
In a remote hilltop house, high school pupil Jill Johnson (Camilla Belle) settles in for a routine night of baby sitting. With the children sound asleep and a beautiful home to explore, she locks the door and sets the alarm. Merely when a series of eerie headphone calls from a unknown insist that she \\\”check the children,\\\” Jill begins to terror. Fear escalates to threat when she has the calls traced and learns that they are coming from inside the house. Jill must summon all of her inner strength if she is going to competitiveness back and make it out of the mansion alive. Cough cough, shit, cough coughing.
I think somewhere in Hollywood, in a thick, dark basement with deficient lighting and air, there are a group of studio executives green lighting films because they hatred us as a motion-picture show going world. Despise us - live to see us suffer, you lav almost try their dull laughter during the opening titles of this one. Maybe they\\\’re failed actors embittered by the celebrity that has eluded them who take away fiendish ravish in tormenting movies audiences, but its clear they are out to ensure us waste our money and walk away scrape our heads. I can\\\’t find any other plausible explanation (other than mountains of crack cocaine) as to why somewhere during the filming of this movie or maybe in post-production individual didn\\\’t force their pile of crack up aside and say \\\”wait a minute - this motion-picture show sucks.\\\”
Seriously, it\\\’s as if this celluloid was made for 14 year onetime girls wHO have ne’er seen a horror or suspense pic in their life - or for that issue \\\”the trailer.\\\” These mephistophelean purveyors of pap hate us so much they gave the whole celluloid away in the preview trailer, they make it perfectly obvous that the villain is going to get privileged the family which you probably could have guessed, unless you\\\’ve recently began practicing for a new career as a brick juggler.
So we know the villain is going to end up in the theatre, yet we must endure an hour of so-called suspense where the film tries to fool us into believing that the nasty old bogey man could never make it into a house with such a failsafe security system. A mind is a terrible thing to waste, only so is 2 hours and 8 bucks. I don\\\’t think I have ever seen a moving picture rip-off every single horror movie cliché before, merely I cogitate When a Stranger Calls pulls it off. Hide and Seek came shut, but scream, to make a motion-picture show this cumbersome you\\\’d seriously have to be doing it on purpose - and trust me, this isn\\\’t a send-up.
First off, the lead character is uptight and half scared out of her wits two minutes afterward arriving at the house? This is well before anything has happened, much less the first flighty phone call. She acts of the Apostles like like she mightiness soil herself if the cat looks at her wrong. If you didn\\\’t feel insulted by this then you weren\\\’t paying attention. True another female child gets killed during this sequence, just that was for the audiences benefit - Camilla Belle doesn\\\’t know anything about this, but she must have read that part of the script because she just around jumps out of her panties every time she sees her own dark - what the infernal region? And when will the people wHO create these d-grade slasher flicks plosive consonant telegraphing their punches - keying the music up right ahead you adjudicate and make me jump is like slapping me in the face then telling me I should like it. Enough already - whoever you are, its gotten ridiculous, its not chilling, its not terrifying and you should be ashamed of yourself for fobbing this trash off on the movie-going public. Oh and by the way, brand new cars don\\\’t take 14 tries to start - it just now doesn\\\’t bechance - of all time.
Lucky for us Camilla Belle is nineteen years old because she must have slept with individual to drive this part, that or it has gotten way to easy to get movie parts in Hollywood nowadays. I have seen goldfish with better chops. As high-risk as Camilla is and she\\\’s unsound, I don\\\’t think it was totally her geological fault, so I am going away to fault the director Simon Benjamin West (who had to have smoked his share of the tang or crack or gack). His directing skills display all the subtlety of putting a thumbtack in the wall with a sledge hammer. I feature never seen more fleshy handed, obvious directing in my living and so he tries to pass this food waste off as suspense. Mortal needs to be dismissed and if it seems I am being a little thin-skinned today, that\\\’s because I am tired of Hollywood complaining around slumping box office numbers then taking piles of horse manure like this and dumping it on audiences. Bear witness some creativity, give us some credit, I was offended by how spoiled this moving-picture show was and you should be excessively. It\\\’s no accident that 4 out of the 5 films up for best photograph this year were made outside the studio organization and the one that wasn\\\’t was Spielberg. Cerebrate.
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Sir Dizzy,
I want to thank you from the bottom of my spirit. Why? For reviewing this piece of crap so I didn\\\’t have to. Yes, I too byword When a Stranger Calls and I think I might get disliked it more than you. I agree with every point you make about this boring, uninspired crap-fest. What you did forget to mention is that this film is based on a picture from the late 70\\\’s starring Carol Kane (of Taxi fame) and old stager Charles Durning. That mental picture generated existent tension in the low gear act and dared to go in an entirely different direction in it\\\’s final 60 minutes. This version simply expands the first act of that film to xC minutes and the goal result is a thriller that telegraphs ever panic through endless hinting and a genuinely awful sexual conquest that swells just as something is going to happen. And yes, the trailer gives everything away, so really–WHAT\\\’S THE Point OF Eyesight THE Blame THING!!!! Furthermore, the integral first hour of this movie is nothing more than shots of the lead character walking passim the firm so we the audience can contract a hold on how huge it is. As if we didn\\\’t already know. Or how around Simon West slyly display us at the source of the film that our heroine is a track star. Thanks a lot Simon the Canaanite. So courteous of you to make full in the blanks. When A Alien Calls non only goes to the old \\\”cat jump on to the window sill\\\” well too often. It actually commits the cardinal sin of showing us a cat jump on to the window sill. Terrible! I think the only part of your review that I don\\\’t harmonize with, is the point you shit about the movie being made for fourteen year old girls who\\\’ve never seen a thriller before. I carefully observed a group of tweeners in front of us as this boring movie rambled on and even they weren\\\’t buying it. Give thanks God. Perchance there is hope after all. Borrowing from the likes of Scream and Panic Room, When a Stranger Calls made me angry. This is an incompetent cinema on every level. This movie sickened me more than Hostel sickened you because it\\\’s so sickly executed, good down to that obvious dream chronological sequence ending. Get this be proof to readers proscribed there that Sir Silly and I do share a pure loathing for poorly made films. Keep off When a Stranger Calls at all cost. It isn\\\’t shuddery, it\\\’s just dull.
I \\\’m afraid to intromit that I too wasted my money on this stinker, and you both hit the nail on the head word (with a sledgehammer) the really chilling thing almost this picture show is that it was greenlighted. OOOOEEEEOOOO
I wonder if enough people signed a petition, if we could somehow prevent movies this lousy from ever existence made, it\\\’s not enough to only say \\\”there ought to be a police force.\\\” We need to make a fucking law. Sign Here: Mark Mortenson,
One of the questions I always mull when I watch movies this bad is who\\\’s to blame for this genial of drivel. Is it us an audience or is it the studio\\\’s and what can we do to get them to halt making movies like this. It\\\’s a very hard subject to tackle, I see a lot of movies that I know are sledding to be bad passing in scarce so I can review them and keep people from eyesight them. Simply can we just avoid all movies, no its an impossible exploit if you are like me and love movies and enjoy the occasional popcorn flick as much a more independent motion picture.
This national was brought up lowest year when Deuce Bigalow: Euorpean Gigolo was released and my favorite picture show review I have ever read was done by Roger Ebert.
With my favorite quote I take ever take in a review:
\\\”As chance would make it, I have won the Joseph Pulitzer Prize, and so I am qualified. Speaking in my official capacity as a Pulitzer Prize winner, Mr. Shneider, your moving-picture show sucks.\\\”
That quote and that review actually kept me from sledding to see the movies in theatres (I hold since seen it on dvd, merely I don\\\’t pay anything to take in movies on DVD as a benifiet of my job so Columbia and Rob got zero dollars of my hard earned cash). Ebert was right and Goldstien was right it is a shame that studios, Columbia Pictures in this case pass on howling movies to make garbage like 2 Bigalo. And does it pay off no, it doesn\\\’t or not all the fourth dimension at least. The subsequence to Deuce made 22 million dollars while the Aviator made 102, Beam made 75, Finding Neverland made 51, Million Dollar Baby century and Sideways made 71. How\\\’s that a snub for Columbia University Pictures world Health Organization decided to make shit and lost money on it. See we as an audience have major power, if you are questionable on a movie go to a reviewer you trust and listen to their opinion, If you agree with Adam on most reviews or me for that matter and we say skip the movie, hop-skip it because it will insure the studios full point making scraps like this.
If you are from Southern Beehive State, TJ and Westates theatres do a fantastic job at making sure we have a wide survival of the fittest of movies to get wind. I sawing machine the Calamary and the Whale tonight and was alone in the theatres. We give had Hooded cloak, Good Night and Good Luck, Brokeback Mountain, The Matador and are getting the World\\\’s Fastest Indian on Friday. There are more selections than just what mainstream Hollywood throws at us. Go to watch some trailers ahead you head out and check out Red Cliffs theatres ar local indy movie theater now.
Just so you ignorant assholes know Camilla Belle held her have up against Daniel Day Lewis and Catherine Keener in the ballad of Jack and Rose - some critics have aforesaid she steals the film. That\\\’s world Health Organization she is, maybe you ought to do a little enquiry before you make fools of yourselves. Dizzy I\\\’d fucking tell.
I\\\’ve seen the cinema to which you denote and hold wholeheartedly. Noneffervescent that doesn\\\’t make this film any less worthless and her choice of taking the part whatsoever less dispiriting. Relax Stanford, have freakin beer or something.
When this is the first film I have seen Camilla Belle in and she is downright horrifying in the movie I honestly don\\\’t care if she was good in another motion picture because by this public presentation alone the first I have seen her she needs to be run out of Hollywood. There is no excuse for taking a bad role, it ruins careers and she is not forgiven for this movie only because she was good in some other movie.
Take for example Matt Dillon who is up for an Academy Award for Crash, I saw Herbie In full Loaded which is a cute motion picture but far from anything great first base and Crash second. Herbie ruined some of Dillon\\\’s performace in Crash for me because I couldn\\\’t get the overacting goofy villain he played in Herbie out of my mind when I power saw him in Crash.
This is important to remember, Camilla Belle to me until I see her in something of value is a terrible actress because I saw her in When a Stranger Calls.
That\\\’s swell that you canful so eloquently defend your remarks, but as you can read above you didn\\\’t scarce impune her ability as an actress, but you accused her of fornicating her way of life into this role - come on man, merely say you stuck your foot in your mouth and I\\\’ll leave it alone.
I don\\\’t conceive my remarks need to be defended the exclusively movie I have experience Camilla Belle in is When a Stranger calls so from what I have seen her in, I frankly think she must get slept with someone to get that role and not get fired from it when it became obvious she was frightful in it. Simple as that, I am saying maybe I can see her in something else and just now forget When a Alien Calls just until I do, I think shes a horrible actress.