When a Stranger Calls Reviews

I'll have to admit that despite having seen this film I have yet to see the original film that this is a remake of. As such, I'll only be reviewing this film simply based on what I saw on screen and not in comparison to the original film.

When a Stranger Calls has an intriguing premise about a teenager who is babysitting some kids and a killer stalks her and taunts her on the telephone. With a premise like this, you think the filmmakers would actually do something awesome with this, but sadly they don't.

Jill Johnson (played by Camilla Belle) is to film's credit a likable enough character that we can root for her. She's not acted particularly well, but to be fair she's not awful either. It's just a generic performance. But what do you expect when the scipt doesn't give you much of anything to do except walk down long stretches of dark hallways and react to a jump scare every 4 minutes.

And that's the film's main problem. Nothing happens. The film is mostly just build up to a fight with the bad guy. And I wouldn't mind that so much if, the buildup was interesting or if the final fight was gratifying. Some scenes in the beginning are somewhat entertaining, but others are just dull. The buildup is consisted of old jump scares that we've seen in dozens of other horror films. I personally can't say that I didn't find the final fight entertaining, but if you're going to have most of the movie do buildup, you better do the final fight right. Make it longer, make it more gratifying. As is the fight is entertaining, but it definately could've been improved and thus is a letdown.

If the film was to be improved, they should've had a more definative relationship between the killer and Jill. Have them play cat and mouse, maybe have us see what the killer is doing. Instead we get tired horror cliches to a disappointing climax. The ending is also very unsatisfying on every conceivable level. I won't spoil it, but I could think of dozens of endings that would've been better than the one they picked.

The film isn't necessarily awful, it just seems unnecessary. If they were going to remake the film, they should've done something special. To be fair, the film could've been worse, but it could've been a heck of a lot better too.

Todella onneton tekele... Pitää varmaan katsoa tuo alkuperäinen.. luultavasti parempi. Pakko olla. Ei ollut pelottava, jännittävä, kuumottava... eikä edes hauska. Liikaa... todella liikaa ärsyttäviä kohtauksia. Miks jengi haluu aina tappaa lastenvahtei?

This movie was a great movie and was far better than the original. In this movie they stretched out the opening scene of the original. There are more characters which makes it more interesting. This movie has more chase scenes in it, unlike the original which basically had one. The set is also a lot more likable. Jill's acting in this one isn't superb, but it's pretty good, and also it seems like she actually cares about the children in this one. The stranger's voice isn't half as scary as the original which is the only downfall. But, you don't see the stranger's face until the end, so it makes him even more scary. Over all I recommend this movie and would give it a solid B.

عندما الغريب يتصل (رعب) (الولايات المتحدة: 2006) (5:2)

الملخص: (جيل جونسون: كاميلا بيلي) فتاة مراهقة تعاني من ازمات متعددة بعد فقدانها صديقها المخلص، خصوصا مسالة فواتير الهاتف المرتفعة، فيجد لها والدها عمل كجليسة في منزل فخم ومنعزل لعائلة ثرية، ولعد ان تجلس جيل تترقب بتوتر ومن دون الاطفال حتى تنهال عليها الرسائل من قبل قاتل تسلسلي مجنون. في هذه الاعادة للفيلم ذو الميزانية الكبيرة المنتج عام 1979.



النقد: تستهوي هكذا افلام المنتجين الأمريكان، لذا فان امر اعادة انتاجها امر مبرر، هذه القصة انتجت اول مرة عام 1979 بإدارة المخرج (فريد والتون)، وعاد نفس المخرج لعملها مرة اخرى مع بعض الاضافات الهامشية عام 1993، وهذه المرة يقدمها المخرج (سايمون ويست) الذي برز في (ضد التيار: 1997) و(وابنة الجنرال: 1999) و(لارا كروفت: ناهبة القبور: 2001) وبدل ان يستمر مستواه بالتصاعد الا ان ويست يسقط في هذا الفيلم البسيط فنيا، فلا جديد في هذا العمل الا وجود (كاميلا بيلي) الممثلة الشابة الصاعدة، فضلا عن عدم وجود لمسة التشويق التي تجبر المشاهد للحاق وراء الاحداث التي هي بالأصل بليدة لعدم توافر الاسباب الكافية لتعطي نتائج جيدة، علما ان ثلاثة من الكتاب اشتغلوا على السيناريو فبالإضافة الى (فريد والتون) و(ستيف فيكي) الذين قدما العمل الاول هناك (جاك وود وول) الا انهم جميعا لا يفلحون في تقديم عمل يرتقي الى جودة الكثير من افلام الغموض والرعب.

"What do you want?"

"Your blood all over me."

Decidedly disappointing.
The movie looked promising, but as the events rolled on in a slow, monologuos fashion, I got bored with the storyline easily. Camilla Belle plays Jill Johnson, a high school student who's part of the track team and whose boyfriend, Bobby (Brian Geraghty), seems to be cheating on her (at least she thinks he is) since she caught him snogging her best friend Tiffany (Katie Cassidy; Supernatural addicts recognize her as the demon who gets possessed by Lilith in a shocking turn of events near the end of season 3). The night during the bonfire party for the football team, she goes to a babysitting gig at the Mandrakises, who live in a secluded lakeside house. I won't go into more details, since the movie made me bored; even the supposed thrills were just slow and dragging. Belle tries her best to build up the suspense, but her skills fall short. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone, because i don't want to subject them to the same torture I went through. Despite the fact that the killer was in fact portrayed by an actor who starred in Braveheart and Gladiator (Tommy Flanagan), his big reveal at the end of the movie did nothing but make me raise my eyebrows. My reaction is similar to that of Belle's just before credits rolled: one of insanity. Watch if you dare, and hope you come out of the viewing with your sanity intact.