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When a Stranger Calls (2006)

87 min · Horror, Thriller, horror film, teen film, thriller film

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A teenage babysitter's night takes a terrifying turn when she begins receiving threatening phone calls from an unidentified stranger.

The story

Stacy, a teenage babysitter, receives a wrong number phone call during one of her nighttime babysitting jobs. The calls continue with heavy breathing on the other end. Police later arrive to find Stacy and the three children she was watching murdered. Meanwhile, in Colorado, 16-year-old Jill Johnson is babysitting for the wealthy Mandrakis family as a consequence of exceeding her cell phone minutes. After the parents leave, Jill receives threatening phone calls from someone who mostly says nothing and then hangs up. She initially believes it is her friends playing a prank, but when she contacts them, they deny it.

Full plot (contains spoilers)

Stacy, a teenage babysitter, receives a wrong number phone call during one of her nighttime babysitting jobs. The calls continue with heavy breathing on the other end. Police later arrive to find Stacy and the three children she was watching murdered. Meanwhile, in Colorado, 16-year-old Jill Johnson is babysitting for the wealthy Mandrakis family. After the parents leave, Jill receives threatening phone calls from someone who mostly says nothing and then hangs up. She initially believes it is her friends playing a prank, but they deny it. While the Mandrakis' two children are asleep upstairs, Jill's friend Tiffany visits. Fearing this may get her in trouble, Jill asks Tiffany to leave. Tiffany is ambushed by an unseen intruder while walking to her car. The unknown person calls Jill, indicating he can see her. Alarmed, Jill calls the police, who say the call can be traced by keeping the caller on the line for at least sixty seconds. While waiting for the phone to ring, Jill sees a shadow moving in the guest house. Believing it is the Mandrakis' older son back from college, she investigates, but finds the guest house empty. While there, the unknown caller calls, convincing Jill he is watching her. She keeps him on the phone to trace the call, only to realize he has called a different line. Looking out the window, Jill sees a light has been turned on inside the Mandrakis' house. Believing the maid, Rosa, is home, Jill searches for her, but finds no one. The phone rings again, and the caller remains quiet; Jill keeps him on the line for a minute so the call can be traced. Jill hears the shower running in the maid's room, but upon checking, the bathroom is empty. The police call her back saying the calls are coming from inside the house and she and the children need to get out. Horrified, Jill finds Tiffany's body on the bathroom floor and flees. Jill finds the children hiding in their playroom. She sees the intruder in the loft. They escape into the greenhouse where Jill discovers Rosa's body under the water. The assailant enters and searches the greenhouse. Jill locks him inside, but he breaks out and attacks her. During the altercation, Jill turns on the fireplace to scorch the assailant's back then stabs his hand into the hardwood floor with a fireplace poker, then rushes out to find the police have arrived. The assailant is arrested. Days later while recovering in the hospital, Jill is awakened to a popping balloon from a group of “get well” balloons floating at her ceiling. She tries calling the nurses station but gets no answer. She gets out of the bed and walks to the door and looks out, but she finds the nurses station and hallways are empty of people. Her room phone starts to ring, and she goes back in the room to answer it. While looking at her reflection in the mirror, the assailant appears behind and grabs her. She shrieks hysterically, waking from her hallucination as the doctors and her father try to stop her frantic panicking.

First release year
2006
Runtime (minutes)
87
Production countries
United States
Original languages
English
Directors
Simon West
Writers
Jake Wade Wall · writer
Cast and characters
Camilla Belle · Jill Johnson; Brian Geraghty; Katie Cassidy; Clark Gregg; Tommy Flanagan · unidentified stranger; Lance Henriksen · unidentified stranger
Genres
psychological horror; horror thriller
Themes
stalking; home invasion; paranoia
Tone and mood
tense; scary; psychological
Premise and plot tags
babysitting; wrong number; stalker; home invasion
Source material / true-story basis
Fred Walton's 1979 film of the same name
Franchise connections
When a Stranger Calls
Reported review scores
Rotten Tomatoes · score: 8% · review count: 90; Metacritic · score: 27 · scale: 100 · review count: 20
Awards and nominations
Golden Trailer Awards · Best Thriller · 2006 · nominated
Production trivia
The film is a remake of Fred Walton's 1979 film, which became a cult classic for its opening 23 minutes, which this remake extends to a feature-length film.; Evan Rachel Wood was offered the role of Jill, but turned it down.; AOL Instant Messenger ran ads beckoning users to IM Jill020306 as a marketing promotion.
Catalogue themes and tags

Anruf, Babysitter, Death of a friend, Fremde, Gegenwart, Mobile Phone, Murderer, See, Threat, Vereinigte Staaten von Amerika, Villa, Thriller, Horror, Psychological thriller, Crime Thriller, Slasher, Teen

Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.

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