Post by StevePulaski on Oct 24, 2011 14:22:15 GMT -5
Camilla Belle in When a Stranger Calls.
Rating: ★★½
The thought of being in a very large house, being responsible for two young children, and receiving prank phone calls from an unsettling voice is a babysitter's worst nightmare. And that's what Camilla Belle has to go through in When a Stranger Calls, the remake from the 1979 film. Theoretically, since the 1979 film is such a forgotten film this could've not advertised itself as a remake and probably still have gotten away with it.
Camilla Belle is Jill Johnson, a high school student who looks just a bit too old for even a Senior. She is grounded, and forbidden from a car and a phone. Not to mention she can't go to a bonfire, held by her friends. So this film already starts out as a teenage girl's worst nightmare.
So, Jill is stuck babysitting the night of the bonfire and is now one of the few occupants in a house that is inhabited by two sleeping youngsters and a silent housekeeper. The house itself is ginormous. It has an indoor pond, numerous windows, and is built off a sizable lake. I can imagine the night time and the chilling feeling one would get sleeping in it for the first time.
Jill begins receiving a ton of phone calls. You know, sometimes, where movies have something repetitive that spawns some sort of cockamamie drinking game? I've heard of taking a shot every time Woody Harrelson is shown at the Academy Awards, and taking a shot if a Stephen King cliche appears frequently in a film. I think I've got one for When a Stranger Calls; take a shot every time a phone rings in this film. By the second half of the film you'll be drunk out of your mind.
If you wanted a simple explanation of the film, all you need to know is numerous phones ring and the same girl picks it up every time. Sometimes we see the caller ID, and sometimes we don't. Why this girl continues to pick up the phone numerous times without looking at the caller ID is beyond me. Her friend tells her not to, but she says she is expecting a call from her dirt-bag ex-boyfriend. So look at the number and if it isn't him, the homeowner, or her father don't pick up. Then the film would be call something like The Persistent Stranger, or maybe Jill should've rented the film Don't Answer the Phone to give her some much needed advice.
Anyhow, When a Stranger Calls seems like a cheap little horror film, but the fatal flaw is that, for one, it's PG-13. No horror film now can go without a PG-13 stamp. Because of certain paranormal things not being gruesome and other little psychological horror films, it seems many get the PG-13 shoulder instead of rightfully being rated R. This is extremely tame for PG-13, and could've passed for a very, very low PG in 1983. The second problem stems from the trailer. It reveals the big twist. Another unnecessary element that begs the question; do people who publish the trailers even know what they are editing?
There are a handful of positives that make this PG-13, jump scare-fest slightly worth seeing. I can't deny, this has some of the best cinematography in a long time. The eerie pans over the lake, the haunting footsteps on the hardwood floor in the house. And even some of the expressions on the character's face say it all.
My favorite scene comes very early in the film where Jill is running on the second level of her gym. She is running extremely fast, but can't stop staring at her boyfriend down on the court. We hear the electrifying bounces of the ball, the repetition of her footsteps hitting the floor, and even small things like the press of a stopwatch are all magnified to greatness. This is one case where if aspiring filmmakers want to learn how cinematography can practically save a film this is rightfully it. I've never been so immersed by a film solely by its location.
Camilla Belle is also very charming as our lead, but the ending begs an explanation and stretches believability as far as possible. With that, concludes When a Stranger Calls - a mixed bag of a horror film. I very rarely recommend a film for something as moderate as cinematography, but this time, it does nothing but the film justice. It truly is a creepy flick, if you can look past a few minor things. But still, it is victim by a spoiler and a rating, which can't result in a full recommendation.
Starring: Camilla Belle. Directed by: Simon West.