When a Stranger Calls (1979)★★★☆☆

I was really torn on how to rate this one. The opening and closing were fantastic, but the whole middle seemed to drag on. And it’s not a long movie.

But eventually the whole Carol Kane of it all won me over. And it was fitting that I watched this after the Scream movies, which are essentially an extended nod to the opening scene of this movie.

(Spoilers ahead) I think the biggest problem I had with this movie is that they show you who the killer is quite early, and don’t build up any real tension around him until the very end. For most of the film he’s just…a guy who gets beat up and tries to talk to women? Like, we know he killed some kids, but we haven’t really seen him do anything scary.

And while I don’t think a movie has to be full of blood and gore to be truly scary, I do think the lack of any truly terrifying scenes for the bulk of this one puts the audience at a distance from what’s happening. When we’re in the action, waiting to hear what the creepy guy on the phone is going to say next, or getting ready to open a door and see what’s lurking in wait behind it, we’re THERE in a way that really pulls us in. I felt the bulk of this movie pushing me away.

I also don’t think an antagonist has to be superhuman or supernatural to be scary…but I think there may have been an overly “humanizing” impact here. I honestly think the movie would have been better for following Jill’s life more closely than Duncan’s in the middle. Even the escape from Clifford was anticlimactic and slow.

Ultimately, I can kind of see why this has developed kind of a cult following and why it inspired all sorts of other scary stories. I maybe recommend this movie just for the cultural reference point? It’s not too long, but if you find yourself needing to use the restroom partway through, you probably don’t need to bother pausing.