Problematic suspense thriller. The short film this is based on, which milked a pristine premise for maximum tension, worked. As a short. This film, directed by the same director as the short, used the short film's premise as its first act. Beyond that, it stops working.
A babysitter receives a series of harassing phone calls -- "Have you checked the children?" -- that she learns are coming from INSIDE the house. THAT is the film's big surprise, and it comes at the twenty-one minute point. The film's second act involves the search for the phone caller who, we learn, killed the babysitter's charges.
The phone call revelation was stolen from "Black Christmas" and used again in Wes Craven's "Scream". It's a good, creepy one, but it's a one-note revelation that you can not hang a feature film on.
The storyline involving detective Charles Durning (who is always good) and Colleen Dewhurst is pedestrian at best. Durning's search for the killer and his connection to Dewhurst grinds the narrative to a halt. Although the third act amps the suspense up once again, it comes to late to rescuscitate the corpse.
Carol Kane, the excellent actress from the underrated "The Mafu Cage" is terrific as babysitter Jill Johnson and makes us believe in her fear.
Fred Walton's almost shot-for-shot remaking of his accomplished short film is suspenseful and Hitchcockian in the extreme, but nothing can change the fact that the premise had nowhere to go after it had blown its first act wad.
A babysitter receives a series of harassing phone calls -- "Have you checked the children?" -- that she learns are coming from INSIDE the house. THAT is the film's big surprise, and it comes at the twenty-one minute point. The film's second act involves the search for the phone caller who, we learn, killed the babysitter's charges.
The phone call revelation was stolen from "Black Christmas" and used again in Wes Craven's "Scream". It's a good, creepy one, but it's a one-note revelation that you can not hang a feature film on.
The storyline involving detective Charles Durning (who is always good) and Colleen Dewhurst is pedestrian at best. Durning's search for the killer and his connection to Dewhurst grinds the narrative to a halt. Although the third act amps the suspense up once again, it comes to late to rescuscitate the corpse.
Carol Kane, the excellent actress from the underrated "The Mafu Cage" is terrific as babysitter Jill Johnson and makes us believe in her fear.
Fred Walton's almost shot-for-shot remaking of his accomplished short film is suspenseful and Hitchcockian in the extreme, but nothing can change the fact that the premise had nowhere to go after it had blown its first act wad.