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When A Stranger Calls [2006]
![When A Stranger Calls [2006]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/415398K433L._SL160_.jpg)
RRP: £17.99
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erm....horror?
Review date: 2008-10-28 Rating: 2 out of 10
Was this meant to be a horror movie? Was it intended to be creepy or frightening in any way? The film obviously had a decent budget and a promising theme, but I've had more jumps watching a Conservative Party political broadcast.
Save your credit-cunch money.
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Reviews
yawn
Review date: 2008-06-07 Rating: 2 out of 10
dreadful film that is apparently a horror film,well based on this it isnt much of one
If this stranger calls me, I'm hanging up!
Review date: 2008-02-26 Rating: 2 out of 10
I thankfully only rented this guff and was subjected to a painstaking procession of horror cliches and uninspired direction. The script could have been worse but it is severely underdeveloped. Who is the killer? Why is he stalking young girls? Why does Jill keep answering that stupid phone when it's blatantly obvious who's calling? Does anyone care? Oh, that's OK then...
The phone kept ringing every ten seconds which proved to be highly annoying, rather than suspenseful. I also don't agree that accepting this film as a thriller makes it work better. Who cares whether it was wrongly marketed as a horror- it's still completely and utterly rubbish, regardless of genre. Simon West does add plenty of spit and polish to his admittedly luscious shots of the house but they don't add anything to the story and he clearly doesn't have much idea how to create tension, as I couldn't have been further back from the edge of my seat if I'd tried. The acting is pretty limp too, though I've seen much worse and it would be interesting to see what Camilla Belle could do with a better script.
This is a film that epitomises Hollywood horror- formulaic narrative, obvious thrills and no originality whatsoever. There is no attempt made to uncover the secrets the film presents (whether intentional or not, this doesn't work) and there are too many witless set-ups that have been spliced into the film purely to try and create a few cheap scares. I mean, WHO has an aviary in their house for God's sake?! And, as soon as I saw the cat, I said to my friends, " I bet it jumps out at the girl at some point". Then guess what happened...
The ending is appalling too and feels lazily tacked on to engineer some kind of resolution. An awful movie and one you shouldn't really bother with, regardless of what genre you're a fan of.
"Is this what you wanted? To scare me?"
Review date: 2007-10-02 Rating: 4 out of 10
Unless this is one of the first movies that you try in this genre, I think that it is likely that it will not achieve much in terms of scaring you. The reason for this is that most of the action consists of a collection of clichés and the standard accompanying music for the occasion, to try to draw a reaction from the audience. At least in my case, this strategy failed miserably.
A teenager is punished by her parents for going over her minutes, and therefore, has to babysit to start paying the charges. The setting is a mansion in a remote location which counts with the latest technology in terms of automatic lights, hidden gadgets and a tropical garden. This, together with a vicious stalker, is what the creators use to create the chills. Then added to the mix the constant ringing of the phone, which ended up making me want to throw my remote at the TV and smash the screen, just to make it stop.
Not only does the film bore us to death during its first three quarters, but when the actual confrontation between the prey and the victim finally arrives, the situation gets resolved in a jiffy and we are left unsatisfied. Not to mention that there is no explanation of the motivations behind the events we witnessed. The only reason why I gave this movie 2 stars instead of 1 is that the performance of Camilla Belle was pretty good considering the lousy role she had to play. We do not get any of the fake scared faces or exaggerated shrieks that are so common in the genre. Sadly, this performance does not come even close to making this a decent experience. I would recommend avoiding this one at all costs.
When A Stranger Shouldn't Have Bothered !
Review date: 2007-09-20 Rating: 4 out of 10
OK, so we all know that Hollywood seems to be churning out new versions of old movies. Some work ...and some do not.
The movie in my opinion starts well enough, a mysterious killer murdering someone in a house, with body parts being taken out in black plastic bags by the police. The Police indicating that the killer did not use a murder weapon - which to me looked like the killer was going to be alot more sinister or mystical than he actually turned out to be, by tearing people apart with his own hands, or something.
But then it all kinda went down hill.
I think the young actress playing the baby-sitter played it well enough, and even the main villain seemed to play it OK, but they seemed to be let down by an incredibly bad script low on shocks and gore. There only a couple of deaths in this movie - and you do not see any of them - all off camera. The 'bad-guy' appears only briefly. I think a better story line would have been that the villain changed the code for the house locks and she could not get out !
I would certainly only give this movie a 12 certificate. The only shock value in this movie I feel would be for 12-15 year olds baby-sitting on a cold dark night. More thriller than horror.
To me, this re-make is the sort of movie that you'll watch once and when you see at a boot or garage sale for a quid you'll pass it by - either that or put it in your partners box of things to be collected after a split to make yourself seem more generous than you actually are, because your trying to clear the house.
Best thing about this movie - the beautiful lakeside house !
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Katie Cassidy
Brian Geraghty
Clark Gregg
Camilla Belle
Creators:
Camilla Belle (Primary Contributor)
Clark Gregg (Primary Contributor)
Director(s):
Recording label: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
EAN: 5035822688438
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Anamorphic, PAL,
Release date: 2006-09-11
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 83 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2006
Language: Hindi (Subtitled)
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: English (Original Language)