Is the opening scene of When a Stranger Calls one of the most tense pieces in cinema history?

[dildos]

I only saw the remake. Strong jailbait in that one

she was 20.

unless your talking bout the kids she was babysitting.

 

[bowened]

Haven't seen in like 25 years but it scares the crap out of me as a kid. One hell of an opening scene.

Wasn't there a sequel in the early 90s where the killer would camouflage himself? lol

 

[Guestx]

Haven't seen in like 25 years but it scares the crap out of me as a kid. One hell of an opening scene.

Wasn't there a sequel in the early 90s where the killer would camouflage himself? lol

Yeah, there was a sequel called When a Stranger Calls Back. I don't know anything about it, though.

I think maybe it was a made-for-TV movie?

 

[CrimsonFan]

Yeah that opening scene is fantastic. My mom really liked that movie and showed it to me when I was younger.

 

[Agent Mulder's Hair]

Does it compare to Scream's opening scene?

 

[Guestx]

Does it compare to Scream's opening scene?

Superior, in my opinion.

 

[BisexualMMA]

Yeah, there was a sequel called When a Stranger Calls Back. I don't know anything about it, though.

I think maybe it was a made-for-TV movie?

Yes, it was made for TV. It really wasn't all that bad, but the camouflage killer stuff did get taken into absurdity a little bit.

 

[Agent Mulder's Hair]

Superior, in my opinion.

 

[Guestx]

I had never even made the connection, but now that I think about it, I bet the Scream opening was actually inspired at least to some extent by When a Stranger Calls.

 

[MusterX]

@shadow_priest_x

You've earned yourself a story from the life and times of MusterX. In 1979 my uncles wife, who he is divorced from now, was crazy as shit, she was the type of aunt to give you a beer and a smoke when nobody was looking even if you were WAY underage for that sort of thing. Back then though, I'll say from 1975-1985, it was like the golden age of do whatever you want. I was buying packs of smokes when I was 13 and nobody even carded me, as long as you had money they were selling. Nobody gave a shit about so many things that are different now, like taking a kid into a rated R movie.

Anyway, she takes me to see 1979's When A Stranger Calls and it was the first movie I ever recall scaring the ever-loving shit out of me where I wanted to hide under my covers and pray for daylight. It balanced out though because two years later she took me to see 1981's Excalibur and I saw some boobs. She would fill up her purse with beer and I would be like that movie is rated R, I'm just a kid and she would be like, fuck you, we're going to the movies.

 

[Guestx]

@shadow_priest_x

You've earned yourself a story from the life and times of MusterX. In 1979 my uncles wife, who he is divorced from now, was crazy as shit, she was the type of aunt to give you a beer and a smoke when nobody was looking even if you were WAY underage for that sort of thing. Back then though, I'll say from 1975-1985, it was like the golden age of do whatever you want. I was buying packs of smokes when I was 13 and nobody even carded me, as long as you had money they were selling. Nobody gave a shit about so many things that are different now, like taking a kid into a rated R movie.

Anyway, she takes me to see 1979's When A Stranger Calls and it was the first movie I ever recall scaring the ever-loving shit out of me where I wanted to hide under my covers and pray for daylight. It balanced out though because two years later she took me to see 1981's Excalibur and I saw some boobs. She would fill up her purse with beer and I would be like that movie is rated R, I'm just a kid and she would be like, fuck you, we're going to the movies.

LOL, bro your ex-aunt sounds awesome! I have an aunt who probably would've been like that if she was just a little less responsible.

And yeah, When a Stranger Calls seems like the kind of movie that would scare the shit out of a kid. It seems there are a few other posters ITT who also saw it when they were a little one and it freaked them out.

 

[MusterX]

LOL, bro your ex-aunt sounds awesome! I have an aunt who probably would've been like that if she was just a little less responsible.

And yeah, When a Stranger Calls seems like the kind of movie that would scare the shit out of a kid. It seems there are a few other posters ITT who also saw it when they were a little one and it freaked them out.

HAHA, I can't even talk about it man, have you ever heard me bring up that movie? It scarred my mind because you can't get away from it when you go home, you know, because the whole inside the house thing. Its just weird thinking about that from so long ago. I actually saw that movie in the theater when it released. My aunt was a party girl I guess but she introduced me to rated R cinema lol. It was like our secret because she and I would pick a movie that was appropriate and I would say that was the movie we went to see.

 

[Canada23]

That dialogue in the first phone call with her friend was cringeworthy lol

 

[KONG-D'SNT-TAP]

The Twilight Zone had many amazing episodes where the feeling a DREAD was created. Like Shadow explained before.

The concept of the caller being in the house the entire time also adds a twilight zone vibe to it.

 

[Chesten_Hesten]

A while back I took an Intro to Film class and the instructor liked to show various scenes from movies to illustrate whatever he was talking about. For an example of how to effectively build tension, he used the opening scene of the original When a Stranger Calls from 1979.

After watching the scene, I had to agree with him. I'm not sure how it would play to younger audiences, but I did indeed find it very effective. Out of everything that we watched in that class, this is probably the thing that stuck with me the most.

Has anyone here watched it? If so, what did you think?

If you haven't seen it, wait until you can shut the lights off and avoid all distractions--turn your fucking phone off!--and check it out:

I remember the TV commercials for this movie. The big switch being the goon was already in the closet.


Funny no one seemed to give a shit that she split the house and left the children. (were there even children in the house?)

Never watched the whole movie though, something tells me it got dull after the initial shock.


What's her face wasn't to hard on the eyes though.

 

[axstar713]

I saw that movie when we first got cable, must've been around 9 and that opening scene really creeped me out. As for the post above, if I remember correctly, the guy had killed the kids and that's why he kept saying "Why haven't you checked the children?"

 

[the muntjac]

I would suggest to anybody who watches this movie to stop immediately after this scene because the rest of the movie is trash. But yeah, that first 20 minutes or so is pretty good. It should have just been a short.

 

[the muntjac]

Also a small tidbit, the guy who played the killer died six months after the premiere of this film. His cause of death was ruled as cancer, but some people think he died of AIDS. Ether way, the guy was terminally ill while shooting this movie.

 

[Guestx]

I remember the TV commercials for this movie. The big switch being the goon was already in the closet.

WTF? I just do not get why they're putting the twist in the commercials. That's is fucking dumb!

Funny no one seemed to give a shit that she split the house and left the children. (were there even children in the house?)

Yes, there were kids, and he killed them.

Never watched the whole movie though, something tells me it got dull after the initial shock.

I've only seen the beginning and the end. I've heard it turns into a very different kind of movie after the first act.

What's her face wasn't to hard on the eyes though.

She has a very unique look. I've always thought she was a cute girl.

 

[Chesten_Hesten]

Tell ya, you wanna see a griping assed film in the same vein check out this one:

They really drive home the idea of Total Dispair!



Or Slighly different:

Interesting In US movies the good guy bad guy roles are usually pretty cut and dry, yet the Koreans managed to present a bad guy that was both completely loathsome yet sympathetic.