WHEN A STRANGER CALLS

Jill Johnson, a high school student, is punished by her parents for a particularly expensive phone call and is forced to babysit on the same night her friends are having a party. During the evening at the luxurious and technological Mandrakis house, Jill starts receiving continuous phone calls from an unsettling male voice that first tries to scare her and then begins to threaten her. The terrified Jill, after alerting the police, learns that the threatening calls are coming from inside the Mandrakis house. In 1979, Fred Walton directed a thriller/horror that over the years earns the reputation of a cult classic in the genre. The film in question is "When a Stranger Calls," beautifully homage in the prologue of the Cravenian "Scream." Today, in a period when Hollywood lacks ideas and seeks to invest in sure gains, not even Walton's film escapes the remake rule. Thus, in a summer crowded with horror films, this "When a Stranger Calls" also arrives. Directed by action movie expert Simon West ("Con Air" and "Tomb Raider"), "When a Stranger Calls" is a strange example of a mid-remake, meaning instead of re-shooting the film following, faithfully or not, the original story, the focus is on one part and the entire film is developed around it. Probably the limit of "When a Stranger Calls" lies in this choice: stretching a situation suitable for covering at most half an hour of film narration for almost 1h 30 minutes. Thus, there will be an excessively long first part, in which the screenplay repeats itself implausibly, showing the protagonist exploring every square centimeter of the house and then receiving continuous rings from the maniac; the second part, on the other hand, is excessively rushed and the credits appear on screen without the viewer being ready to welcome them. What else doesn't work in "When a Stranger Calls?" Surely the management of suspense moments. West is a good craftsman and handles action films admirably, hence the last fifteen minutes of "When a Stranger Calls" work well, are well choreographed, and provide enough adrenaline; but from a thriller, we certainly don't expect only this! The numerous moments in which suspense should have been palpable are poorly managed, unconvincing, almost tired: it would have been pleasant to see a few more "buses" in the first part and avoid predictable jumps in the seat (everyone now expects that if there's a cat around, sooner or later it's destined to jump out in front of you!), only useful to stretch the duration of the staging. Another weak point lies in what should have been the film's strong point, i.e., the killer's threatening calls. Remember the tense prologue of "Scream" with a memorable phone torture? Well, in "When a Stranger Calls" this doesn't happen; the calls end with some Darth Vader-like heavy breathing and some small subliminal threats ("have you checked the children?") that culminate in the phrase "I want your blood on me" and nothing more. Surely the set design by Jon Gary Steele deserves praise, which sees the entire story set in a futuristic house as comforting and pleasant to look at as it is formidable and dangerous when the lights go out and the storm rages outside. Also, the protagonist Camilla Belle, even if she doesn't perfectly embody the canons of the scream-queen scared by the killer, has an interesting face and holds her own well; thus, a likely rosy future in the star system is in prospect for her. Therefore, "When a Stranger Calls" turns out to be a film undoubtedly watchable, but due to the numerous flaws, probably dictated by excessive haste in the film's production phase, it cannot certainly be recommended for viewing.