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    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Movies»Movies by Decade»Movies - 1970s
    Movies - 1970s Movies - W 3 Mins Read

    When A Stranger Calls (1979)

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    “Have you checked the children?”

    This spin on a popular urban legend became the film responsible for making a generation of teenagers afraid to answer the phone . . .

    Student Jill Johnson (Carol Kane) is babysitting two sleeping children for Dr Mandrakis (Carmen Argenziano) and his wife when she becomes subjected to a night of terror by a mysterious and unseen man, who keeps telephoning, urging her to check that the children are alright.

    Jill contacts the police, and they endeavour to trace the call.

    While the mid-section of the film, which follows the villain and police attempts to track him down, doesn’t have the same raw terror as the opening and finale. this is still a brilliantly-made chiller that taps into a very primal fear.

    When the police department does eventually trace the last call it turns out the deranged killer is calling from inside the house – he’s been there all the time using the upstairs phone line, and he has brutally murdered the children with his bare hands . . .

    The cops save Jill at the last minute and the killer, Curt Duncan (Tony Beckley) is apprehended. Seven years later, he escapes from the mental hospital to which he was assigned, and Mandrakis – the father of the slain children – hires a private detective, John Clifford (Charles Durning) to track him down.

    Clifford was one of the original police officers on the scene the night of the murders, and though Dr Mandrakis simply wants the killer taken back into custody, the ex-cop knows that won’t solve the problem. Convinced he’s dealing with an animal, Clifford quietly resolves to kill him once he finds him.

    Years of drug-induced cooperation and shock therapy have left Duncan a docile – if somewhat spooky – shell of his former self. On his first night back on the streets he encounters a woman in a bar (Colleen Dewhurst) whose belligerent rebuff of his friendly overtures sets the stage for an instant replay of what transpired seven years ago.

    British character actor Tony Beckley was gravely ill during filming and died just six months after his scenes were completed.

    A 1993 made-for-TV sequel (When A Stranger Calls Back) reunited the original director and cast. It’s a decent enough television thriller and passes the time better than it should because of the excellent cast.

    A 2006 remake with Camilla Belle was vastly inferior.

    whenastrangercalls_021

    John Clifford
    Charles Durning
    Jill Johnson
    Carol Kane
    Tracy Fuller
    Colleen Dewhurst
    Curt Duncan
    Tony Beckley
    Dr Monk
    Rachel Roberts
    Lt. Charlie Garber
    Ron O’Neal
    Stephen Lockart
    Steven Anderson
    Mrs Mandrakis
    Rutanya Alda
    Dr Mandrakis
    Carmen Argenziano
    Nancy
    Kirsten Larkin
    Sgt. Sacker
    William Boyett
    Bill
    Michael Champion
    Mrs Garber
    Carol O’Neal
    Bianca Lockart
    Sara Damman
    Stevie Lockart
    Richard Bail
    Sharon
    Lenora May

    Director
    Fred Walton

    Video

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