Now, I'm all for a good slasher flick, and I don't even mind the modern day ones that flooded the market since the success of Wes Craven's SCREAM in 1996, even though a lot of them are poor. Okay, so I usually wait until they show up on television rather than spend money to see them, but I'm the first person willing to give a film a chance despite negative reviews and the like. I was the perfect demographic for this film: I'm young, I haven't seen the original '70s movie on which this film is based, and I'm easily pleased when it comes to horror. Sadly, I was in for a shock: this is one of the all-time worst movies I've ever sat through, on a par with the similarly execrable BOOGEYMAN.
For starters, WHEN A STRANGER CALLS has NO story, no plot line. A girl spends a night babysitting, gets a few phone calls, then is chased by an unknown killer. The end. There's no set up, no characterisation – other than a few grating teen stereotypes – no motivation. Is that supposed to make the killer more frightening? It doesn't. You just end up not caring. One of the many problems with this film is British director Simon West, whose only other credit of note is the action flick CON AIR, about a million times better than this. West is the master of over-direction. His creepy music starts almost straight away, even when nothing remotely frightening or suspenseful is happening. Girl goes for a car ride – creepy music. Girl is given babysitting job – creepy music. Girl visits the john – creepy music. Okay, so I made the last one up, but you get the idea.
The film is jam packed with false scares to pad out the running time. It's in essence a one-room drama, with a few minor embellishments, so straight away you know that a professional is required to make things work. Heck, PHONE BOOTH is one of my favourites from the last few years. This movie is just boredom, boredom, boredom. Every false scare and cliché is present, from the jumping cat scene to characters suddenly appearing out of nowhere. The lighting is poor and the film has no suspense or atmosphere; a dull-witted script only serves to sink things further. Camilla Belle plays, badly, one of the most unappealing 'scream queen' characters I've ever witnessed, one of those ones you're praying will end up dead. The killer, played by Scot Tommy Flanagan, is supposed to be scary because his face is scarred. That's the only characterisation he gets – a scarred face and Michael Myers-type stance. The killer's telephone voice, played by Lance Henriksen (!) only has about two lines. Towards the end, the whole phone call thing is so overdone (really, the lead gets at least twenty or thirty calls) that I was shouting in anger each time they did it. In all, there's absolutely no point in watching this appalling movie unless you're looking for a cure for insomnia.
For starters, WHEN A STRANGER CALLS has NO story, no plot line. A girl spends a night babysitting, gets a few phone calls, then is chased by an unknown killer. The end. There's no set up, no characterisation – other than a few grating teen stereotypes – no motivation. Is that supposed to make the killer more frightening? It doesn't. You just end up not caring. One of the many problems with this film is British director Simon West, whose only other credit of note is the action flick CON AIR, about a million times better than this. West is the master of over-direction. His creepy music starts almost straight away, even when nothing remotely frightening or suspenseful is happening. Girl goes for a car ride – creepy music. Girl is given babysitting job – creepy music. Girl visits the john – creepy music. Okay, so I made the last one up, but you get the idea.
The film is jam packed with false scares to pad out the running time. It's in essence a one-room drama, with a few minor embellishments, so straight away you know that a professional is required to make things work. Heck, PHONE BOOTH is one of my favourites from the last few years. This movie is just boredom, boredom, boredom. Every false scare and cliché is present, from the jumping cat scene to characters suddenly appearing out of nowhere. The lighting is poor and the film has no suspense or atmosphere; a dull-witted script only serves to sink things further. Camilla Belle plays, badly, one of the most unappealing 'scream queen' characters I've ever witnessed, one of those ones you're praying will end up dead. The killer, played by Scot Tommy Flanagan, is supposed to be scary because his face is scarred. That's the only characterisation he gets – a scarred face and Michael Myers-type stance. The killer's telephone voice, played by Lance Henriksen (!) only has about two lines. Towards the end, the whole phone call thing is so overdone (really, the lead gets at least twenty or thirty calls) that I was shouting in anger each time they did it. In all, there's absolutely no point in watching this appalling movie unless you're looking for a cure for insomnia.