When A Stranger Calls (1979)
Considered one of the most frightening sequences in horror, the first 20 minutes of When a Stranger Calls is tense, chilling, and every babysitter's nightmare. The rest of the film honestly did not have a chance of living up to that opening. It's a perfectly fine psychological thriller, definitely brought forth from the late 70's/early 80's interest in psychology and crazed killers. This film probably would have been lost to history had it not been for that chilling opening scene, which spawned the now-infamous notion of "the call is coming from inside the house".
Jill is a young babysitter who is watching the children of a wealthy couple for the night. The mother tells her that the children are difficult to get to sleep, but she managed so all Jill has to do is try not to wake them up. Jill sits in the downstairs living room and begins getting calls from a mysterious man, asking if she had checked the children. At first assuming it is a prank, she quickly becomes chilled by the calls and contacts the police. At first brushing her off, they tell her if she can keep the caller on the line for over a minute, they will be able to trace the call. They realized the call is coming from inside the house and tell Jill to get out. When the police arrive they find that the children had been gruesomely murdered hours before Jill arrived and manage to catch Duncan, the mentally ill killer. The rest of the film takes place 7 years later, when he has escaped from the mental hospital where he was staying. He begins roaming the streets, being chased by private investigator, John Clifford, who becomes more and more obsessive. Jill is now married with two kids, but the nightmare is not over quite yet.
As I said before, the main reason I think this film hasn't been lost to time is due to the amazing opening sequence, it really is just absolutely frightening. Carol Kane is just absolutely wonderful and plays the part of a teen paralyzed by fear beautifully. The rest of the film is just fine. The acting is good, the cinematography is good, everything about it is good and fine. It just doesn't have anything special going on. When this film was released, psychology and mental health care were beginning to become more talked about and more widely known to the public. As they learned of these conditions, the fear and interest in "the deadly psycho killer" began to take hold, leading to a LOT of mentally ill "psycho" killers were brought to life on screen. This genre doesn't tend to hold up great because the science of the mind has evolved greatly and people who are mentally ill are no longer generalized as murderous monsters. But as far as the genre goes, this holds up alright. Much better than Dressed to Kill (1980) in my opinion.
I think this film is a classic one to see, as "the call is coming from inside the house" frightened babysitters for generations to come. Is it all that wonderful? No, there should be more Carol Kane (in every movie if you ask me). However, the film doesn't drag, as it very well could have, and the acting isn't horrid. There are DEFINITELY worse films out there, and I feel that everyone should watch this, just for the experience of the first 20 minutes.
Netflix available: DVD only
Hulu available: No
Xfinity available: No
Amazon streaming: DVD only
Rating: 2.5/5