Society’s relationship with the telephone has changed throughout the years. Once a necessary means of communication, the phone is treated as a nuisance these days. Unwanted calls, bad news, and plain social anxiety are among the reasons why we avoid answering. So, while the phone’s place in a modern world has shifted, its purpose in horror remains all but the same. An affected voice, a thinly veiled threat, the dead silence—no matter how old we get, or how advanced technology becomes, nothing quite raises goosebumps like a creepy phone call.
No urban legend feels more at home in horror than “The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs”, a story that dates all the way back to the 1960s. This myth and its ilk paralleled the emergence of phone thrillers like I Saw What You Did and Midnight Lace. Bob Clark‘s Black Christmas is another seminal example of putting the device to pernicious use. In 1979, Fred Walton changed the landscape of horror with When a Stranger Calls, a movie that faithfully adapts the “Babysitter” urban legend. What began as a 1977 short film eventually became one of the most terrifying openers in horror history.
Twenty-five years later, Screen Gems announced its upcoming redial of When a Stranger Calls. In a time where horror remakes were common, this news was par for the course. Words were neither minced nor kind when February 3, 2006 came around, though. By and large, critics found Simon West‘s reimagining routine and devoid of genuine scares. The film was unanimously panned, then forgotten like so many other of the decade’s horror bygones. However, putting some years between the past and now has benefited a number of horror movies. There has especially been a sizable turnaround for fellow aughts remakes like Black Christmas and Sorority Row. Movies once deemed artless cash-grabs are now underrated or unfairly maligned in retrospect. But can the same be said for When a Stranger Calls?
First off, the remake outright stuns with its main setting. The script included a more conventional-looking house, but Simon West wanted something different. Something modern. Inspired by sleek glass/wood homes from yesteryear, his crew constructed the stunning Mandrakis residence where evil would soon lurk. Sentencing a 16-year-old girl to such a remote location is ill-advised on any parent’s part. Nonetheless, the idyllic appearance of the lakeside house is understandably deceptive. The director utilizes every nook and dark spot. The atrium is a curious addition which manifests the theme of bringing the outside in. Menacing, obscured hallways and an assortment of eldritch décor masked as fine art await Jill on that hellish night. Thanks to the camerawork, it’s as if the house is alive and well aware of the crime at hand.
While it may seem like another opportunistic remake, When a Stranger Calls distinguishes itself from its source material in ways that have gone unnoticed. Before going any further, one has to revisit the movie that started it all. Almost exactly one year after Halloween was released, Fred Walton’s When a Stranger Calls opened in theaters. Opinions varied, but everyone agreed about one thing—the first act was killer. In his first major screenplay, Jake Wade Wall pays tribute while still sharing his own interpretation of the original film’s core idea. He favorably turns that unnerving opening sequence into the remake’s main attraction. It’s a bold choice seeing as Walton could only wring out so much terror from a cautionary tale whose strength is its immediacy. With all the complaints about the 1979 movie’s leftfield turn, removing the stranger’s side story — one that nearly sympathizes a murderer — is wise. In consequence, Wall offers the chance to better know the babysitter.
This new Jill (Camilla Belle) experiences marked growth throughout the remake. Early on, she’s at school, tackling adolescent concerns — she’s not cutting it in track, her boyfriend (Brian Geraghty) kissed someone else, she’s in trouble at home for going over her allotted cell phone minutes — that won’t appeal much to older viewers. Even so, making Jill so individualistic, not to mention fallible, is key to her development. She’s no longer a stock character in a campfire tale. Showing her in her natural environment before she steps foot in that ominous house is necessary. We now know Jill will do whatever it takes to maintain her well-being. Sure, her juvenile crises are of no concern to adult audiences, but they make her an approachable protagonist.
More akin to that era’s crime dramas, the 1979 When a Stranger Calls is not too traditional as far as golden-age slashers go. A sizable chunk of the film is devoted to Charles Durning hunting down the maddened killer. Ultimately, they’re both reunited with Carol Kane’s babysitter, who is suddenly married and with two kids of her own. No time is spent with Jill outside her ill-fated encounters; she’s ignored in favor of her attacker’s side story. At the very least, her closure comes better late than never in the more effective 1993 sequel, When a Stranger Calls Back.
The remake allows Jill more agency without scrubbing away the stranger’s loathsome nature. The madman’s greatest misdeeds still exist—but now, Jill has an active part in her own survival. The paranoia-laden waiting game finally pays off for those anticipating the inevitable. In a gratifying showdown between Jill and the man hiding upstairs, West’s experience with action movies is writ large. The stylized chase sequence that follows is high-strung. The house’s ill-boding arrangement and features are all put to good use as the babysitter fends off her harasser. It’s a stylized clash of good versus evil where the shocks are low, but the stakes are high.
A seasoned horror fan will write the remake off as frightless fluff. With its sterile veneer and seemingly bubblegum lead, this update is a far cry from its gritty, uncomfortable predecessor. Fred Walton and Steve Feke’s story was ultimately one about the inner workings of a deranged man. Whereas in Simon West’s movie, we journey with Jill as she enters unknown territory. We’re privy to her confusion and many mistakes. Again, this Jill is not a faultless character. Her errors solicit a vocal response from the audience, all of whom know what it’s like to be somewhere, alone and anxious. Overall, the remake lacks the potency of the original’s finer moments. It instead spreads its own dread more evenly. The 2006 movie has no effect on the most hardened viewers, but it’s left an impression on those still warming up to the genre.
If we can celebrate the original by its parts rather than its sum, the remake merits the same courtesy. The first film bears a white-knuckled intro that became its legacy. Yet, in spite of the late Tony Beckley’s rousing and raw performance as the villain, the remainder of that movie wears thin. The reimagining is not without its faults—fickle energy, plot contrivances, and an overstretched premise all mar an otherwise functional thriller for entry-level horror fans. The When a Stranger Calls remake doesn’t outshine the original’s brightest spots, but it’s definitely not the cinematic misdial everyone makes it out to be either.
