WHEN
A STRANGER CALLS (1979)
Starring
Charles Durning, Carol Kane, Tony Beckley, Colleen Dewhurst, Rachel
Roberts, Ron O’Neal. Directed by Fred Walton. (97 min)
ON
BLU-RAY FROM
Review
by Josey, the Sudden Cat😽
When
a Stranger Calls might be the quintessential addition to Mill Creek Entertainment’s ongoing Retro VHS series.
It
was one of those movies that pretty-much everybody rented back
then – even those who didn’t go-in for this sort of thing –
mainly because of the classic opening sequence where babysitter Jill
Johnson (Carol Kane) is terrorized by a mysterious caller who's already in the house. That ain’t really a spoiler, kids. “The
killer is upstairs” has been an urban legend for decades, but
mostly associated with When a Stranger Calls.
 |
| "Well, since you're already upstairs, how 'bout starting another load o' laundry?" |
In
fact, the entire first act is so masterfully crafted – and still
thrilling today – that almost nobody remembers the rest of the
film. For good reason, too, because the story jumps
forward a few years and descends
into a rambling, disjointed manhunt, with private dick
John Clifford (Charles Durning) trying to track down escaped
killer Curt Duncan (Tony
Buckley). Things
liven up
a bit in the final act, but
the film makes the
near-fatal mistake of
providing way too much exposition about Duncan, stripping away all
the menace. Though well played by Buckley (who passed away shortly
afterwards), Duncan’s kind
of a pathetic, oily sleazebag.
Ultimately
more of a low-watt thriller than a horror film, When a Stranger
Calls has nevertheless earned a footnote in the genre’s history
for the first 20 minutes alone, which proved to be influential on
such directors as Wes Craven. 41 years and countless
rip-offs/sequels/remakes later, the sequence still packs a punch.
Shut the movie off right afterwards and you’ve got one of the
greatest horror shorts of all time.
KITTY CONSENSUS:
PURR-R-R...LIKE A GOOD SCRATCH BEHIND THE EARS.
No comments:
Post a Comment