Last night my wife and I sat down to watch the original When A Stranger Calls from 1979, the one that starred Carol Kane. (When A Stranger Calls also starred Colleen Dewhurst and Charles Durning.) I loved When a Stranger Calls (my wife wasn't so enthusiastic.) I had seen the movie when I was a kid, maybe 11 or 12 at the time, and it scared the bejesus out of me.
Anyone who has seen Scream will experience some serious deja vu during the first 20 minutes of When a Stranger Calls. That's because the scene from Scream is intentionally reminiscent of the first act of When a Stranger Calls. The movie (When a Stranger Calls, not Scream) is comprised of three distinct acts, the first of which is a familiar tale: a babysitter gets repeated phone calls from someone creepy. He asks, "Have you checked the children?" Even though the DVD case spoils the resolution of the scene, and almost everyone familiar with horror movies knows what happens too, I won't spoil it here. Suffice it to say that if you can keep from being spoiled, the ending of scene one is one of the most effective moments in movie thriller history.
The second act of When a Stranger Calls details Charles Durning's pursuit of a madman, and it's a well-done series of scenes. To my 2008 eyes, it's unusual to see a leading man who is so portly, whose hair is thinning so much, who isn't your traditional leading man type. This is a good thing. I would love to see a horror film made today, or even an action movie, which starred someone like John Goodman or Jim Belushi. Sadly, in today's movies, anyone overweight or less-than-handsome is relegated to the "sidekick" role.
The third act of When a Stranger Calls brings the entire film full circle, but it ends with an abrupt climax. The "scary surprise" moment was brilliantly effective, and it even startled me, having not seen this movie in 25 years or so. A modern movie's climax goes on and on, and usually you think the bad guy is done several times before he's actually finished. Apparently when someone gets shot in a 1970's movie, it's okay for the movie to just end right there.
The entire When a Stranger Calls cast performs brilliantly. This wasn't Shakespeare, but it was an effective thriller. I saw another review of this movie where they discussed the second act as being a "slow burn", and they're right. This entire movie is a lot slower-paced and thoughtful than a modern horror movie, but it made for a nice change of pace.
I recommend the 1979 version of When a Stranger Calls (the one with Carol Kane as the babysitter) to anyone interested in horror or thrillers.
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