phone back up* and it would ring. Then both people picked up their separate receivers. The problem is, it would beep a few times to let you know that it was a call from your own line. Meaning, the horror movie cliche wouldn't really work, you'd know immediately.
@@MichaelPoage666 I miss landlines. At the publc pool we knew this number you could dial in the public phone to make it ring. Would do it and then watch people answer it.
@@MichaelPoage666; Really?? I never knew that. I mean, I grew up with landlines only, until about 8-10 years old, and then we started integrating cell phones into daily life, where I got my first Nokia brick at the tender age of 11. I knew you could have separate lines, and could pick up another phone to listen in on a call, and *69, *67, and the usual stuff. But dialing your own number?? Damn, that seems like it would have been a great tidbit of knowledge to have back then.
When A Stranger Calls Back is pure fire and is better than the original and remake!
I prefer the remake I love that movie and it’s a beautiful film very atheistically pleasing
I love the house in this movie
I love horror and to this day I really like this as a tamer slasher. I think it's underrated and is well-shot, very atmospheric and tense for much of it, and yes that house design is one of the most memorable things about it really. I think there was a lot they did right here. But I also think it was a bit TOO tame and needed more of a punch somewhere to be more memorable. In the end it comes off enjoyable but kind of bland. Camilla Belle did fine but I personally think it may have suffered a bit when they lost Evan Rachel Wood as the lead. When the climax arrives, you're waiting for the carnage and blood and chaos to really kick off, or at least some sort of big reveal. But nothing big or memorable ever really happens and I think a lot of people were just underwhelmed with it.
Now we need a remake of the confusing sequel that made no sense
This remake its better than the original.
I remember i saw this movie in theaters with my brother when i was a little kid lmfao
Haven't watched the video yet. But me and my wife just recently watched the originals and the remake because she had never seen any of them. And I had been a huge fan of the originals growing up and thought that I remembered liking the remake when it came out on rewatch. I'm gonna be honest I did not really like the remake very much. It wasn't a bad movie but it wasn't a very good movie either.
I've seen dead fish with more charisma than Belle, she's always so shark-eyed and lifeless in everything I see her in.
I remember seeing the original at the cinema. Like many, I was rapt by the first 20 minutes or so, but after that, everything went 👎🏼. I almost walked out at one point but stuck it out. Although I remember the first act clearly, the rest of the film …..🤷♂️.
Hasn’t it been remade in the past ? Or maybe Im getting mixed up with this version. Id be tempted to see it but it would have to grab me after the initial section.
Update. Now Ive watched your video all the way through, I can safely say Ive seen the remake. Thats what I had in my mind when I mentioned a remake up above. Saw it on Netflix I believe.
Yeah, I didn’t rate that either. Out of the two films the first 20 minutes of the original is the only bit worth the time imo. Treat it as a short.
I really liked it, it has a creepy atmosphere and it’s such a strong leading role. Almost a solo performance!
What happened to her career, is she still acting.
I had the biggest crush on Camilla Belle in the late 2000's
Most of the time, I am not fan of movie remakes, but this one is better than the original. Original is more drama like horror. Anyway, there is only one reason you have to watch this remake...final look of the stranger from a police car. Goosebumps every time.
I'm not a fan of the ignorang mindset that remake = bad movie. Remakes of great movies are typically needless, yes, but there are tons of great flicks that ate remakes...Scarface, The Departed, The Thing, The Wizard of Oz, A Star is Born...just to name a few
There are a ton of pretty good remakes and re boots.This is a decent one, but I don't know how you could think this is better than the original.The original was way more suspensible and actually had a way better story to it on top of that.The original spawned a sequel , that was probably the best movie Out of the bunch.
when a stranger calls back.
The original is, as you say, incredible for its beginning but really goes down hill after those first 30 minutes. The remake was good, but the actress playing the babysitter just didn’t have the chops to carry a movie like this. It still is a decent scary movie for October.
Charles During? Carol Cane? In this shit fest?
I love this movie. I like the original but it gets a bit boring. BUT i love the second one. It is creepy AF.
Idc want anyone says, I enjoyed this movie way better than the original. The opening was the only good part about the original. It felt more like a detective thriller than horror.
The original film has a great beginning and ending. But the hour in between is a weird and dull character study which robs the killer of any ability to be scary.
The remake is dumb fun. I like the concept of expanding the only great part of the original. Though I would have prefered to have a different lead actor. Camilla Belle doesnt have the depth or vulnerability Carol Kane brought to the original.
Bell was hot as hell in that role. I wish I was w/ her. It was a good movie.
I saw this because it's based off an Urban Legend
Hey there narrator dude; it's not Heinrichson - it's Henriksen, like in Henry with a 'k' added and then sen at the end of the name...how difficult can it be. I've seen him even called Hendrickson but why make it more complicated than it is, these sen-names really seem to confuse Americans sometimes...🤔
And my dumbass was looking for where the house was located...
Silent house
I just can't get over "Jill Johnson" - Tis the most brilliantly awful name I have heard.
I think the remake is better than the original. The original just turned into a detective movie.
The remake wasnt terrible, but i feel like it shouldnt have extended the beginning of the original to be the whole movie.
The remake is pretty good…shot well, and creepy enough. The Killer…kind of lame; unless you’re a teenage girl I guess.
The original I was super excited for when I first got it, not knowing the part I wanted the most was only the beginning of the movie. The rest was just disappointing.
This film is hated!? Wtf!
❤❤❤❤❤🎥🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿
The only film I actually enjoyed in this franchise was When a Stranger Calls Back. The only good part about the original was the first 20 minutes.
I heard it through the grapevine that there will be a reboot of Phantasm in 2027.
The only information I have is that the role of The Tall Man will be played by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
Just kidding.
Camilla Belle is Gorgeous
Those droopy sexy eyes, kind of reminded me of Danni Ashe.
@@LarryFleetwood8675 Danni Had Some Jugs
@@reycesarcarino4653 Absolutely and different eye color.
@@LarryFleetwood8675 Different Women all Together
@@reycesarcarino4653 Of course, I only commented on the eyes...
I didn’t like the remake. The original haunted me during my babysitting years and I just didn’t get scared or even super interested in the remake.
I respect what they were trying to do but the film is pretty poor. The failed to take that 20 minute premise of the short film and expand it. The film slow plays everything because there is so little material. In order to flesh this thing out, there are a bunch of unnecessary jump scares, a pointless boyfriend subplot, a "life lesson" about running that never goes anywhere, and having to insert a prologue and the unnecessary epilogue. Even the phone calls are anemic compared to the original, especially when the stranger doesn't talk half the time. The film is a 12 minute showdown with 70 minutes of padding. There's a big plot question that needed to be asked...why did they need a babysitter at short notice when the family had a live-in maid? There was potential here but they failed to build any kind of cat and mouse between Jill and the stranger.
I trusted this movie’s title and went watching the flick, what a boring experience 😂
Hmm, it's quite good but it looks bad having been made smack in the middle of the early 2000s' then still new craze of crappy grading still persisting to this day, alas... lol
Great movie, but OMG is cammila belle an atrocious actress
seen this movie and i still say, meh!. it wasn't very good at all. so, many things wrong with it and so much as he said would make you cringe. lol. sorry. but, this movie will always have a score of meh! out of exciting.
I saw this and no, NOT the best horror movie. It felt to lacking and didn’t hold up for me personally.
This movie was the opposite of scary 😂
This movie is HORRIBLE, its so boring, i saw this one time years ago but what i remember is that nothing remotely interesting happens before an hour and 15 min.... but i will admit Camila Belle is almost worth the watch, cant believe this actress didn't have a better movie career, she's talented and gorgeous !!!
it's called building tension and suspense, a lost art form now with today's no attention span crowd...
@@LarryFleetwood8675 I'm a HUGE fan of Hitchcock, Kubrick and Carpenter. i grew up watching those amazing movies and these geniuses were the masters of building tension and suspense.... like i said before this movie just sucks!!!
@@LarryFleetwood8675I feel zero tension when I watch this movie lol it’s so flat
The movie was lame tp me. I liked The Glasses Housr better.
Yeah I don’t like this movie . It wasn’t scary at all and she beat his ass from what I remember , but it has been years
I’m not gonna lie most of the time you guys have solid takes on overhated or unappreciated horror films but this one just plain fucking sucks. Camilla Belle is a terrible actress who gives a wooden performance. The kills aren’t good it isn’t scary and the dialogue is choppy at best.
Agree with you on most things, but not in this. The original was very different - scary, then oddly thoughtful and then incredibly tense. The remake was so flat and uninspiring - one of the worst remakes I've seen.
Yeah but she's fit.. so that's good.
@@disclaimer.imjokin good point.
I don't think it's one of the worst remakes that I've ever seen, but it is definitely nothing compared to the original two
The remake its better, the only thing good about the original was the opening, the rest was a bore-fest,
@@rubenazul7421 I highly disagree. I feel like the remake was pretty boring. And the main actress in the movie made the entire thing Feel like it was dragging because she was dull as all hell. With that Being said, I also think the sequel to the original is the best one that they have made of this particular franchise.
This movie sucks. Watch the original.
This is one of the worst movies I've ever scene lol
Isn’t this the lowest rated movie of all time? Either way, this movie was AWFUL
More like the worst horror movie you never saw
*The lead actress in the remake looks like Tom Cruise its uncanny.*
To insane people maybe.
@@LarryFleetwood8675 She legit does. Go simp elsewhere.