When a Stranger Calls Back is a sequel to the 1979 film starring Carol Kane.
In this go around, Julia is a teenager babysitting for two children. During the night a man starts knocking at the door, trying to get her to let him in under the guise that his car has broken down. Julia refuses, but the tension keeps building as the voice tells her he has seen someone moving around upstairs, and that she should check on the children. She naturally runs to check on the children, only to find them gone. She then runs downstairs, and outside to find no one there, but the voice calls out to her again and she runs inside to find the shape of a man with his arms outstreched to get her. Julia then runs outside again into the arms of the parents who she was babysitting for, as her tormentor vanishes with the children.
The movie then flashes forward five years where Julia is in college, and being stalked again. She seeks out the help of Jill (Kane), the survivor of the first film, who is now a counselor at Julia's college. Jill enlists the help of her policeman friend from the first film to find the stalker before he can get Julia. However, Jill herself soon becomes his prey.
The movie drags heavily in the second act. The stalker's motives are never explained, nor does there seem to be any connection to Julia's first stalking. We never learn what has become of the children, and the ending comes up to fast, without letting things settle down first. This is definitely good for a TV movie, the opening alone is as good as or better than most typical horror films, but so much is left unexplained as to seriously frustrate the viewer.
In this go around, Julia is a teenager babysitting for two children. During the night a man starts knocking at the door, trying to get her to let him in under the guise that his car has broken down. Julia refuses, but the tension keeps building as the voice tells her he has seen someone moving around upstairs, and that she should check on the children. She naturally runs to check on the children, only to find them gone. She then runs downstairs, and outside to find no one there, but the voice calls out to her again and she runs inside to find the shape of a man with his arms outstreched to get her. Julia then runs outside again into the arms of the parents who she was babysitting for, as her tormentor vanishes with the children.
The movie then flashes forward five years where Julia is in college, and being stalked again. She seeks out the help of Jill (Kane), the survivor of the first film, who is now a counselor at Julia's college. Jill enlists the help of her policeman friend from the first film to find the stalker before he can get Julia. However, Jill herself soon becomes his prey.
The movie drags heavily in the second act. The stalker's motives are never explained, nor does there seem to be any connection to Julia's first stalking. We never learn what has become of the children, and the ending comes up to fast, without letting things settle down first. This is definitely good for a TV movie, the opening alone is as good as or better than most typical horror films, but so much is left unexplained as to seriously frustrate the viewer.