Instant Favorite.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

When A Stranger Calls opens in fine form, with babysitter Jill Johnson (Carol Kane) having a really bad time of it, a menacing nuisance caller repeatedly ringing to ask whether she has checked on the children. In a panic, Jill contacts the police, who put a trace on the calls-only to discover that they're coming from inside the house! When the cops arrive, they find Jill hysterical, the caller-a psycho named Curt (Tony Beckley)-having killed the children in their beds.The ending of the film is also pretty good, the killer returning after 7 years to menace poor Jill once more, this time threatening her own children.What a shame, then, that the middle section of this slasher is such a bore, with cop turned private detective John Clifford trying to track down the recently escaped Curt and make him pay for his horrific crimes. It's dull, drawn out police procedure, Clifford making his enquiries, eventually staking out the home of middle-aged bar floozy Tracy (Colleen Dewhurst), who is being stalked by the dangerous maniac. This part really drags and goes nowhere, Curt always managing to make his escape.Worth watching for the tense bookend scenes, but it's a shame that the film wasn't consistently good the whole way through.

I think it's fascinating (and sort of sad) that a movie like "It Follows" (while not terrible, but very tiresome for those who grew up in the 70's and 80's and can call every one of its myriad influences that it flat out rips off.).gets rave reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and then a film as influential, terrifying, and so well made as this 1979 shocker (yes, even with its complete tonal shift into character study in the mid-portion) gets a 6%? Everything about this film is first rate, and I firmly believe the first 20 minutes is arguably the closest thing to a nightmare caught on film in the medium's long history (along with Chainsaw 74').The film requires patience. Younger reviewers who find the film tame and "not scary" have to be reminded of the time period that this film was released. Child killers like Gacy, and a dozens more were at their peak in the 70's, which is why Carpenter's Halloween, and "Stranger" resonated so much to the movie-going public. When a Stranger Calls may indeed be based on an urban legend, but do some extensive research on the horrors taking place in 70's suburbia, and "Stranger Calls" starts to look like a fairy tale in comparison. Again, it's all about context; on one hand, one must consider that "women in peril/stalker films" were a new sub-genre. Long before Jason, American Horror Story, Saw, etc. we had very few horror films that reminded audiences that horror wasn't just set in outer space, old creepy castles, rural wastelands, or even creepy motels. They literally could be one house away. For the sake of time, I want to recommend this really thought-provoking piece that had me seeing this 1979 mini-masterpiece in a brand new light: it's called "Giving When a Stranger Calls Another Shot" in a 2014 issue of BirthDeathMovies. IMDb won't let me post the link here, but I strongly recommend taking a look!

As I waited to buy my ticket for "When A Stranger Calls," the promotional poster to the right of me included the words: "Unequivocally, the most frightening movie I have ever seen." The critic who made that concise comment expressed well my own response, and apparently that of the others in attendance, considering the writhing and uncontrolled screaming.Writers Steve Freke and Fred Walton created suspense and tension very effectively by getting viewers to live through the potential victim by focusing attention, as s/he did, where they shouldn't. The actors, too, did their job to make certain scenes almost too much to tolerate by reacting believably, either with appropriate fear and panic (Colleen Dewhurst and Carol Kane), or with determination, frustration, and vulnerability, in the case of the seasoned but imperfect detective played by Charles Durning.For the many people who have known life only with phones they can carry in their pocket, When A Stranger Calls may not keep them awake late at night. While they know (but probably take for granted) the incredible capability of an I-Phone, they probably can't imagine the power of a telephone that remained seated on a table or attached to a wall. They don't know what one experiences when he answers a call at 11:30 pm, repeatedly says "hello," but gets something disturbing in return. Did the menace who called to breathe heavily or mumble unintelligibly pose a real threat? Did he know where the victims lived? Was he calling from just down the street? At least the four walls and locked doors of home made one feel protected... until he saw When A Stranger Calls. The story didn't clarify how the psychotic prankster could make those phone calls. A person couldn't pick up a telephone, dial that phone's number, and cause another phone in the house to ring. Occasionally, families did maintain more than one telephone number, but the young children in When A Stranger Calls would not likely have needed a line to themselves.

When a Stranger Calls (1979) *** (out of 4)Intense psychological thriller has a babysitter (Carol Kane) receiving phone calls from a stranger asking if she has checked on the children. Flash forward seven years when the psychopath (Tony Beckley) escapes from a mental hospital so a detective (Charles Durning) tries to track him down before he can harm anyone else.WHEN A STRANGER CALLS has become somewhat legendary in the thriller/horror genre due in large part to a nearly perfectly executed opening 20-minute sequence where Kane is terrorized by the mysterious man on the phone. There's no question that this sequence has gone down in horror history as a major highlight but I don't think the rest of the film gets nearly enough credit as it deserves. The middle portion of the film is pretty much a character study as we focus in on the psycho who is out in the streets and pretty much walking about trying to find friends. Even though we know the monster he is, the film at times paints him in a sympathetic light.The middle portion of the film has several thriller aspects that work extremely well including one where a bar woman pretty much gives a cold shoulder to the psycho. Of course, she doesn't know who he is and this helps with the suspense because the viewer very well knows what he's capable of. Even the detective is someone we get to learn about as the movie goes along because we can tell that this is a case that haunts him and you have to think that he dropped off the force and went into a private business in hopes of one day getting his chance to kill this guy.Director Fred Walton does a very good job at managing to build up the suspense during the opening sequence and the problem with a lot of thrillers is that they can contain one great suspense scene and then things just go flat or can never recapture that same tension. Even though the middle portion of this film is more laid back, the director still manages to build up a creepy atmosphere and the viewer is always on the edge knowing that this guy could flip at any moment. The cat and mouse game being played works out extremely well. The film also benefits from a very effective score by Dana Kaproff, which helps add to the tension and atmosphere. Add in some nice cinematography and you've really got everything working right.The performances are also another major plus as Durning is an actor that fits that "every man's" approach. He looks like a real detective. He acts like a real detective. You can look in his eyes and see years of experience and this here just helps the film. Kane is also very effective playing the "scared" female part and there's no question that she helps sell the opening sequence. The film, however, belongs to Beckley who is simply terrific in the role of the psycho. The character actually has quite a bit to do here and the actor perfectly captures not only the evilness that lurks below the surface but as I said earlier, there are scenes where he's mistreated and the actor manages to get some sympathy even when you hate the guy. This certainly reminds one of the performance of Boris Karloff in FRANKENSTEIN.WHEN A STRANGER CALLS is a very intense little gem but there are still some flaws to be found in it. This includes the movie running about five minutes too long and there's also another sequence inside a restaurant where you just want to scream at the Kane character to get up and do something rather than sitting around and crying on a floor. Still, this film deserves its reputation as a real gem.