Were this a short film that consisted only of the first twenty minutes, I would not hesitate to give it at the very least a 9/10, if not a 10/10. However, after the initial scene, the film loses its way, meandering with little focus and nothing resembling a protagonist. Who is the main character? Surely not Carol Kane's babysitter, as she is in the film for all of thirty minutes. Neither the detective pursuing the killer, the hostile but still sympathetic woman forced into helping trap the killer, not even the killer himself are good leads either.There are some suspenseful moments throughout and there is one very clever scare in the last five minutes, but if you're curious about this movie, do yourself a favor: stop the film before the first half hour.

Acting: 17/20 Writing: 31/40 Directing/Editing/Production/Etc: 27/40Overall: 75/100 CReview: Carol Kane did not really prove why she deserved to be in Hollywood with this performance. There were a couple scenes where she really hit her mark and did a good job, but all of her other scenes were the opposite: very mediocre and unconvincing. The rest of the cast did a great job though.*Spoiler Alert!*I'm not quite sure why Carol Kane is billed as the star of the film as she's hardly in it and isn't very good in it. I suppose at the time this film came out, it was a twist that the film would follow the "private detective" and the murderer more than the babysitter and the murderer etc. That being said, she did do a better job playing the mother at the end than she did the babysitter in the beginning - particularly the scene in the restaurant on the phone.The real star of this film, was Tony Beckley as the psychotic murderer. He genuinely captured an insane man and portrayed him in a way that was much more realistic than the more common Hollywood route of showing people who are insane. The way they showed his descent back into madness after experience "shock-therapy" a total of 38x over 6 years was actually very realistic and compelling. From the writing to the acting to the way it was shot, all of the scenes involving this character were very well-done, particularly where he was being reborn into the "monster" that he had been.Charles Durning as the officer-turned-private detective/hit-man, also did a great job playing his character. It wasn't outstanding but it was very convincing, the second-best performance in the line- up.Colleen Dewhurst as the potential victim and/or romantic-interest of Curt Duncan did a decent job as well. Nothing great but still better than Carol Kane's performance in some scenes.Sort of like the acting, the writing had some extreme highs and extreme lows. The originality and creativity if the writing of this film needs to be commended. I went into this film expecting the entire thing to be about the original Babysitter-Caller legend yet it was only about the first 20 minutes of the film. Taking this route actually made the film even more exciting, as well as bringing it back full-circle to Carol Kane's character as the mother out for a date instead of being the babysitter.The fact that the film went so much into the character of the psychotic killer and followed his descent into madness - along with the ex-cop trying to hunt him along the way - was very riveting.Unfortunately, there were a few plot holes that really took away from the quality and consistency of this film. The idea that Curt Duncan was able to find the babysitter at the end of the film - as well as wanting to, almost out of nowhere instead of having that desire the entire time - was not very credible. Jill Johnson was supposed to be married with kids now, so she presumably changed her name so how could Duncan have known what that name would be to be able to find her? The edit to this didn't explain anything about how he found her which is a shame because it could've easily been done. For example: Durning was already going after Duncan and knew he was loose. It would be reasonable for Duncan to start stalking Durning, since he knows he is trying to kill him and Duncan's already a stalker. If Durning got into contact with Jill Johnson to see if she had been contacted at all by Duncan, it could've been the perfect way for Duncan to have found Jill, through following Durning.Furthermore, the fact that Duncan didn't try to stalk and kill Durning after he knew that Durning was after him, was illogical as well. It's odd that he just ran away from Durning and randomly decided to go back after Jill Johnson. In addition, the fact that Duncan went after Jill and her husband before her kids was also inconsistent with his character. I think a more accurate and even more frightening ending would've been if Jill Johnson had come back completely full-circle to find her kids slaughtered by Duncan with the babysitter running out - just as she had before.*End of Spoiler Alert!*The film did a great job of keeping the suspense building and creating a very suspenseful atmosphere with the right pace, etc. However, there were some scenes that were very characteristic of B- movies. A fight scene where fists obviously weren't making contact and blood randomly appears out of nowhere with inconsistent injuries, along with a shooting scene that doesn't match up when taking in the angles and positions into account, were some classic production mistakes. The music had some great moments of adding to the film but there were also some moments that it wasn't so great and took away from the scenes just a bit. Overall this film was very suspenseful and original - despite being based on a common urban legend. It's not one of the best films ever done but it's definitely still worth a watch, especially if you're a horror or movie fan in general.

What's amazing about When a Stranger Calls is how much of a tone the first twenty minutes sets for the rest of the movie. The initial babysitter scene performed by Carol Kane as Jill Johnson is actually terrifying. In my opinion When a Stranger Calls, along with Suspiria, have the most attention grabbing introduction, prolific to the horror genre and truly suspenseful. The phone calls in the beginning are terrific and have some chilling lines. After the babysitting scene the film spins into a different direction becoming a cat and mouse chase between a detective and the killer. It's not that the middle section of the film was bad but it really didn't seem to flow that well with the beginning. Tony Beckley, as Curt Duncan, portrayed a great menacing, but at the same time sympathetic villain. There are scenes towards the end in the city that do drag a bit but the payoff is there at the end of the film. When a Stranger calls is definitely an underrated horror film that for me has replay value and nostalgia.

Here's one of those movies that takes a few different turns, in one nice pay off with those immortal words "Have you checked the children?". Also in it's time, this horror would of been in the pushing the envelope territory, featuring some bloodied flashback scenes involving child murder. Carol Kane babysits for this family, oblivious to the fact, a killer is lurking inside. Throughout the night she's pestered with calls from an anonymous phone caller, using those immortal words, and some others, where Kane's driven to the point of "No more". She calls authorities and soon the gruesome discovery is made. Fast forward to our looney, Kirk Duncan, who's escaped in a truly believable, genuine, and unnerving performance from our English nutter, who Durning (in a likable and fun performance), once a Detective in charge of that horrible murder scene, now a PI, is tracking Duncan down with intent to kill, so may'be Durning, mentally scarred by the memory of that fateful night, can finally move on with his life, when the scummy psycho's disposed of. You would at first assume this movie was all to take place in one night, involving babysitter and talker/caller, but this is impressively different, although it does lose it's terrifying edge and oomph, when it changes direction, slowing down. This indeed is a palpable martyr here. Nothing equals the first 20 minutes or so, yet still there are moments, throughout, the majority in thanks to our prime performer nutso, and then there's a twist you won't see, made more terrifyingly real by the young actress's great performance. Colleen Dewhurst turns in a great performance as a forties single woman who frequents this dive where Duncan makes a goose of himself, in a pathetic display for companionship. The wuzz of a nonchalont bartender (I know people like this) lets the patrons control the show. WASC has a soft spot with me. A favorite I like to viddy now and again. If you want a good fright, this is one of the better titles to pick.