One of the best because it 'went there.'
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smerd_70 — 17 years ago(January 29, 2009 08:07 AM)
'Who Can Kill A Child?'(1976) "went there" far more effectively than When A Stranger Calls. Same for the original Assault on Precinct 13.
I collect dead pigeons then I press them between the pages of a book. -
SeijyuroHiko790 — 17 years ago(March 15, 2009 07:36 PM)
Well, yeah, not just as a more risky move but also as a suspense provider. When they jump to Jill's life as an adult you think about her kids and just get frightened at Duncan's presence. Then the ending happens.
Other films that portray child killing in one way or another are Assault on Precinct 13, Dawn of the Dead (extended version),y Don't Torture a Duckling, and probably dozens more that I'm forgetting. -
beckeis — 16 years ago(December 18, 2009 09:14 PM)
You sort of wait for that moment when the police say: "Oh, but the children are okay " and it doesn't happen. In fact, we realize, if she
had
gone up stairs to check on those children she would have been killed too. It's that after the fact that really gives me the chills. -
lobotomyboy63 — 16 years ago(January 26, 2010 02:49 PM)
There are some great moments in this film. For me, the single best unsung moment has to be the exchange:
Babysitter: What do you want?
Duncan: Your bloodall over me.
From that, he didn't just smother the kids or something, which is confirmed by the police later.
It really speaks to the mentally ill anglethis guy's in it for some sexual gratification, I'd say, which raises the creepiness exponentially. He probably did something perverted with the kids (torture, SM, etc.) and she's next. -
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my_sweet_agony — 15 years ago(December 29, 2010 03:22 AM)
The first time I watched When a Stranger Calls was a few years ago and It was the remake. I have to say that it really wasn't that bad. they just chose to spin the movie a different way. I agree that it is weird that they did not include the rest of Jill grown up but I thought they covered what she was like before quite well. There were some really great scenes in there as well, the opening sequence for starters which shows that the stranger has done this same thing many times before. I also like that they included that she was a runner and trained very seriously and had some great shots of her having to run through the woods and it worked into the movie. I think remakes if not thought of as remakes can stand on their own if stopped comparing them to the origionals and seen as they are their own movies.
Okay that over does anyone else agree that in the beginning of the movie the mom to me feels like she couldn't really care for the children and I think that her acting was kinda really off. I don't know maybe it is just me. -
HenryCW — 15 years ago(December 29, 2010 11:03 PM)
Her scene as the runner was in fact the most meaningless scene in the context of the film. In the film, Jill ran to the guesthouse and later ran back again to the mansion, but
nothing
happened at either place. So nothing really depended on whether she was a good runner or not and so her training scene was totally irrelevant. -
my_sweet_agony — 15 years ago(December 30, 2010 04:53 AM)
To you it may seem useless and I can see how you think that but to me it shows more into her as a teenager and that she has a life. It could easily be argued though that the stranger was going to try to attack her own the way to or back from the guesthouse and she was to fast for him. Either way I love how films inspire the watchers to discuss about the films good or bad.
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Mithrandir-Olorin33 — 14 years ago(November 08, 2011 11:40 AM)
In the Remake the Kids Jill's babysitting Survive but is established he's killed Children.
We don't actually see or get to know the kids killed in the original either.
Their both good films but I prefer the Remake but that one the entire film is a suspense thriller, just just it's gloried Prologue. To pre-judge it as a
teeny-bopper actress wearing a pound of lipgloss and talking like a valley girl
Is not fair at all, Camilla Belle is a very good actress and the film is the only legitimately suspense film I've seen in recent years.
"When the chips are down these
Civilized
people will Eat each Other" -
novastar_6 — 14 years ago(December 23, 2011 11:17 PM)
Is not fair at all, Camilla Belle is a very good actress and the film is the only legitimately suspense film I've seen in recent years.
You don't see a lot of movies do you? There's no suspense here, we KNOW from the promotional ads before the movie even came out that she is going to be perfectly safe until the cops tell her he's in the house, which was what, an hour into the movie? By that time we don't care if she gets killed or not, it'd give the movie something worth seeing. -
stayprettystockholm — 13 years ago(December 31, 2012 09:20 PM)
Um, I know you think you're "cool" for liking an old movie like every other pretentious movie snob here, but you're not. I have never seen a horror movie from today starring a "teenybopper wearing a pound of lipgloss and talking like a valley girl". even if she was. so? point being? isnt that exactly how most if not all of the old heroines were (Carol beign the obvious exception)? and obviously for someone who seems to take such (unoriginal) pride in loving old movies over new, you sure seem pretty ignorant about how new ones work. or else, you dont pay one bit of attention to them, because you have the actresses today totally confused with the old ones.
nor do you seem to have an understanding of what "acting" is. if she is supposed to talk like a Valley Girl or some strange mix of Creole-Chinese, SHE WILL DO IT. if the makeup artist makes her wear gloss or a layer of powder, SHE WEARS IT. And I hope you're not referring to Camilla Belle because that sounds nothing like her performance (no shock, you probably saw it once and didnt pay much attention because it forces you to think instead of making killers pop out of every corner to capture your interest) and obviously you dont know much about young girls- that seems pretty realistic for a young babysitter.
oh, and by the way, the remake is much better. I'll admit this one is more realistic but Camilla Belle was great with what she worked with and it was much more suspenseful. Stop bashing new movies just because it's "hip" to, and try actually WATCHING them and forming your own opinion, instead of what your cool hipster film snob friends tell you.
And another thing, you CAN always guess what happens in the old ones for exactly what you said. nothing shocking. Besides, Black Christmas, WASC, Halloween, etc. all have very very similar plots. Nothing shocking, once again.
"I do pretend I am a princess, so that I can try and behave like one." -