Jill Johnson (Kane) arrives at the home of Dr. and Mrs. Mandrakis (Argenziano and Alda) for a babysitting job. Before dashing out of the house, Mrs Mandrakis tells Jill that the children are upstairs sleeping, having just gotten over bad colds. She explains that she had a difficult time getting the kids to sleep, but Jill should have no problems, unless the kids wake up. Soon, Jill is talking to a friend on the phone and trying to get her friend to have a guy she's interested in, give her a call at the house she's babysitting at. Not long after hanging up with her friend, she receives a call, but the caller hangs up. A few minutes later, the phone rings again and again, nobody answers. Jill becomes a little annoyed at first, thinking it's the young man, Bobby, that she wants to call, but the caller soon begins asking her if she's checked the children, before hanging up. Soon, the calls are more frequent and more frightening to Jill and she calls the police. After asking if the caller has threatened her or used obscene language and is told the caller has done none of these things, the police officer, Sergeant Sacker (Boyett), Jill is talking with tells her it's probably nothing more than a prank, but if the caller continues, to simply get a whistle and blast his ears with it. After another frightening call, a frantic Jill calls the police, again and the officer tells her if another call is received, to try and keep the caller on the line for at least one minute so a trace can be made of the call. Of course, Jill receives another call and by this time, she's just one notch below complete panic. She screams at the caller, asking him what he wants, to which he replies, 'Your blood, all over me....'. Totally unnerved by this time, the phone rings one final time and Jill screams into the phone to be left along, only to have Sergeant Sacker at the other end with some very disturbing information for Jill (I hate to divulge any more info, in case someone has NOT seen the previews for the new film or seen this film). Detective John Clifford (Charles Durning) arrives at the scene and is filled in as to what took place. Curt Duncan (Tony Beckley) was accused of a horrific crime, but never was imprisoned for his crime, as he was found insane and placed in an institution. Fast forward seven years later, John Clifford is now a private investigator and is back on the case when hired by the family of the murder victims to track Duncan down. We soon see that Duncan has become obsessed with a woman (Colleen Dewhurst), he meets in a bar. While Duncan is obsessed with this new woman, we also find out he's never completely forgotten about Jill Johnson.

When A Stranger Calls is offered on a 'flipper' disc with both full screen and anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) available for your viewing pleasure. Overall, the print quality looks quite good with little to no print damage and solid fleshtones. The audio for this disc is Dolby Digital Mono and very clear.....when the calls are being made at the beginning of the film, the voice at the other end is very clear and not difficult to understand at all. A French audio track is also offered as are English, French and Spanish subtitles. As for bonus features, the only extras offered are trailers for the Savini remake of, Night of the Living Dead and I Know What You Did Last Summer.

When A Stranger Calls is one of those rare films that while possibly geared more towards a teen to very young adult audience, works just as well for adults. Anyone who's ever done any babysitting can definitely feel a chill creeping up their spine when Jill begins receiving those calls. I can recall many a time babysitting and the kids being in bed and sound asleep when I arrived, leaving me in a house that is dark and quiet and any sudden sound can cause a jump and a heartbeat to skip a time or two. This film is very intense during the first twenty minutes or so and is definitely a horror film. Once the film moves ahead seven years, it kind of falls into a police drama, but we learn some interesting bits of info along the way and the film does end with a slip back into a bit more horror. Overall, I very much enjoyed the film, I first saw this on HBO or some pay channel back in the early 80s, when I was also doing the babysitting thing and it's a film that leaves you wanting to leave every light on, when you are babysitting! The cast is solid and it's nice to see Carol Kane in a more serious and belivable role as Jill Johnson, I was no fan of her as Simka on Taxi. Charles Durning is always rather solid in any role he's taken and as John Clifford, he quite believable. Tony Beckley as Curt Duncan is outstanding, I first became familiar with Beckley from the Hammer film and a favorite of mine, The Lost Continent, sadly, this would be Beckley's final role before dying of cancer a year or so later. Colleen Dewhurst gave a wonderful performance as Tracy, but then, the woman never gave a poor performance in my opinion. Another interesting bit about this film, Duncan committed a horrible crime, but somehow his character manages to not only repulse us, but garner the slightest bit of sympathy as well. When someone built to be a no-question-about-it villan can evoke some sympathy, then you know the writing was well done, the directing was well done and the acting was well done. I'd easily recommend this as a rental, but if you do decide to purchase the disc, don't leave it out for your babysitter to watch.....

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