When a Stranger Calls

It’s ultimately not surprising to learn that When a Stranger Calls started out as a short film, as the movie’s absolutely enthralling opening 20 minutes is, unfortunately, followed by a narrative that couldn’t possibly be more anticlimactic. The film initially follows a young babysitter (Carol Kane’s Jill Johnson) as she receives a series of increasingly menacing phone calls while caring for two small children, with the remainder of the proceedings detailing Jill’s efforts at recovering from the attack and also the dogged attempts of a cop (Charles Durning’s John Clifford) to catch the aforementioned maniac. Filmmaker Fred Walton does an absolutely superb job ratcheting up the tension during When a Stranger Calls‘ almost flawlessly executed first act, and it’s clear, too, that Kane’s utterly affable performance plays a key role in the movie’s early success. It’s equally obvious, however, that the film’s hold on the viewer dwindles considerably once that opening stretch concludes, as scripters Walton and Steve Feke place an absolutely interminable emphasis on Durning’s character’s ongoing investigation – with the running time padded out by an astonishingly pointless subplot in which the killer stalks a grizzled barfly (Colleen Dewhurst’s Tracy). By the time the endless finale rolls around, When a Stranger Calls has completely and thoroughly squandered the promise of its riveting beginning.

*1/2 out of ****