When a Stranger Calls

When a Stranger Calls
Theatrical Release Poster
Directed by	Simon West
Produced by	John Davis Wyck Godfrey Ken Lemberger
Written by	Jake Wade Wall
Starring	Camilla Belle Thomas Flanagan Katie Cassidy Lance Henriksen
Music by	James Dooley
Cinematography	Peter Menzies Jr.
Editing by	Jeff Betancourt
Distributed by	Screen Gems
Release date(s)	February 3, 2006
Running time	87 min.
Language	English
Budget	$15 million
Gross revenue	$66.9 million

When a Stranger Calls is a 2006 remake of the 1979 horror film of the same name. In the film, baby-sitter Jill Johnson (Camilla Belle) receives increasingly threatening calls from a brutal serial killer who she first assumes is simply a juvenile prankster.

Plot Summary

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Jill Johnson is a teenage girl and runner for her high school. When her father sees her high cell phone bill, she is forced to repay it by babysitting. She's driven to the Mandrakis' house, a rich family with two kids who are already asleep. When the parents leave Jill alone, she begins to receive anonymous calls, and often the caller only breathes into the phone. When the ominous voice asks her to check the children, she does so, and the caller is aware that she went upstairs. Jill enters a state of panic and phones the police. They say they will trace the call if she can keep him on the line for more than a minute. Jill manages to keep him on the phone but she realizes it was the wrong phone.So the killer manages to get in the house. Then the police calls back and tells Jill that the call is coming from inside the house and tells her to get out. Jill turns around and sees that Tiffany is dead. The killer tries to kill her and the little kids and while the kids are already safe he still manages to try to kill her until she finally escapes him. The killer is eventually caught and, when being driven away, light hits his face for a second revealing his face for the first time. Jill sees his face, which stares ominously back at her. Later, Jill awakens in a hospital bed in an empty room. She gets up and walks into the hallway to see the entire hospital deserted. She walks back to her room, closes the door, and in the mirror on the door is the stalker who attacks her. She then wakes up terrified, flailing and screaming as nurses in her hospital room try to restrain her.

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For the release of the film, AOL Instant Messenger ran ads beckoning users to IM Jill020306. When messaged, "Jill" (a Colloquis-style program) made small talk before panicking, as she received calls from a stranger asking her to check the children. She then gives the user her phone number (a toll-free 877 number) and asks them to call her. When users call, they hear an ad for the movie. Like many automated messaging agents, "Jill" is easily confused, which resulted in some unintentionally humorous moments —

Jill:HELLO. Sometimes other glitches occur, such as Jill asking what she should do before telling the user that a stranger is calling her.

Also, around the time of the DVD release, a new screen name appeared, Jill051606, to tie in with the DVD release date, May 16, 2006. It does not involve calling her, but instead she directs you to a video security system on the official DVD site where the shadow of the stranger passes by frequently.

MySpace.com also ran an advertisement: the profile for Jill051606, in which users can add the profile as a friend, leave comments, read the blog.

Famous Lines

-hello? -(heavy breathing) -have you checked the children? -Who is this -have the children

Credited cast

• Camilla Belle - Jill Johnson
• Thomas Flanagan - The Stranger
  • Lance Henriksen - The Stranger's voice
• Katie Cassidy - Tiffany Madison
• John Bobek - Officer Lewis
• Molly Bryant - Mom
• Madeline Carroll - Alison
• David Denman - Burroughs
• Brian Geraghty - Bobby
• Kate Jennings Grant - Kelly Mandrakis
• Escher Holloway - Cody
• Derek de Lint - Dr. Mandrakis
• Brad Surosky - Bookish Kid
• Tessa Thompson - Scarlet
• Kevin Wethington - Dennis Sheller

Reception

Critical consensus were negative, with the average grade on Yahoo! Movies being a "D", despite the film's 21.6 million dollar opening setting the record for a movie opening on Super Bowl XL weekend.^[1] On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 9% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 84 reviews, with the consensus that the film is "a poorly acted, fright-free remake".^[2] The biggest criticism of the remake was that it gave away the moment of suspense from the original by revealing the source of the calls in the previews, and also the fact that the film just wasn't scary. The problem arguably results from the fact that the remake amputated over half the original plot. Reviews of the 1979 movie continually praise the fact that Curt Duncan isn't just a faceless superpowered psychopath - which is exactly what the villain in the 2006 remake is.

As of January 10, 2008, the film grossed a total of 47.9 million dollars in the domestic box office, and 66.9 million dollars worldwide.^[3]

The movie was released on May 16, 2006 for PSP and DVD. Special features include two commentaries (one with Camilla Belle and Simon West; the other with Jake Wade Wall), deleted scenes, a 20-minute making-of featurette, and trailers.

When A Stranger Returns

After the release of When A Stranger Calls, there were rumors that a sequel was to happen, but nothing has been confirmed nor denied.

Worldwide

The film grossed a total of 66.9 million dollars worldwide. In its first week, it grossed 24.8 million dollars.^[4]

Alternate titles worldwide:

• Germany: Unbekannter Anrufer (Unknown Caller)
• Mexico/Colombia/Venezuela/Ecuador: Cuando Un Extraño Llama (When a Stranger Calls)
• Spain: Cuando Llama Un Extraño (When a Stranger Calls)
• France: Terreur Sur La Ligne (Terror On the Line)
• Finnish: Kun Tuntematon Soittaa
• Italy: Chiamata Da Uno Sconosciuto (Call From Unknown)
• Portugal: Chamada De Um Estranho (Call of a Stranger)
• Brazil: Quando Um Estranho Chama (When a Strange Calls)
• Serbia: Kad stranac pozove
• Poland: Kiedy dzwoni nieznajomy
• Vietnam: Khi người lạ gọi điện/Cuộc gọi lúc nửa đêm
• Israel: כשזר מתקשר/KsheZar Mitkasher
• Hungary: Ismeretlen hívás (Unknown Call)
• Romania: Apel misterios
• Greece: Κραυγές Αγωνίας (Screams of Distress)

Awards

In 2006, it was Nominated to the Golden Trailer Awards in the category "Best Thriller"

See Also

The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs

References

External links

• Official website
• When a Stranger Calls at Rotten Tomatoes
• When a Stranger Calls at the Internet Movie Database
• Mikkelson, Barbara & David P. "The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs" at Snopes: Urban Legends Reference Pages.
• Film Review Xdafied.com.au