During an evening of babysitting, high-school student Jill Johnson is terrorized by a caller who keeps asking "Have you checked the children lately?" When she calls the police, they inform her that the calls are coming from inside the house.
- PhysicalMedia4LifeJuly 15, 2026It's a damn shame that the rest of the movie after, which imo has one of the most iconic & scary openings to a horror movie of all time!! If this had just stayed as a movie short "When A Stranger Calls 1979" would have been hailed as one of the very best movie shorts of all time. If it had just ended right there. Unfortunately everything that comes after that awesome 20 Mins is all just a shadow of that opening in comparison, there's a significant drop and its very telling. Although it does have a couple of Cool 😎 moments after, but ultimately fails to recapture the brilliance & intensity of that opening 20 Mins. However the movie afterwards isn't terrible or anything; I think it's a combination of both how phenomenal the opening 20 Mins was and the fact that our so called final girl isn't seen again until the last act of the movie. And also its due to the fact that we see the killer a lot throughout the film which takes away the creepy aspect to it. We know who he is now and what he looks like. In that opening we had no idea who he was and what he looked like or anything which what made that opening so very impactful & effective as well. By the time the final showdown happens between him and our final girl in the final act, our villain has lost all of that including his mystique element that he had in the beginning also. Just one of the many things that were lost after the opening act. Although the final act of the movie is fine, but as a whole it absolutely pales in comparison to the opening act a 💯 So for me my Ratings & Scores for "When A Stranger Calls 1979" is ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ & a 10/10 as a movie short. But as a whole feature length film, unfortunately it's 2.75/5 Stars 🌟 & a 5.25 out of 10
- SandyOlson78February 4, 2026Love Carol Kane. The beginning was so intense I had to pause it a few times. RIP the kids. I have to look around my room every night because of this movie.
- Kevin WardSeptember 16, 2025Peak-It’s coming from inside the house The Carol Kane bookends are easily the best part. Partly because I love Carol Kane. Still a terrifically suspenseful film even if it’s dated. Virtually none of this could happen today. Were people really this tolerant of weirdo’s back then? A woman is accosted at a bar, despite clearly signaling she does not want to interact with this guy. Then when he stalks her and follows her home and she’s still semi -tolerates him coming into her apartment. Fun pick.
- July 12, 202601: The Chrissie Watkins attack in the Opening of Jaws 1975 - Not only is it masterfully done; but the fact that we don't see the Shark makes it that much more effective and leaves it to the viewers imagination 😨😨😨 02: The Judith Myers kill in the Opening of Halloween 1978 - the fact that we only see it as a "POV" and in one take as well which in effect made it so scary, disturbing & bone chilling to say the least!! We don't even know that it's a 6 year old child as well; right up until its revealed to us after Michael walks out of the house after he stabbed & killed his sister Judith that it's a 6 year old Michael Myers 🎃🔪 😨😨😨 03: When A Stranger Calls 1979 - 📞 HAVE YOU CHECKED ON THE CHILDREN? 😱😱😱 04: The Opening of Ghost Ship - And even more with Ghost Ship the very opening of the film is awesome and instantly grabs your attention! And for those who have seen it know what I'm on about. But unfortunately the rest of the movie after that unbelievably good opening, takes a massive cliff fall unfortunately!! 05: The Opening of Scream 😱🔪 of course!! I think it's very safe to say that the opening of Scream would be 99.9% of people Top 05 most iconic & scary movie openings of all time. This opening has it all great intensity, atmosphere, & eerieness to it, due to the fact you hear the killer talk to "Casey Becker" and knowing he or spoiler 🚨 SPOILER 🚨 the duo could be literally anywhere. 😱😱 🔪🔪
(Here Are My Personal Top 5) Most Scary Movie Openings Of All Time:
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When a Stranger Calls was released on October 26, 1979.
When a Stranger Calls was directed by Fred Walton.
When a Stranger Calls has a runtime of 1h 37m.
When a Stranger Calls was produced by Steve Feke, Doug Chapin.
During an evening of babysitting, high-school student Jill Johnson is terrorized by a caller who keeps asking "Have you checked the children lately?" When she calls the police, they inform her that the calls are coming from inside the house.
The key characters in When a Stranger Calls are Jill Johnson (Carol Kane), John Clifford (Charles Durning), Tracy (Colleen Dewhurst).
When a Stranger Calls is rated R.
When a Stranger Calls is a Mystery, Horror, Thriller film.
When a Stranger Calls has an audience rating of 4.8 out of 10.
When a Stranger Calls had a budget of $1.5M.
When a Stranger Calls has made $25M at the box office.