When a Stranger Calls Back

Rating:
Summary: Must see
Review: I watch many horror and suspence films but I've never seen one that gave me as many chills as this one..I loved it! It's unexpected twist and visual effects make it a movie worth watching over and over..As soon as it was over I called all my friends to tell them to find it and watch because it's an unforgetable experience

Rating:
Summary: When a stranger calls back.
Review: I watched this with my friend when we were alone in the house and it scared us both to death. The beginning is fantastically good, very scary and continuous and when your not scared(which isn't often!) you can try to work out how it's done. However the rest of the film is horrendously awful and pointless, except for the very end which is very clever, though I still havent managed to work out who the murderer is (but Go Jill!). It's great if you like psychological scary films but not if you like blood and guts horror films.

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Summary: THIS IS THE BEST THRILLER!!!!!1
Review: If you like all the look-under-the-bed, turn-around-pycho movies and all thouse great freaky movies this is the one for you , I loved it with the mental sypence and the constent fear it RULED!!!It really is a awasome movies..check it out you'll love it!

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Summary: The walls have eyes!
Review: Is pretty neat to find an old time favorite cult film entertaning after almost ten years without watching it. The first time I saw this flick, I thought it was one of the scariest thing I've ever seen. Then years later, it feels really good to have the same effect, even though it wasn't what I expect it. The first 30 minutes still very frightening and tense, but the rest of the flick wasn't just how I remenbered it...it gets a bit slow, but pretty good any how...this is a very low budget flick with a huge potential of freaking people out...give it a try...you wont regret it.

Rating:
Summary: Before There Was Scream There Was...The Stranger
Review: Many people would write off this low-budget made-for-tv thriller as a "Scream" rip off. But actually "Scream" is a rip off of this movie, with was its predessesor. The opening scene is very chilling; especially if you are watching it alone. The terror ends with a strange twist that leaves you mystified. You do solve the puzzle, but you won't find out what really happened until the end. The middle of the film is the basic investigation "who dun it" type mystery (with a few scenes of added suspense) and the end is the final showdown. The end is shocking and extremely scary. I jumped so high out of my seat I almost hit the ceiling. The killer is mysterious and altogether creepy. The story is basically about a young babysitter terrorized by a killer. She gets away, but the killer is never found and the children also disappear. Years later, the young girl believes that the killer has returned...with good reason. It is quite obvious this is a made for tv flick, but hey, its still (almost) just as good!

Rating:
Summary: Before There Was Scream There Was...The Stranger
Review: Many people would write off this low-budget made-for-tv thriller as a "Scream" rip off. But actually "Scream" is a rip off of this movie, with was its predessesor. The opening scene is very chilling; especially if you are watching it alone. The terror ends with a strange twist that leaves you mystified. You do solve the puzzle, but you won't find out what really happened until the end. The middle of the film is the basic investigation "who dun it" type mystery (with a few scenes of added suspense) and the end is the final showdown. The end is shocking and extremely scary. I jumped so high out of my seat I almost hit the ceiling. The killer is mysterious and altogether creepy. The story is basically about a young babysitter terrorized by a killer. She gets away, but the killer is never found and the children also disappear. Years later, the young girl believes that the killer has returned...with good reason. It is quite obvious this is a made for tv flick, but hey, its still (almost) just as good!

Rating:
Summary: Much better than the first one!
Review: Much scarier, more diturbing, and better acted. I liked this one way better than the first. I suggest buying both, but just expect the 2nd to be better, because it is. Watch them both alone in the dark.

Rating:
Summary: Half-time review?
Review: OK...I've really only seen half of this movie, so this "review" probably doesn't count. Loved the first film--one of the best of the suspense/thriller genre--and was excited to see this sequel. Like the other reviewers, I must admit the opening with Jill Schoelen had me riveted. When my roommate walked in the door during the final moments of that opening I nearly jumped out of my skin. But then I got restless. And here's why: Carol Kane and her Betty Boop voice. Honestly, it was like nails on a blackboard listening to her dialogue in this movie, and watching her try to show emotion...she sounded and acted like she'd taken a couple hits of Valium before shooting each scene. Still, after reading the rest of these reviews I realize that perhaps I have been unfair, and I will now go back and watch the whole thing. After all, Carol was pretty good in the first one, and it seems it's worth sticking it out. Thanks for all your (encouraging) reviews!

Rating:
Summary: Half-time review?
Review: OK...I've really only seen half of this movie, so this "review" probably doesn't count. Loved the first film--one of the best of the suspense/thriller genre--and was excited to see this sequel. Like the other reviewers, I must admit the opening with Jill Schoelen had me riveted. When my roommate walked in the door during the final moments of that opening I nearly jumped out of my skin. But then I got restless. And here's why: Carol Kane and her Betty Boop voice. Honestly, it was like nails on a blackboard listening to her dialogue in this movie, and watching her try to show emotion...she sounded and acted like she'd taken a couple hits of Valium before shooting each scene. Still, after reading the rest of these reviews I realize that perhaps I have been unfair, and I will now go back and watch the whole thing. After all, Carol was pretty good in the first one, and it seems it's worth sticking it out. Thanks for all your (encouraging) reviews!

Rating:
Summary: The scariest 20 minutes in movie history!
Review: Omigosh! The first 20 minutes of this movie alone is worth the sale price. Pure, undiluted suspense and terror that director Fred Walton delivers with the deliberate pace and tempo of a seasoned maestro. Walton is, of course, the under-appreciated horror auteur who delivered the original When a Stranger Calls with unexpected panache. (He also made the revisionist slasher movie April Fool's Day a forerunner of the ironic post-modern horror hipness of Scream, Cherry Falls and the like.) When a Stranger Calls Back is more a remake than a sequel, despite the return of the now much older central characters of the first film. Walton has effectively done what pioneering silent horror director Roland West did when he remade his 1926 silent movie The Bat as a talkie in 1930 - use changing film conventions and the steady accumulation of genre experience to attempt to deliver a better mousetrap. Unlike West though, Walton actually succeeds in delivering a film that is better and scarier than the original. How on earth this truly scary horror film failed to get a wider cinematic release given the pervasiveness of rubbish like I Still Know What You Did Last Summer is beyond comprehension. There have hardly been better suspense movies than this, which stands proudly in the league of Black Christmas and the original Spiral Staircase. The schema of Walton's sequel is pretty much that of the original - a nailbiting opening sequence with a young woman menaced by a clearly deranged madman, followed by a middle devoted to uncovering the killer and finally another edge-of-your-seat last third. Carol Kane is superbly world weary as the survivor from the original who now works as a campus woman's counsellor. She becomes involved in supporting one of her students who five years before had survived a similar experience to hers (the riveting opening sequence). The student is being harassed by an anonymous psycho with clear knowledge of her earlier experience. Kane calls on assistance from the detective (played with familiar comfort by the returning Charles Durning) who had assisted her in catching the killer in the original. Together, the three piece together the apparent mystery of what actually happened on that terrifying night five years before. With plenty of good shocks along the way, it culminates - as we expect and want - with a truly original showdown against the backdrop (literally as you shall see!) of Kane's sparse art deco loft. When a Stranger Calls Back is one of those under-released, underrated gems that slowly build their way to cult, then classic, status. In this regard, it is - alongside The Changeling, Black Christmas, Manhunter, The Conqueror Worm etc. - in superb company. Highly recommended for suspense and horror afficionados.