It'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
Love 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.
Peak-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.
Reviews
When a Stranger Calls
PhysicalMedia4Life reviewed
When a Stranger Calls
July 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
Kevin Ward reviewed
When a Stranger Calls
September 17, 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.
