When a Stranger Calls (2006)
Average Rating: 3.2/10
Reviews Counted: 90
Fresh: 8 | Rotten: 82
What's fitting punishment for running up the phone bill? Why have that person baby sit; that'll teach them. Or better yet, make that person through this poorly acted, fright-free remake of the 1979 movie of the same name. Camilla Belle is a looker, but she got nothing on Carol Kane, the actress who originally played the part, when it comes to range. The final straw is that the payoff isn't worth the tedium that comes before. Just hang up on this one.
Average Rating: 3/10
Critic Reviews: 16
Fresh: 1 | Rotten: 15
What's fitting punishment for running up the phone bill? Why have that person baby sit; that'll teach them. Or better yet, make that person through this poorly acted, fright-free remake of the 1979 movie of the same name. Camilla Belle is a looker, but she got nothing on Carol Kane, the actress who originally played the part, when it comes to range. The final straw is that the payoff isn't worth the tedium that comes before. Just hang up on this one.
liked it
Average Rating: 3/5
User Ratings: 476,706
Movie Info
A teenage girl becomes a demented serial killer's prey in this big-budget remake of the 1979 thriller that became a TV late-show favorite. When a Stranger Calls takes its title and basic premise from the original, which -- for its first 15 minutes or so -- featured Carol Kane as a frazzled babysitter plagued by creepy, invasive phone calls. This time around, the doe-eyed Camilla Belle plays Jill Johnson, a high-schooler dealing with the usual set of crises: an unfaithful boyfriend, a bitchy best
Cast
-
Camilla Belle
Jill Johnson -
Tommy Flanagan
Stranger -
Tessa Thompson
Scarlet -
Brian Geraghty
Bobby -
Clark Gregg
Mr. Johnson -
Derek de Lint
Dr. Mandrakis -
Kate Jennings Grant
Mrs. Mandrakis -
David Denman
Officer Burroughs -
Arthur Young
Will Mandrakis -
Madeline Carroll
Allison Mandrakis -
Steve Eastin
Detective Hines -
Lance Henriksen
Voice of the Strange... -
-
-
-
-
ADVERTISEMENT
When a Stranger Calls Trailer & Photos
Friend Ratings
No Friends? Inconceivable! Log in to see what your friends have to say.
All Critics (98) | Top Critics (16) | Fresh (8) | Rotten (82) | DVD (15)
If you've seen either Black Christmas or Halloween, there's nothing new here: the hyped-up score keeps telling us we ought to be scared, but the suspense feels mechanical and fake.
Top CriticThe film is not quite suspense-free, but almost. When finding a dead body underwater isn't scary, something is very wrong.
This version is a thin, protracted study in shifting Hollywood strategies.
A production that never comes close to realizing its potential to tweak the viewer's primal fears.
If there's a single dead-wrong instinct in this movie that isn't pursued with the blind determination of an amorous terrier during high-scent season, darned if I can remember it.
Stranger is one long tease that, instead of building tension around Jill's efforts to outwit her mysterious stalker, has her run around the house, unsuccessfully calling every friend, cop and family member she knows.
Amateurish direction by Simon West ("Laura Croft: Tomb Raider") contributes to the utter failure of this pathetic update of the original film of the same title.
No plot, no originality, no stars -- and no reason for you to go and see this crap.
...just as needless a remake as one might've expected.
You know a horror movie's in trouble when the fake scares outweigh the real ones.
I can't help feeling that this updating could have been a little more imaginative -- the only wrinkle on the basic plot is that it uses mobile phones.
While teen chillers tend to be exercises in extreme dullness, at least director Simon West tries to wring some suspense out of the scenes here.
Atmospheric but generally disappointing thriller, despite a passably tense climax and an eye-catching performance by newcomer Camilla Belle.
Having abstained from character development and stalling for something to do between calls, the movie dwells in the house's dark corners, plugging plot holes with overzealous sound design.
Loud, noisy, flashy but too rarely chilling.
This year's "I Know What You Did Last Summer"...You'll be totally immersed and near on the verge of drawing sweat
god damn why in the world would they only remake the first 20 minutes?
Não percebe que a premissa é insuficiente para sustentar 90 minutos de duração e, conseqüentemente, o resultado deixa muito a desejar com relação ao original.
...it did half the trick for me and for that...it receives half the marks.
I'll be damned if I can find anything to like
This remake of a 1979 thriller starring Carol Kane isn't particularly mysterious ... Unexpectedly, given his background in exploitation dramas, director Simon West doesn't push the horror to the max.
Long distance information? Get me Hollywood, USA: I've got a rusty ice pick to bury in the gullet of whoever greenlighted this pointless exercise.
When a Stranger Calls understands that when alone and isolated in an unfamiliar place, an overactive imagination can be as frightening as any real threats.
The only reason to watch this punishingly dull remake is to ogle raven-haired beauty Camilla Belle.
Audience Reviews for When a Stranger Calls
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
Movies Like When a Stranger Calls
-
- Jill Johnson: What do you want me for? Why are you doing this?
- Voice of the Stranger: I want your blood all over me.
-
- Jill Johnson: Stop calling me you sick...
- Officer Burroughs: Jill, we've traced the call it's coming from inside the house! Get out of the house, get out of the house!
-
- Detective Hines: Keep him on the phone for at least 60 seconds and we'll be able to trace where he is. And when we do it'll take us 20 minutes to get down there. You think you can manage?
- Jill Johnson: Yeah. I guess.... But he never stays on the phone longer than a few seconds.
- Detective Hines: You have to try.
-
- Voice of the Stranger: How are the children?
-
- Jill Johnson: I know it's you tiffany, I can see the name address.
- Voice of the Stranger: I'm not Tiffany.
-
- Jill Johnson: Stop calling me you sick...
- Officer Burroughs: Jill, we've traced the call it's coming from inside the house!
Discussion Forum
Discuss When a Stranger Calls on our Movie forum!
What's Hot On RT
Ralph Fiennes' 10 Best Movies
Stars and Cars of Need for Speed
Need For Speed is busted
Your 10 most anticipated
Interview: Kirsten Bell binges
Latest News on When a Stranger Calls
January 31, 2008:
Box Office Guru Preview: Montana Hopes to Win Super Bowl TrophyWhile Brady and Manning duke it out in Phoenix, the $15 movie ticket aims to conquer the multiplexes...
February 8, 2007:
Box Office Guru Preview: Comedy vs. Cannibals at the MultiplexesMoviegoers get to choose between a master comic taking on three roles or a diabolical screen villain...
February 5, 2007:
Box Office Guru Wrapup: "Messengers" Scores Slim Win Over Super Bowl WeekendWith the Super Bowl taking males out of the picture, mothers and daughters squared off at the North...
Fresh Links
Featured
Mean Girls Stars, 10 Years Later
It's the comedy's 10th anniversary; what are its stars up to now?
Worst Movies of 2014 So Far
HitFix looks back on the first months of the year and gives it to us straight.
Bill Murray in Wes Anderson Films
Check out a retrospective of the pair's collaborative efforts.
25 Greatest Sequels
This week's Rolling Stone readers' poll brings you the best sequels ever.
Family Movie Mistakes
Moviefone offers 25 "uh-oh" moments the whole family can enjoy.
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter!
Spice up your feed with hourly Tomatometer updates!
Featured on RT
- Weekly Ketchup: Captain America 3 Officially Announced 19
- Interview: Tobin Bell Discusses His Career and His New Horror Film Dark House 0
- Video: How to Make Love Like a Fax Machine 1
- Video: Carrie Declares Social Bankruptcy on Portlandia 0
- Parental Guidance: Need For Speed and Veronica Mars 0
- Critics Consensus: Need for Speed is Busted 20
- Weekly Binge: Game of Thrones 15
