When a Stranger Calls (2006)
Directed by Simon West
Written by Jake Wade Wall
Starring Camilla Belle, Tommy Flanagan, Charles Durning, Rosine Hatem
Release Date February 3rd, 2006
Published February 3rd, 2006
Director Simon West is best known for the bombastic action features Con Air and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. The failure of that last film to break out into a bankable franchise, beyond the equally abysmal sequel, has lead West to fewer opportunties to direct big budget features. His latest effort is a much smaller and quieter, though no less insipid, little horror remake, When A Stranger Calls.
Newcomer Camilla Belle stars in When A Stranger Calls as Jill Johnson. At 15 years old she is in the prime of her babysitting career. While all of her friends are attending a school bonfire party, poor Jill is stuck babysitting for the Mandrakis family. Naturally the Mandrakis home is in the middle of nowhere, far from even a police patrol in case of a problem.
The house is pretty spectacular--remote everything, well stocked fridge and even an indoor aviary. There is also a housekeeper, Rosa (Rosine Hatem) -in place to "up" the body count- who curiously was not hired to watch the children.
The setup is simple-minded. A killer (Tommy Flanagan), established in a bloodless opening that we are told is brutal but, because of the film's PG-13 rating, we never see. The killer's M.O is killing babysitters and children. Asking why is for an entirely different and likely more interesting movie. Once Jill is in place in the perfectly remote, expansive and often dark house, the movie is essentially a high-stakes game of hide-and-seek that hits obligatory cliches before reaching its predictable finish.
This remake differs greatly from the original, which some consider a genre classic. The original film played out in three acts, with the babysitter, played by Carol Kane, fending off the killer in the first act. A cop played by Charles Durning tracks the killer in the second act. Finally, in the third act, a few years later, the killer tracks down the babysitter once again. The remake confines the action to what took place in the first act of the original film and attempts to tease that out into a full feature. This might explain why the plot and premise of the remake is so thin.
The 1979 When A Stranger Calls is oft forgotten, despite its iconic qualities. The film is lost to history for the most part, but the phrase "the call is coming from inside the house" is a horror movie legend. Of course that one phrase is not nearly enough reason to make the film a second time and Simon West's film spends ninety minutes demonstrating that.
In reviews of movies like Hostel, High Tension and Devil's Rejects I have lambasted horror filmmakers for going too far in their attempts to frighten and titilate. When A Stranger Calls demonstrates the delicate balance between too much and too little. The PG-13 flick has too little of what each of those other films I mentioned have too much of. When A Stranger Calls is bloodless, sexless and, most damning, frightless.
It's a difficult balancing act but, as demonstrated by great horror films like May or Freddy Vs Jason, when a filmmaker can balance the blood, guts and sex, a great movie can result.
Simon West has, since Con Air, been a Michael Bay wannabe. Consider that Con Air was a Jerry Bruckheimer film so ridiculous that Bay himself would not direct it. That career-shadowing of Bay continues in When A Stranger Calls. As Bay has taken the time to remake Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Amityville Horror, West once again takes on a pale imitation of Bay by adapting a lesser film.
If a filmmaker's aspiration is limited to mimicking the career path of Michael Bay, maybe he should consider a different career altogether.
