There's only about fifteen good, scary minutes in When A Stranger Calls - its urban legend-inspired opening with babysitter Jill Johnson (Carol Kane) terrorized by an unknown caller (Tony Beckley) - but it's enough to make it a legendary fright film. Writer/director Fred Walton originally made When A Stranger Calls as a short film ("The Sitter") and in the wake of the success of Halloween (1978), decided to expand it into a feature. The opening of When A Stranger Calls is reportedly a shot-for-shot remake of that short but the obvious challenge of where to take the story from there plagues the rest of the film.Given that, it's fitting that the trailer for When A Stranger Calls ignores the rest of the movie and advertizes the opening alone. There's not a moment of the rest of the movie shown in the trailer and what's even funnier is that the trailer gives away every shock and surprise of the opening - we even see Kane opening the door to reveal Charles Durning! You'd think that'd have been a big issue at the time but no one seemed to mind. I know that as a kid, the trailer for When A Stranger Calls was perfect because there was no way I was going to get to see the movie anyhow so seeing a trailer that gave away all its best moments suited me fine.
The downside to that is that the trailer also completely traumatized me. I was a latch-key kid at the time and for weeks, whenever the phone rang after school I had one eye on the stairs to our second floor - just in case a shadow would appear on the wall and I'd hear foots on the steps. Looking back, I have to say I'm not even sure if we actually had a second line in the house at the time - and if that's the case, then this trailer had me not only jumping at shadows but had me imagining someone calling me on an imaginary phone. That's what I call getting me good. Well played, When A Stranger Calls, well played.
And here's a teaser for the UK release of the film that proves - years before Paranormal Activity - that you can never go wrong showing an audience losing their shit at a movie.
