Did you know there is a sequel to When A Stranger Calls? I’m not taking about the remake that came out in 2006. A direct sequel to the original 1979 film exists, a made-for-television film from 1993 called When A Stranger Calls Back. I’ve known this for about a year or so, but thanks to Youtube, I was able to view the whole film online today while sick in bed. It keeps the feel of the first film, but contains a few plot holes.
In the sequel, a young woman is babysitting two children in a huge house. After watching some television, she gets a strange phone call and then a man shows up on the doorstep. He claims that his car has broken down and he needs her help. He grows increasingly persistent and strange things start happening in the house. She barely escapes an attack from a different unfamiliar man, even though the same thing can’t be said for the kids. Five years later, the woman, Julia, is a junior in college…when strange things start happening in her apartment. She goes to the police station and is assigned a mentor from the local battered women’s shelter. Enter Jill, the survivor from the previous film, and John, the cop who saved her life.
Unlike the first film where the suspense drops 90% after the first 20 minutes, When A Stranger Calls Back is able to keep things interesting for the most part. The first 20 minutes are pretty important, but aren’t the basis of the entire film. Also unlike other films, Jill is actually pretty smart. You’ll learn why pretty quickly, although if she had OCD she probably would have been a little bit more on top of things from the beginning. She does have one dumb moment, though. At one point, during one of the peak times of tension, she checks to make sure the back door, a sliding glass door, is locked…like the attacker couldn’t just bust through the glass.
I’ve stated in other film reviews that I’m a film school graduate. One of the things that annoyed me most about this movie is the framing of certain shots. Angles and framing go hand in hand, but the director Fred Walton must not have cared. The crew were definitely fans of panning or close ups to/of nothing. Also, the fashion in this film makes me very happy that the 90s are over. Imagine Saved By The Bell clothes x2. I was almost positive Julia was a lesbian when the story picks up 5 years later.
While Julia (Jill Schoelen) was the main character of the film, and billed first, it was Jill (Carol Kane) who stole the show. She acted so much better in this film than in the previous one, and I must say I found her more attractive with age. In this film, having survived horrific events in the last film, she is very bad ass…karate, courage, gun carrying, etc. She’s awesome. But, whoever researched her character from the last film didn’t do a good job. If you remember, in the second portion of When A Stranger Calls, Jill is a married woman, gaining a new job promotion, with two kids. In When A Stranger Calls Back, none of this information is mentioned and Jill is almost portrayed as a wealthy hermit.
With all things considered, When A Stranger Calls Back is a very decent film. I was entertained the entire time, except for maybe 10 minutes towards the end. I would recommend it to anyone who was a fan of the first film. In terms of rating, it got an R rating, but that was back in 1993. Now, I would probably only give it M, for mature. It’s not PG-13, but it’s not exactly G either.
May I ask what was the ending scene about I felt like they were trying to hint a 3rd movie which would be stupid hence the creeper died, but at the moment he was alone in the hospital , & later john finds photos of Julia in the creepers place,seemingly naked. Could he perhaps had his way with her or am I juag over analyzing all this
May I ask what was the ending scene about I felt like they were trying to hint a 3rd movie which would be stupid hence the creeper died, but at the moment he was alone in the hospital , & later john finds photos of Julia in the creepers place,seemingly naked. Could he perhaps had his way with her or am I juag over analyzing all this