When a Stranger Calls (2006 film)
Encyclopedia
When a Stranger Calls is a 2006 American horror film
and a remake of the 1979 horror film of the same name
based on the urban legend
"The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs
". In the film, a teenage babysitter
receives increasingly threatening calls from a brutal serial killer
whom she first assumes is simply a prankster.
). She is going through average teenage crises, having her boyfriend, Bobby (Brian Geraghty
), cheat on her with her best friend Tiffany (Katie Cassidy
), and going over 800 minutes on her cell phone, for which her dad, Ben (Clark Gregg
), is making her babysit for a rich family to pay the debt. This causes her to miss a school bonfire, which her friend, Scarlett (Tessa Thompson
), is attending. She arrives at the exquisite and elaborate Mandrakis House, perched upon a lake with a maid and a greenhouse built in the center. The parents (Derek de Lint
and Kate Jennings Grant) show her around and tell her their numbers, stating that they won't be back until midnight. The kids are upstairs asleep. Jill begins the night by snooping and trying on Mrs. Mandrakis' jewelry. She then starts receiving anonymous phone calls; she first dismisses them.
Tiffany visits and Jill forces her to leave. Tiffany attempts to leave but tree branches knocked down supposedly by the storm block the road. Tiffany gets out to move them and is attacked by an unknown figure. The calls continue inside, each one becoming more alarming. When the caller asks, in a deep voice, "Have you checked the children?" she goes upstairs to check the children, but when she comes downstairs the phone rings and the caller asks, "How were the children?." Jill calls the police after the caller makes Jill aware that she is being watched. The police tell her they can trace the calls if she is able to keep him on the line for one minute. Whilst waiting for the caller to ring, she sees someone in the guest house. Jill rushes over and the assailant calls her at the guest house. She succeeds in keeping him on the line for a minute but realizes that he has called the wrong phone line. Jill quickly makes her way back to the house after she sees a light turn on and he calls her once more. This time she succeeds in keeping him on the line and the police hurriedly inform her that the calls are coming from inside the house.
Jill finds Tiffany's dead body in the upstairs bathroom while investigating a shower that was turned on and is soon attacked by the caller, apparently the same person who killed the babysitter on the other side of town. She gets the kids and they run into the greenhouse. Jill finds the maid Rosa dead in the pond. The man breaks in but they escape and Jill manages to lock the man inside the greenhouse. He escapes from the greenhouse and while the kids escape from the house, the man attacks Jill. There is a struggle and Jill manages to stab him in the hand with a fireplace poker. Jill runs out of the house and into the arms of a police officer.
Right before the stranger is taken by the police, his horrific face is shown by the moonlight. She awakens in the hospital and the phone rings. She lets it ring, worrying that the events will reoccur. She waits for a time then nervously picks up the phone. As she hears nothing and begins to place the phone down, the camera pans to see her reflection in the mirror, revealing the stranger behind her. The stranger grabs Jill and attempts to murder her again. Jill screams hysterically but wakes up from her dreams, still in the hospital. The film ends with the doctors desperately trying to stop her frantic panicking, leaving the viewer to wonder if the events caused her to become insane.
ran ads beckoning users to IM Jill020306. When messaged, "Jill" (a Colloquis
-style program) made small talk before panicking, as she received calls from a stranger asking her to check the children. She then gives the user her phone number (a toll-free 877 number) and asks them to call her. When users call, they hear an ad for the movie.
Also, around the time of the DVD release, a new screen name appeared, Jill051606, to tie in with the DVD release date, May 16, 2006. It does not involve calling her, but instead she directs you to a video security system on the official DVD site where the shadow of the stranger passes by frequently.
MySpace
ran an advertisement: the profile for Jill051606, in which users can add the profile as a friend, leave comments, and read Jill's blog.
, 9% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 88 reviews.
The biggest criticism of the remake was that it gave away the moment of suspense from the original by revealing the source of the calls in the previews.
As of 19th march 2006, the film grossed a total of $47.9 million in the domestic box office
, and $66.9 million worldwide.
and PSP
. Special features include two commentaries (one with Camilla Belle and Simon West; the other with Jake Wade Wall), deleted scene
s, a 20-minute making-of featurette, and trailers.
had green-lit a sequel
, rumored to be titled When a Stranger Returns, in which Hayden Panettiere
was to play the babysitter. Screen Gems has since scrapped the film.
in the category "Best Thriller".
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
and a remake of the 1979 horror film of the same name
When a Stranger Calls (1979 film)
When a Stranger Calls is a 1979 thriller starring Carol Kane and Charles Durning, directed by Fred Walton. The film derives its story from the classic folk legend of "The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs". The original music score is composed by television composer Dana Kaproff.The film ranked #28...
based on the urban legend
Urban legend
An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...
"The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs
The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs
The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs is an urban legend that dates back to at least the 1960s about a teenage girl babysitting children while being telephoned by a mysterious man who continually asks her to "check the children"...
". In the film, a teenage babysitter
Babysitting
Babysitting is the practice of temporarily caring for a child on behalf of the child's parents. Babysitting is commonly performed as an odd job by teenagers for extra money.-General:...
receives increasingly threatening calls from a brutal serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
whom she first assumes is simply a prankster.
Plot
On one side of town, a babysitter and the kids she is watching are brutally murdered. The police are disgusted as it is implied that the murderer used his bare hands to rip them to shreds. The film then changes to teenager Jill Johnson (Camilla BelleCamilla Belle
Camilla Belle is an American actress. Her works include The Lost World: Jurassic Park, When a Stranger Calls, 10,000 BC, The Quiet, Push and Speedy Singhs.- Early life :...
). She is going through average teenage crises, having her boyfriend, Bobby (Brian Geraghty
Brian Geraghty
Brian Timothy Geraghty is an American film and television actor, best known for his role in the Academy Award winning film The Hurt Locker.-Early life:Geraghty was born in Toms River Township, New Jersey, and is of Irish ancestry...
), cheat on her with her best friend Tiffany (Katie Cassidy
Katie Cassidy
Katherine Evelyn Anita "Katie" Cassidy is an American actress who has performed in The CW TV series Melrose Place, Supernatural, Harper's Island, and Gossip Girl, and on the films When a Stranger Calls, Black Christmas, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Taken, Monte Carlo, and has roles in the upcoming...
), and going over 800 minutes on her cell phone, for which her dad, Ben (Clark Gregg
Clark Gregg
Robert Clark Gregg is an American actor, screenwriter and director. He co-starred as Christine Campbell's ex-husband Richard in the CBS sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine, which debuted in March 2006 and concluded in May 2010...
), is making her babysit for a rich family to pay the debt. This causes her to miss a school bonfire, which her friend, Scarlett (Tessa Thompson
Tessa Thompson
Tessa Lynne Thompson is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for the role of Jackie Cook on the TV series Veronica Mars.-Personal life:...
), is attending. She arrives at the exquisite and elaborate Mandrakis House, perched upon a lake with a maid and a greenhouse built in the center. The parents (Derek de Lint
Derek de Lint
Dick Hein de Lint is a Dutch film and television actor.De Lint was born in The Hague. In 1977, he played the character Alex in the film Soldier of Orange, directed by Paul Verhoeven. In 1986 he played the role of Anton Steenwijk in The Assault, which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language...
and Kate Jennings Grant) show her around and tell her their numbers, stating that they won't be back until midnight. The kids are upstairs asleep. Jill begins the night by snooping and trying on Mrs. Mandrakis' jewelry. She then starts receiving anonymous phone calls; she first dismisses them.
Tiffany visits and Jill forces her to leave. Tiffany attempts to leave but tree branches knocked down supposedly by the storm block the road. Tiffany gets out to move them and is attacked by an unknown figure. The calls continue inside, each one becoming more alarming. When the caller asks, in a deep voice, "Have you checked the children?" she goes upstairs to check the children, but when she comes downstairs the phone rings and the caller asks, "How were the children?." Jill calls the police after the caller makes Jill aware that she is being watched. The police tell her they can trace the calls if she is able to keep him on the line for one minute. Whilst waiting for the caller to ring, she sees someone in the guest house. Jill rushes over and the assailant calls her at the guest house. She succeeds in keeping him on the line for a minute but realizes that he has called the wrong phone line. Jill quickly makes her way back to the house after she sees a light turn on and he calls her once more. This time she succeeds in keeping him on the line and the police hurriedly inform her that the calls are coming from inside the house.
Jill finds Tiffany's dead body in the upstairs bathroom while investigating a shower that was turned on and is soon attacked by the caller, apparently the same person who killed the babysitter on the other side of town. She gets the kids and they run into the greenhouse. Jill finds the maid Rosa dead in the pond. The man breaks in but they escape and Jill manages to lock the man inside the greenhouse. He escapes from the greenhouse and while the kids escape from the house, the man attacks Jill. There is a struggle and Jill manages to stab him in the hand with a fireplace poker. Jill runs out of the house and into the arms of a police officer.
Right before the stranger is taken by the police, his horrific face is shown by the moonlight. She awakens in the hospital and the phone rings. She lets it ring, worrying that the events will reoccur. She waits for a time then nervously picks up the phone. As she hears nothing and begins to place the phone down, the camera pans to see her reflection in the mirror, revealing the stranger behind her. The stranger grabs Jill and attempts to murder her again. Jill screams hysterically but wakes up from her dreams, still in the hospital. The film ends with the doctors desperately trying to stop her frantic panicking, leaving the viewer to wonder if the events caused her to become insane.
Cast
- Camilla BelleCamilla BelleCamilla Belle is an American actress. Her works include The Lost World: Jurassic Park, When a Stranger Calls, 10,000 BC, The Quiet, Push and Speedy Singhs.- Early life :...
as Jill Johnson - Thomas FlanaganTommy Flanagan (actor)Tommy Flanagan is a Scottish film and television actor.Flanagan was born in Glasgow, Scotland, the 3rd of five children. Flanagan's first television roles were in Screen One, 1992 and Taggart in 1993. Flanagan worked in Robert Carlyle's Raindog Theatre for three years before being cast in Braveheart...
as The Stranger - Katie CassidyKatie CassidyKatherine Evelyn Anita "Katie" Cassidy is an American actress who has performed in The CW TV series Melrose Place, Supernatural, Harper's Island, and Gossip Girl, and on the films When a Stranger Calls, Black Christmas, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Taken, Monte Carlo, and has roles in the upcoming...
as Tiffany Madison - Tessa ThompsonTessa ThompsonTessa Lynne Thompson is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for the role of Jackie Cook on the TV series Veronica Mars.-Personal life:...
as Scarlet - Brian GeraghtyBrian GeraghtyBrian Timothy Geraghty is an American film and television actor, best known for his role in the Academy Award winning film The Hurt Locker.-Early life:Geraghty was born in Toms River Township, New Jersey, and is of Irish ancestry...
as Bobby - Clark GreggClark GreggRobert Clark Gregg is an American actor, screenwriter and director. He co-starred as Christine Campbell's ex-husband Richard in the CBS sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine, which debuted in March 2006 and concluded in May 2010...
as Ben Johnson - Derek de LintDerek de LintDick Hein de Lint is a Dutch film and television actor.De Lint was born in The Hague. In 1977, he played the character Alex in the film Soldier of Orange, directed by Paul Verhoeven. In 1986 he played the role of Anton Steenwijk in The Assault, which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language...
as Dr. Mandrakis - Kate Jennings Grant as Kelly Mandrakis
- David DenmanDavid DenmanDavid Denman is an American film and television actor.-Education:After graduating from Fountain Valley High School, Denman attended the summer training congress at American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco before receiving his B.F.A. from Juilliard.-Career:He made his film debut with Keanu...
as Officer Burroughs - Arthur Young as Will Mandrakis
- Madeline CarrollMadeline CarrollMadeline Carroll is an American actress who was first noticed for her role as Molly Johnson in 2008's Swing Vote. Carroll had many supporting roles in various films Comedy and Drama...
as Alison Mandrakis - Steve EastinSteve EastinSteve Eastin is an American character actor. He has appeared in nearly 150 television and film roles throughout his decades long career....
as Detective Hines - John BobekJohn BobekJohn Bobek is an American television and film actor.He has appeared in minor roles in the television series Desperate Housewives, How I Met Your Mother, "Criminal Minds", Numb3rs, House M.D., Heartland, Related, Girlfriends, The West Wing and Wizards of Waverly Place...
as Officer Lewis - Lance HenriksenLance HenriksenLance James Henriksen is an American actor and artist best known to film and television audiences for his roles in science fiction, action, and horror films such as the Alien film franchise, and on television shows such as Millennium....
as The Stranger's voice
Marketing
For the release of the film, AOL Instant MessengerAOL Instant Messenger
AOL Instant Messenger is an instant messaging and presence computer program which uses the proprietary OSCAR instant messaging protocol and the TOC protocol to allow registered users to communicate in real time. It was released by AOL in May 1997...
ran ads beckoning users to IM Jill020306. When messaged, "Jill" (a Colloquis
Colloquis
Colloquis, previously known as ActiveBuddy and Conversagent, was a company that created conversation-based interactive agents originally distributed via instant messaging platforms. The company had offices in New York, NY and Sunnyvale, CA....
-style program) made small talk before panicking, as she received calls from a stranger asking her to check the children. She then gives the user her phone number (a toll-free 877 number) and asks them to call her. When users call, they hear an ad for the movie.
Also, around the time of the DVD release, a new screen name appeared, Jill051606, to tie in with the DVD release date, May 16, 2006. It does not involve calling her, but instead she directs you to a video security system on the official DVD site where the shadow of the stranger passes by frequently.
MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
ran an advertisement: the profile for Jill051606, in which users can add the profile as a friend, leave comments, and read Jill's blog.
Reception
On the review aggregator Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, 9% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 88 reviews.
The biggest criticism of the remake was that it gave away the moment of suspense from the original by revealing the source of the calls in the previews.
Box office
The film opened at #1 with $21,607,203.As of 19th march 2006, the film grossed a total of $47.9 million in the domestic box office
Box office
A box office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through an unblocked hole through a wall or window, or at a wicket....
, and $66.9 million worldwide.
Home media
The movie was released on May 16, 2006 on DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
and PSP
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
. Special features include two commentaries (one with Camilla Belle and Simon West; the other with Jake Wade Wall), deleted scene
Deleted scene
In Entertainment, especially the film and television industry, Deleted scenes are parts of a film removed or censored from or replaced by another scene in the final "cut", or version, of a film...
s, a 20-minute making-of featurette, and trailers.
Cancelled sequel
Screen GemsScreen Gems
Screen Gems is an American movie production company and subsidiary company of Sony Pictures Entertainment's Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group that has served several different purposes for its parent companies over the decades since its incorporation....
had green-lit a sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
, rumored to be titled When a Stranger Returns, in which Hayden Panettiere
Hayden Panettiere
Hayden Leslie Panettiere is an American actress and singer, best known as cheerleader Claire Bennet on the NBC television series Heroes. She began her acting career by playing Sarah Roberts on One Life to Live , and Lizzie Spaulding on Guiding Light , before starring at age 10 as Sheryl Yoast in...
was to play the babysitter. Screen Gems has since scrapped the film.
Awards
In 2006, it was nominated to the Golden Trailer AwardsGolden Trailer Awards
The Golden Trailer Awards is an annual awards show that honors achievements in motion picture marketing, including film trailers, posters and television advertisements.- Overview :...
in the category "Best Thriller".
External links
- Film Review Xdafied.com.au