I had seen the beginning of this movie when i was a lot younger on television. And seeing it as a young kid, i have to admit the opening scene scared the crap out of me. So when i saw this movie on the shelf in the video store a few months ago, they had just re-released it on DVD due to the remake being in theaters at the time i quickly picked it up. When i brought it home i began to watch it, and i have to admit the opening scene, while not as scary as i remember, still holds up as being a truly terrifying moment in the film. Now i wish i could say that the rest of the film held up to what the opening scene had provided for the viewer. After the opening, the film goes around and shows the story of the "stranger" from earlier in the film, who has now been released from prison and wants to start his life over again. Now while this would have been a good premise for a thriller in the drama section, it seems really out of place in the horror section. Watching the "stranger" go to a bar and get in a fight, would be exciting in any other movie, if you actually cared about the character involved and if it helped the plot move forward. But watching the film i wish i had been called by a "stranger" just so i could have had something to do while this sloooooooooooooow movie went on. And while the ending scene did almost match the opening scene in its creepiness, the rest of the movie is not enough to make a viewer sit and watch the rest of the film. So if you rent this movie, my advice is to either not watch it, cause it is really a pretty big waste of your time, or to watch the opening scene, and then fast forward to the ending scene. Maybe at least that would trick you into believeing that you were actually watching a good movie.
Review of When a Stranger Calls
