#62 WHEN A STRANGER CALLS (1979)
"WE'VE TRACED
THE CALLS...
THEY'RE COMING FROM INSIDE YOUR HOUSE!"
Long
before SCREAM turned sadistic crank-calling the recipe for box office
gold, Carol Kane played a babysitter in 1979's When a Stranger Calls
who was tormented over the phone. What she thinks is a joke, turns
scary as the caller asks about the kids and mentions other details
that reveal he knows a lot more about her than a stranger should.
After numerous calls to the police, they call her back with the
classic warning, "We've traced the calls...they're coming from inside
your house!" As ludicrous as that sounds, it makes for an incredibly
suspenseful ending. Of course with today's technology, the caller ID
would show that right away and the movie would have only been 5
minutes long.
They
actually did a made for TV sequel to this called When A Stranger
Calls Back in 1993. Thankfully, plans for future installments "When
A Stranger Instant Messages You", "When A Stranger Calls Using
1-800-CALL-ATT", and "When Stranger Telemarkets You Even Though
You're On The Do Not Call List" were scrapped.
-Robert Berry
rberry@retrocrush.com
