When a Stranger Calls (2006)

9% of critics liked it
(89 reviews)
55% of users liked it
(457,494 ratings)

A teenage girl becomes a demented serial killer's prey in this big-budget remake of the 1979 thriller that became a TV late-show favorite. When a Stranger Calls takes its title and basic premise from the original, which -- for its first 15 minutes or so -- featured Carol Kane as a frazzled… More A teenage girl becomes a demented serial killer's prey in this big-budget remake of the 1979 thriller that became a TV late-show favorite. When a Stranger Calls takes its title and basic premise from the original, which -- for its first 15 minutes or so -- featured Carol Kane as a frazzled babysitter plagued by creepy, invasive phone calls. This time around, the doe-eyed Camilla Belle plays Jill Johnson, a high-schooler dealing with the usual set of crises: an unfaithful boyfriend, a bitchy best friend, and an over-the-limit cell phone bill. In order to pay for the latter, her father (Clark Gregg) has committed her to a babysitting gig with a wealthy family. At the isolated, palatial house, Jill settles in for a night of no-stress kid-watching. But it isn't long before someone starts anonymously calling the house with creepy, increasingly specific messages. Jill doesn't rule out anyone, but it becomes clear that whomever it is, he or she is watching her, and may be closer than she even suspects. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: PG-13, 1 hr. 27 min.
Directed By: Simon West
Written By: Jake Wade Wall
Genres: Mystery & Suspense, Horror

In Theaters: Feb 3, 2006 Wide
On DVD: May 16, 2006
Studio: Screen Gems

Critic Reviews

Anita Gates, New York Times
The film is not quite suspense-free, but almost. When finding a dead body underwater isn't scary, something is very wrong.
Matt Singer, Village Voice
This version is a thin, protracted study in shifting Hollywood strategies.
James Berardinelli, ReelViews
A production that never comes close to realizing its potential to tweak the viewer's primal fears.
Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star
If there's a single dead-wrong instinct in this movie that isn't pursued with the blind determination of an amorous terrier during high-scent season, darned if I can remember it.
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
This leaves young Belle (The Ballad of Jack and Rose) to wander rooms aimlessly, and for the musicians and Foley artists to work feverishly pretending there's reason for suspense.
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post
When a Stranger Calls has been remade -- with undistinguished if inoffensive results -- by Simon West, who is quickly becoming a reliable purveyor of Hollywood's dreckiest dreck.
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com
Amateurish direction by Simon West ("Laura Croft: Tomb Raider") contributes to the utter failure of this pathetic update of the original film of the same title.
Cynthia Fuchs, Common Sense Media
Pointless remake brings nothing new to the story.
Nigel Floyd, Time Out
If you've seen either Black Christmas or Halloween, there's nothing new here: the hyped-up score keeps telling us we ought to be scared, but the suspense feels mechanical and fake.
David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews
...just as needless a remake as one might've expected.
Liz Braun, Jam! Movies
No plot, no originality, no stars -- and no reason for you to go and see this crap.
Matthew Leyland, BBC
You know a horror movie's in trouble when the fake scares outweigh the real ones.
Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine
Well, what did your parents tell you about talking to strangers?
Robert Hanks, Independent
I can't help feeling that this updating could have been a little more imaginative -- the only wrinkle on the basic plot is that it uses mobile phones.

Read all 14 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Jeff "

When a Stranger Calls is one of the worst remakes that I have seen. The film has some very bad acting, a bad story and bad directing. As a horror film, When a Stranger Calls fails to deliver effective jolts. The scares are cheap and expected. I thought that this film was awful and I… More
When a Stranger Calls is one of the worst remakes that I have seen. The film has some very bad acting, a bad story and bad directing. As a horror film, When a Stranger Calls fails to deliver effective jolts. The scares are cheap and expected. I thought that this film was awful and I felt like it was a waste of time. This film is pure crap, and as far as remakes are concerned, them being dull and inspired compared to the first, well this one fits the description perfectly. I love horror films, horror films are my passion, my addiction and I was very disappointed in this film. I thought it was purely a waste of time, and celluloid. Remakes are much hit and miss, and this remake misses the mark entirely. The cast and story awful, and you just know how this film will end. The element of surprise, which makes horror films worth seeing, is absent, and thus, this film is very predictable and awful. This film scraps the bottom of the barrel and it's not fun, scary or entertaining. This is yet another unfortunate remake of a classic film that never should have been made in the first place. Hollywood is running out of ideas, and trash like this shows that they're willing to green light anything to make a quick buck. Some remakes are good, effective at delivering scares. However this one fails to deliver, and belongs along with the rest of the horrible sequels in the dollar bin at Wal-Mart. A terrible film, which you're not missing out on. Avoid.
Cassie H

Great horror flick that makes you scared to ever answer a phone ever again. I was terrified after the movie when my dad called the house to scare us. If you want to be completely freaked out then watch this movie.
Bethany M

Creepy! Had me on the edge of my seat and I was genuinely frightened.
Coxxie M

i wish Roger Ebert would call Camilla Belle and tell her where she can put her two thumbs.
♥Robyn

Jill Johnson (Camilla Belle) is a high school girl who gets a baby-sitting job for a new family. They live in a nice house in a remote area. When she arrives, the kids are already asleep upstairs..she sets the alarm,and locks the doors and within minutes after the parents have left,… More
Jill Johnson (Camilla Belle) is a high school girl who gets a baby-sitting job for a new family. They live in a nice house in a remote area. When she arrives, the kids are already asleep upstairs..she sets the alarm,and locks the doors and within minutes after the parents have left, the phone starts ringing. over and over the phone rings, occasionally a prank call from one of Jills friends and sometimes a breather. Eventually, the caller talks and hangs up. Jill calls the police eventually, but they don't take it too seriously until the officer finally decides to trace the call and rings Jill back to tell her... wait for it.. this is the hook.. "The call is coming from inside the house!"............... this is a remake and i didnt find it as good as the original one, still worth a look though
Dead A

This was pretty scary.
KJ P

Was this supposed to scare me, because it didn't! Whatever the makers were thinking, they must has been on drugs for this thing you call a movie!
Adam M

This movie had a hack script that should not have been filmed. I haven't seen the original, but sometimes when producers think they have name-recognition in the source material, they overlook badness that what would be obvious to any writer-director who had less to spend and… More
This movie had a hack script that should not have been filmed. I haven't seen the original, but sometimes when producers think they have name-recognition in the source material, they overlook badness that what would be obvious to any writer-director who had less to spend and *had* to rely on as good a script as possible. This guy wrote with no sense of humility toward the horror film, more a mind to how a PG-13, mostly female audience might swallow some crap with high production values and a heroine they could identify with ("She's a babysitter, it's perfect! We'll put her in the drama of teen romance and a cell phone bill that gets the phone taken away!") The producer and screenwriter think the whole genre, or thriller sub-genre, is all about timing false scares and real scares and when to reveal the villain. They somehow thought unceasing lighting effects from the elaborate set would supersede care with the camera.
Lewis C

This will be a very short review that is incredibly easy to write. When a Stranger calls is very boring. There is no tension to be found in the entire film. The set-up is boring. The execution is boring. The killer is boring. Camilla Belle's character is both stupid and boring.… More
This will be a very short review that is incredibly easy to write. When a Stranger calls is very boring. There is no tension to be found in the entire film. The set-up is boring. The execution is boring. The killer is boring. Camilla Belle's character is both stupid and boring. This movie didn't need to be made.
Candy R

A babysitter is left alone with the kids in a house in a remote location. A stranger calls. Chilling thriller.
Lorenzo v

Jill Johnson: [phone rings] [answers] Jill Johnson: Stop calling me you sick... Officer Burroughs: Jill, Jill. We traced the call! It's coming from inside the house! Do you hear me? It's coming from inside the house! You need to get out! Jill? [power goes… More
Jill Johnson: [phone rings] [answers] Jill Johnson: Stop calling me you sick... Officer Burroughs: Jill, Jill. We traced the call! It's coming from inside the house! Do you hear me? It's coming from inside the house! You need to get out! Jill? [power goes out] In a remote hilltop house, high school student Jill Johnson (Camilla Belle) settles in for a routine night of babysitting. With the children sound asleep and a beautiful home to explore, she locks the door and sets the alarm. But when a series of eerie phone calls from a stranger insist that she "check the children," Jill begins to panic. Fear escalates to terror when she has the calls traced and learns that they are coming from inside the house. Jill must summon all of her inner strength if she is going to fight back and make it out of the house alive. Wow, that was crappy. I'm glad I didn't buy it, it just so happened it was being shown on cable TV so with nothing better to do, I watched it from start to finish. Take note, I painstakingly watched it from start to finish. If the makers of the movie wanted to make this an eerie, creepy movie thrill ride, well, obviously they failed miserably. The movie is overridden with stereotypical Hollywood horror clichés, a script so bad its like blunt force trauma straight to your noggin and the acting so bad, it'll make you laugh. This is a suspense movie without the suspense. They should have just left the original 1979 version alone. 1.5/5
_kelly .

This wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but it was close to it. Choosing to watch this movie is like being in a crappy slasher and deciding to do something like explore the dark hallway you suspect the killer is in. I can't be bothered with a full appraisal of this… More
This wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but it was close to it. Choosing to watch this movie is like being in a crappy slasher and deciding to do something like explore the dark hallway you suspect the killer is in. I can't be bothered with a full appraisal of this movie, which wouldn't even tingle the teenagers it targets. You're gonna see this on Hulu, and watch it only if you have that urge to go down the wrong ill-lit path and face the killer.
Brian D

O the pain of shitty and unwanted remkes.
Cassandra M

Jill Johnson (Camilla Belle) is babysitting two children in a fancy isolated house, when a stranger insists calling her in the phone. She decides to telephone to the police, to trace the phone call. When the officer on duty tells her that the call is being made from inside the house,… More
Jill Johnson (Camilla Belle) is babysitting two children in a fancy isolated house, when a stranger insists calling her in the phone. She decides to telephone to the police, to trace the phone call. When the officer on duty tells her that the call is being made from inside the house, Jill freaks out and tries to leave the place with the children. The beginning of the 1979 "When a Stranger Calls" is one of the scariest and most realistic thrillers I have ever seen. The story is excellent, and the performances are stunning. In my opinion, the famous 'Scream' ripped-off the introduction of this film. This 2006 remake is watchable, but director Simon West spoiled an excellent story with a typical Saturday night broadcast predicable movie. The secret of the original film was the claustrophobic environment associated to a realistic plot. The option of this director was to use a huge house, with people coming and going (or vanishing), breaking the tension. Camilla Belle has a pretty face but she is very weak in this dramatic role. Further, her character has the most unreasonable attitudes, for example leaving a house protected by a security system to move to the guest house, or calling the hidden children to escape with her
Taylor B

She is pretty hot. This movie is horrible. She's still hot though. Bad actress. Hot.
Nani V

I could have been a little bit more freaked out.
Rachel F

I really liked this movie. Camilla Belle is one of my favorite actresses.
Dean !

A very good suspense film, but the end will leave you wanting more!
Drew S

Another shithouse remake soiling the good name of an interesting, original movie.
E.J. B

Where to begin? Let's just say an hour and a half of my life was wasted.