∇
troperville

∇
tools

∇
toys

SubpagesFilm
Main
YMMV

main index

Narrative

Genre

Media

Topical Tropes

Other Categories

new edits	workshops	reviews	YKTTW	tweets	random
to do	pm	add watch	drop watch	watchlist	profile

Subpages:

Film: When a Stranger Calls

Poster for the 1979 original.

When a Stranger Calls is a horror movie that uses The Calls Are Coming From Inside The House as a plot. It plays with the Urban Legend of "The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs".

There are two versions: the 1979 original, starring Carol Kane, and a 2006 remake, with Camilla Belle. The 2006 remake uses cell phones instead of the technical impossibility of a rotary-dial phone calling itself, and is no less effective for it.

Both movies follow Jill Johnson, who, after being grounded by her parents, is working as a babysitter for the children of a wealthy doctor and his wife. Not long into her job, however, she is plagued by persistent, creepy phone calls from someone who is watching her every move...

This film provides examples of:

Ax Crazy: The Stranger.
Bittersweet Ending: Jill survives, but is plagued by nightmares of the Stranger.
The Calls Are Coming From Inside The House (Trope Namer)
Catapult Nightmare: It happens to Jill.
Cat Scare: Constantly.
Cry For The Devil: The original. Most people forget that the movie continued beyond the 22 minute mark, and was just gushing with this.
Dies Wide Open: Rosa the maid.
Evil Phone
The Faceless: When the Stranger is finally revealed, his face is partially hidden by shadows right up until he is being driven away in the police car.
For the Evulz: There's really no purpose to the stranger's phone calls, except to freak out Jill. And the audience.
Gory Discretion Shot: The opening scene.
Hey, It's That Voice!: The voice of the Stranger is provided by none other than Lance Henriksen.
Infant Immortality: The kids survive in the remake, but it is entirely possible that the Stranger intended to kill them after bumping off Jill.
It Got Worse: Jill finds the phone calls annoying and mildly unsettling at first, but when they keep coming...
Kill It with Fire
Spared by the Adaptation: The kids and the would-be killer in the remake.
Trailers Always Spoil
Vader Breath: Many of the phone calls made by the titular Stranger consist of his creepy, heavy breathing.