When a Stranger Calls (2006)

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

Director:

Simon West

Writers:

Jake Wade Wall (screenplay), Steve Feke

Stars:

Camilla Belle, Tommy Flanagan, Katie Cassidy

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Camilla Belle	...	Jill Johnson
Tommy Flanagan	...	Stranger
Katie Cassidy	...	Tiffany
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

Storyline

Jill Johnson, a young teenager, is asked to baby sit for a rich family in a massive 3 story house. The kids are sleeping, giving her no company until she gets a mysterious unknown call. When she finds out the caller is in the house, she fights for freedom. Can she escape and save the kids in time?

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Plot Keywords:

cell phone | high school | babysitting | teenager | nightmare | 

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Taglines:

Evil Hits Home

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

MySpace ran an advertisement: the profile for Jill051606, in which users can add the profile as a friend, leave comments, and read Jill's blog.

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Goofs

When Tiffany talks to Jill in the kitchen, her hair is slightly tucked on the right side. When the shot returns to her seconds later, her hair is not tucked at all.

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Quotes

Guy: Hi... What are you wearing?
Jill Johnson: Combat boots and a parka, you jerk. Who is this? This isn't funny!
Guy: Yes it is!

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Connections

Referenced in Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th (2013)

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Soundtracks

Lock It
Written by Joe Faraci
Performed by Faraci
Courtesy of Kid Gloves Music

User Reviews

This stranger shouldn't have called again.

While babysitting at an isolated Colorado house, a teen girl is terrorized by an elusive murderer on the telephone.

Remake of the 1979 semi-classic horror film basically takes the opening 20 minutes of the original film and stretches it out to fit an 87 minute time span! So it's pretty needless to say that the plot of this remake is pretty thin. There's little in the way of originality or interest in this movie. There's a lot of Camilla Belle wondering around a dark house wondering who's calling her and encountering all kinds of false scares. It all gets repetitious and routine after the first 30 minutes and never manages to muster up much in the way of suspense or chills. It certainly never reaches the intensity of the original film, especially since it wimps-out and changes one important plot point from the original. I guess we have the PG-13 rating to thank for that.

On the plus side there's an impressive set design and some dark atmosphere, unfortunately there's not much going on around it to save this remake from being sub-par. Belle's performance is pretty mediocre too.

It's just another unimpressive remake.

* 1/2 out of ****

Details

Official Sites:

Gaumont Columbia Tristar [France] Official site [Australia]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 February 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

When a Stranger Calls

Filming Locations:

Franklin Canyon Park, Beverly Hills, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$21,607,203, 5 February 2006

Gross USA:

$47,860,214

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$67,062,123

Company Credits

Production Co:

Screen Gems, Davis Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1