Written by Steve Feke And Fred Walton
Directed by Fred Walton
The Stranger (to Jill): "Have you checked on the children?"
Ah yes, a babysitting horror film based on an urban legend. It's legacy included a sequel and a remake. It's also had it's influence felt in later horror movies to boot.
Like the best horror films, it's premise was simple. You had Dr Mandrakis (Carmen Argenziano) and his wife (Rutanya Alda) hire babysitter Jill Johnson (Carol Kane) to look after their kids while they went out for dinner. A simple job for Jill that badly very fast.
It went badly down to the fact that Jill kept receiving creepy phone calls from a mysterious stranger (Tony Beckley) telling her to check the children. Jill should've listened to him because it later turned out that the children had been killed by English seaman, Curt Duncan aka the Stranger.
Then the movie jumped and flipped focus. A grieving Mandrakis hired detective John Clifford (Charles Durning) track down the recently released Duncan. Duncan himself had become homeless and developed a fixation on a woman named Tracy (Coleen Dewhurst).
It did appear that Tracy was going to be another victim of Dun an and she very nearly became one had Clifford not intervened. I'll admit this part of the movie somewhat lagged in proceedings but fortunately the last few minutes shifted the focus back on Jill.
An older version of Jill, who was married to Stephen (Steven Anderson) and had two kids. Jill once again had Duncan threaten the lives of children, only this time her children. The movie did however end on a different outcome for Duncan than what happened when he first tormented Jill.
- The movie's an expanded version of the 1977 short movie, The Sitter.
- Tony Buckley who played the title villain sadly passed after production of the film had wrapped.
- Standout music: Billy Preston's Space Race.
- Chronology: There's a seven year time jump within the movie. The movie's set in Los Angeles.
When A Stranger Calls for the most part, I'd recommend as a horrid film. It's middle act however would be a lagging point but the start and end are near perfect with great performances from Carol Kane and Tony Beckley respectively.
Rating: 7 out of 10
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