Themes: Haunted By the Past, Mind Games, Woman In Jeopardy
Main Cast: Carol Kane, Charles Durning, Jill Schoelen, Gene Lythgow, Karen Austin
Release Year: 1993
Country: US
Run Time: 100 minutes
Plot
Another psychopath haunts another baby sitter in this made-for-TV sequel to the 1979 feature When a Stranger Calls. When prim schoolgirl Julia (Jill Schoelen) accepts a last-minute baby-sitting assignment from a doctor and his wife (Kevin McNulty and Cheryl Wilson), she follows all the rules: She studies diligently, checks often on the kids, and refuses to open the door for strangers -- even when a stranded motorist asks to come in and call his auto club. Julia offers to call for him, but the phone is dead, and rather than alert a strange man that she's without a link to the outside world, she lies and says they're on their way. The man returns to the door repeatedly, angrily wondering why help hasn't arrived; as he continues to badger Julia, she notices things aren't right in the house. Slips of paper disappear, doors mysteriously unlock themselves, the children vanish, and Julia barely escapes with her life. Five years later, Julia is an introverted college student with some heavy-duty locks on her door. Nevertheless, she starts getting that familiar feeling that something isn't right. Enter Jill Johnson (Carol Kane), survivor of a similar baby-sitting atrocity many years earlier. Now a guidance counselor at Julia's university, she offers to help the girl track down her stalker. With the help of an old friend, private eye John Clifford (Charles Durning), Jill picks up the trail of a disturbed ventriloquist (Gene Lythgow). But when Julia ends up with a bullet in her head in an apparent suicide attempt, even John thinks Jill's investigation is a wild goose chase. Reuniting stars Carol Kane and Charles Durning with writer/director Fred Walton, When a Stranger Calls Back features another horror veteran in its cast. Jill Schoelen previously starred in 1990's Popcorn. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
Review
When a theatrical release earns a belated made-for-TV sequel, it's rarely a good sign. But this suspense retread actually does its predecessor one better. Like the first film, When a Stranger Calls Back is only frightening in its opening sequence. But instead of devolving into second-rate cloak-and-dagger like the original, the sequel morphs into an unintentional camp classic. In a plot development that prefigures Neve Campbell's crisis-line work in Scream 3, Carol Kane's haunted ex-baby sitter becomes a dour women's center advisor -- you know, that character in every horror movie who believes and protects the protagonist when "the authorities" blow her off. Teaching self-defense courses, holding hands through late-night panic attacks, and even engaging in a bit of proto-Matrix kung-fu, Kane's character seems to have been written as a tough-as-nails survivor. But the actress plays her with such absurd gravity that she lapses into grim self-parody. That's a good thing, because the plot of When a Stranger Calls Back is full of holes. At times, it feels like important scenes were left unshot or on the cutting-room floor; explanations arrive half an hour late, or not at all. Charles Durning looks suitably embarrassed to be back on board, while ingenue Jill Choelen acts with the subtlety and precision of a Star Search contestant. Still, the flick's first 30 minutes are actually more suspenseful than the opening sequence that earned the lackluster first film its place our collective nightmares. And despite his complete lack of character development, Gene Lythgow's deranged ventriloquist makes an absurdly compelling villain. The Mafu Cage and Office Killer are still the weirdest pictures on Kane's resume, but this curiosity certainly comes close. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
Babs Chula; Deborah Foreman - Elegant Woman in Bar; Duncan Fraser; Terence Kelly; Kevin McNulty; Bobby Stewart; Jerry Wasserman; Gary Jones
Credit
Clyde Kotz - Art Director, Darren Brisker - Boom Operator, Sally Dennison - Casting, Sid Kozak - Casting, Patrick Rush - Casting, Clifford Capone - Costume Designer, Mary E. McLeod - Costume Designer, Patrice Leung - First Assistant Director, Fred Walton - Director, David Lloyd - Editor, Doug Chapin - Executive Producer, Barry Krost - Executive Producer, Marilyn Carbone - Hair Styles, Michael Pachal - Hair Styles, Rick Scott - Location Manager, Dana Kaproff - Composer (Music Score), Marilyn Carbone - Makeup, Dianne Pelletier - Makeup, Jonathan Blackshaw - Makeup Special Effects, Joel Ransom - Camera Operator, Chris August - Production Designer, David Geddes - Cinematographer, Lisa Richardson - Production Manager, Tom Rowe - Producer, Ralph Parker - Sound Mixer, Jacob Rupp - Stunts Coordinator, Fred Walton - Screenwriter, Lisa Candela - Production Assistant, Rich Cusano - Special Effects Editor, Jeff Kaplan - Special Effects Editor, Joey Beckert - Special Effects Editor, Tim Spencer - First Assistant Camera, Jeff Upton - Gaffer, Nick Kuchera - Key Grip, Stan Jones - Music Editor, Judith Craig Marlin - Post Production Supervisor, Cathy Howard - Production Coordinator, Graham Coutts - Properties Master, Michael C. Casper - Re-Recording Mixer, Daniel J. Leahy - Re-Recording Mixer, Thomas Gerard - Re-Recording Mixer, Pattie Robertson - Script Supervisor, Colleen Mitchell - Second Assistant Director, Kyle Wright - Supervising Sound Editor, Gill Goodman - Assistant Properties, Geoff Hilliard - Construction Coordinator, Robb Navrides - Dialogue Editor, Rick Stadder - Dolly Grip, Sandra Couldwell - Extra Casting, Michelle Hart - First Assistant Editor, Greg Fox - Second Assistant Camera, John Gilbert - Second Assistant Editor, Nigel Hollick - Second Assistant Editor, Gordon Clapp - Set Dresser, Elizabeth Wilcox - Set Decorator, Barry Greenfield - Supervising Producer, Kevin Parks - Third Assistant Director
When a Stranger Calls Back is a 1993 made-for-television horror/thriller film directed by Fred Walton. The original music score is composed by Dana Kaproff.
In the sequel to the hit movie When a Stranger Calls, Carol Kane and Charles Durning reprise their roles as they find themselves in the midst of another stalker. A young girl, Julia, falls victim to a 'stranger' who torments her while babysitting two young kids one evening. Eventually it is discovered that the stranger, who initially appeared at the door asking to call the auto club to get help with his car, was actually inside the house and had abducted the two children. The film moves forward several years where Julia, who was traumatized by the whole experience, is now an introverted college student and becomes convinced that the stalker has returned and is haunting her. Jill Johnson (Carol Kane), now a counsellor helping troubled teens and John Clifford (now retired) come to the aid of Julia to help her find the stalker when no one else believes her. Having been through the same situation years earlier Jill and a reluctant John investigate and eventually track down the killer in a surprise ending that revolves around who the killer is and how he can 'disappear' from sight.
