Genres

Visitors Review

2013-05-25 16:20:58

Top 10 worst movies i have seen

This was a disgrace to all movies pretty much. I can not even believe a movie this bad would be released in theaters. They should have paid people to have to sit through this movie. I have seen over 700 movies in my lifetime and this was in the top 5 worst by far.

2013-05-24 22:56:42

When a Remake Fails is a much better title

Carol Kane was stalked by the killer in 1993 which was OK but nothing special and now in 2006 we get young actress Camilla Belle (The Ballad of Jack & Rose, Poison Ivy 2) who is in the role of the babysitter named Jill Johnson. She's babysitting kids of a rich family with a fancy looking house. She starts to get random phone calls from friends and what not but then starts to get weird ones from a deep voiced man who at first breathes heavily and hangs up but then starts to speak...well like an unbilled Lance Henriksen (Hard Target, Pumpkinhead) telling Jill "I want your blood all over me" and "Did you check the kids?" which freaks Jill out as she calls for help. When the stalker in the shadows attacks her...well theres nothing scary about that. Is Belle a scream queen? I cant remember if she screamed really loud or what....nah. Lance Henriksen wastes his time for a lousy part? Oh yeah the stalker is played by Tommy Flanagan (Sin City, The Last Drop) but voiced by Lance Henriksen, wow. Looks good with some nicely shot scenes but its completely forgettable, well for me anyways. Also starring Clark Gregg (In Enemy Hands, Hoot), Katie Cassidy (The Lost, 7th Heaven), Tessa Thompson (Veronica Mars), Brian Geraghty (Jarhead, Stateside), David Denman (Tv's Angel, Big Fish), Derek de Lint (China Beach, Deep Impact), Kate Jennings Grant (United 93, Kinsey) and oh...did I mention Lance Henriksen?

acidburn-10 2013-05-18 10:23:47

A shoddy remake of an already not very good film

Okay the original version of "When A Stranger Calls" wasn't very good,only the opening 15 minutes, and the ending were decent in that movie,the middle was stupid and pointless.This version sees the opening 15 minutes of the original version andstretches it into a boring hour and half, could have worked if theydidn't reveal terrifying phone calls were coming from inside the housejust like in the original version. I mean that was just stupidadvertising on they're part and they also make it obvious as well about20 minutes into the film when her friend shows up and gets killed.This version had absolutely no scares or tension because you alreadyknow what's coming, at least in the original version you didn't seethat coming. I mean the idea was good though a young girl babysitting 2kids while in the meantime getting creepy phone calls. The house theyused in this remake is ridiculously high-tech and quite futuristic,They should have used a normal house which would have created more ofan creepy atmosphere, but sadly this doesn't have any of that. Theyoung actress Camille Belle does what she can with the rubbish materialthat she has been given but she's just doesn't have the star qualitythat this movie needed, she just didn't do it for me.And the final climax between the killer and the heroine just wasn't upto the usual classic horror movie chase scenes, I mean the killer justwasn't scary at all and the climax was just boring and unsatisfying.All in all if you've seem the trailer then you've seen the entiremovie.

horrorluver45 2013-05-17 22:48:43

o wow

Well, This wasn't the best movie, but it was suspenseful, but CamilaBelle started sobbing from fear over half the movie but the best partis at the end when she starts screaming in the hospital but i cant tellif she went insane or if she was terrorized for life from theexperience. then again some of the worst parts were when the strangerkeeps and when she sees Tiffany dead on the bathroom floor like herlips are all white and shes like "Boo,I'm dead" Come on people lets seesomething pee your pants scary!!! i mean something i would like to seeis to see Jill Johnson get killed, and something else i noticed was ipaused the movie and the stranger was on top of Jill and it looked likethey were having fun. but really if this could be a chick flick itwould be Bobby to the rescue!!! (Jill's Boyfriend)

jlt86 2013-05-17 10:22:33

Sooo boring

This movie is not scary, suspenseful, well-written, well-acted,exciting or good at all. I found myself falling asleep throughout thewhole thing, because hardly anything happens. I was waiting forsomething interesting to happen...but nothing came...ever. The "house"that everyone was hyping up is not atmospheric at all. Also, this moviehas the WORST acting I've seen in awhile. Camilla was truly awful.Everyone in interviews regarding the movie was saying how believableshe is. Umm, nope. "Hello? hello?..." Give me a break. You know exactlywhat's going to happen and who's going to die. Oh, and if you thinkthat there's a twist, there isn't one. A total waste of time.

Ladyalaska-1 2013-05-17 02:09:47

Blood Tingling, Hair Raising, Heart Stirring, Stunningly Sensational Thriller of the Year.

I thought this movie was absolutely amazing. It is extremely underratedand its previews don't do justice. I thought it was just another wannabe trying too hard to be-scary movie. I'm a huge fan of scary moviesand I'm tired of the same old same old. This movie is practical andunbelievably realistic in all its dimensions, which enables it toreally grab your attention and get under your skin. I was huddled up ina ball hiding behind a blanket the entire time practically holding mybreath. I've never seen a movie with as much suspense built up as thisone. From the actress chosen to the setting to the plot, It was simplymind blowing how well this movie was put together. Simply put, it was amasterpiece. I never want to be sitting alone in a room or house oranywhere ever again. Turn the lights off, turn up the volume, relax andallow yourself to be scared and you too will agree how mind blowingscary this movie actually is.

oldman1784 2013-05-14 07:05:08

Not Bad at all

I am actually quite surprised by the other reviews I have read. I readmost of these before I went and saw it last night and I must say that Istarted to doubt whether this would be a waste of my time. I am a hugefan of scary movies and lately have been pretty disappointed. Thismovie was great. First time I had been scared in awhile. The audienceloved it and were going crazy throughout. Any fan of scary moviesshould check it out. This is the best scary movie I have seen since TheRing. So at least give it a chance and don't listen to the critics. Ican't imagine what this will do to the babysitting population. By theway that house was awesome!

scottyevo8 2013-05-13 13:44:35

brilliant movie

This movie "when a stranger calls" is a really good movie..if you looking for a movie that gives creeps and chills go for this..the movie is a high tension movie, as you are wondering what mighthappen next..i don't what to spoil it for anyone , but all i should tell you that is.. if your into the creepy and high tenison movie ..you got to see this movie..you will be pleased as the creepy horror fills up your body!..it will make you not wanting to answer the phone anymore!!!i do rate this movie a 10 .. for there's a good horror , good script ,good sound and good filming..

2013-05-08 11:18:37

Have you checked the children?

When a Stranger Calls is yet another remake, one in an ever-growing line. While I'm not against remakes per se, some movies are classic and should never be considered for a remake, such as Halloween. Removing my rose-colored glasses, the original WASC is good, but the 2006 remake is also a rather decent film.Jill Johnson (Camilla Belle) is having troubles with her unfaithful boyfriend, and in the process of dealing with him exceeded her cell phone minutes and ran up an expensive bill. So at the urging of her parents, Jill is doing a little babysitting trying to earn some money, though she would much rather be with friends. And who wouldn't? She is an intelligent and level-headed teen for the most part, and even stars on the high school track team.Jill lands a babysitting job at the Johnson home, an amazing modern home in the country on a small lake, with art deco styling and large windows to take in the gorgeous views. One of it's more intriguing features is an atrium in the center of the home with a koi pond, exotic plants, and a few finches. The children are already asleep when she arrives and the refrigerator is well-stocked, so overall this should be a quiet, peaceful evening making a few easy dollars.Soon after arriving, Jill gets a few phone calls, mostly from friends. But one is particular is disturbing. No one says anything at first, and Jill thinks it must be a friend playing a prank. But the calls continue, and they turn more sinister. Jill soon realizes the caller can see her through the home's large windows. But when the caller utters threateningly, "Have you checked the children?", she becomes very much alarmed and calls the police. They encourage her to try and keep the caller on the line if he calls back, in hopes that they can successfully run a trace and identify the caller's location. Events take a dark turn when Jill realizes that she may not be alone in the house, and she fears for her own safety as well as the children.Camilla Belle, as the centerpiece of this film, does a pretty good job in her role as Jill, and I must add, is a refreshing departure from the typical blonde who usually fills this type of role. Jill's character is developed enough that we care for her and her safety. Tension builds slowly as she explores the home's interior, and deals with the sinister caller.While I enjoy scary movie trailers, my pet peeve is when the trailer gives away a major plot point or twist, or even shows the film's most frightening moment. So do not watch the trailer for this film (though that still may not keep you from seeing the twist coming). While for the most part WASC is rather predictable and unremarkable and a few plot holes weaken the story, it still makes for entertaining viewing. If you are planning on having a scary movie night with the lights out and renting 2 or 3 films, When a Stranger Calls would make a good warm-up act to start the evening.

eagl3f3ath3r 2013-05-08 02:40:50

Not so good.(slight spoiler)

I think that this film could have been good but the only good thingAbout the film is the nice house.It looks amazing. The acting is verypoor in parts, a policeman looks so upset and scared just because hedoesn't find a "murder weapon" then the other cop slightly opens thedoor n stares around like his really disgusted and just as u expect tosee the "crime-scene" yes you probably guessed it as i did that he justcloses the door. Then as the people are moving the "black bads" out ofthe house one cop is holding it like it is just a regular briefcase.This all happens B4 the film properly starts. Thats not 2 mention the"theme-park" at the start only has 3 rides, and the camera angle movesaround trying to make the 3rides look like a carnival.Quite funnyreally...Oh no actually disappointing. The film has a few good parts init, a few predictable parts.Watch it if u want,but this is far far awayfrom the standards of Scream (which was an amazing film during itsrelease)

rnwks_2008 2013-05-04 16:45:39

Not Great but Not Bad...

Not the best movie you will see this year. Small thrills will make you"jump" or something but this movie isn't scary. They should have madeit scarier by making an "R" rating but of course they wouldn't havemade as much money that way. However, this movie was decent and I'mglad I saw it. The acting was pretty good but the Lead actress wasn'tvery good when she showed any kind of emotion. She's good when she isjust talking and all that stuff but when she's screaming/crying etc. Itsurprised me because her I was actually laughing out loud. Thus, Iwasn't really into the movie like you get when you feel like you areactually involved. Good movie overall. Recommended:Yes

natchomomma 2013-05-04 02:49:45

Junk movie

I get more scares from molded bread.I think that the commercials were a lot more exciting than the actualmovie.. It sucks more than a Hoover vacuum cleaner! Most of the moviewas so boring that I almost fell asleep. The last 15 minutes were alittle better than the others. This reminded me of another boring movieI saw once called Telephone, with Woopie Goldberg. I remember once Isaw an equally frightening movie, Attack of the killer tomatoes! If Iwould have seen this in a theater, I would have demanded a refund. Thecommercial already let you know the boogie man was in the house. Thecemetery has more plot than this show.

christian123 2013-05-03 04:05:09

It makes the original look like The Godfather

What should have been a routine babysitting gig at a secluded lakehouse turns into a night of terror, as high school student Jill Johnson(Camilla Belle) receives threatening phone calls from a sadisticstalker, while trying to stay one step ahead of him.The first 20 minutes of the original film were pretty good but it wasall downhill from there. The remake takes those first 20 minutes andstretches them into an 80 minute feature film. That's a good ideabecause its eliminating everything that made the original bad. However,if they wanted this film to work more effectively then they should havehired a better lead actress, better director, writer etc. There's nosuspense, everything can be figured out long before it happens and it'sa very dull film since not much happens. At least there isn't much tosit through since its less than 90 minutes.If this premise were to work, then the lead actress has to give arealistic performance. Camilla Belle gives one of the worstperformances I have ever seen and throughout the whole movie, sheseemed to be reading her lines. You get a lead role in a Hollywood filmthat will be viewed by millions of people and you give no effort atall! Why did they hire this girl? Sure, she's pretty but she can't actat all yet I suppose this won't matter to the target audience who willmost likely eat this film up. The rest of the cast is bland andforgettable especially the woman who plays the maid, Rosa. Even thestranger was lame and his lines on the phone were not effective at all.This movie reminds me of last years disappointing horror filmBoogeyman. That movie was a bunch of cheap scares and false alarms andWhen a Stranger Calls is pretty much the same. Jill enters a roombecause she hears a noise but its just a false alarm like a cat or themaid. This type of scene happens over and over again until finallyafter about 50 minutes, the stranger appears. He has to be one of thelamest killers ever. He carried no weapons and didn't seem to pose muchof a threat. The ending is bad but it matches the rest of the film soit doesn't really matter. The film is directed by Simon West and he isreally bad at building up suspense. He was using every cliché he couldthink of and the results weren't very good. The house was amazing andI'll give the film credit for that. It was an isolated house so it waspretty creepy but that's about the only good thing this film has tooffer. In the end, if you're not a teenage girl then you should skipthe movie. Rating 2/10

girlscoutsgonewild 2013-05-02 12:14:17

This story takes forever to get off of the ground.

I unfortunately went to see this movie, my hopes high as I rememberedthe trailer, which seemed to be slightly exciting. The entire story isthis : Girl gets grounded from phone. Girl goes to babysit. Girl misses party she wants to go to. Children are asleep, maid is quiet. "Creepy" phone calls for the next half hour. "Scary", jumpy moments. Girl is asked by creepy phone caller to check the children. Girl does, can't find children, finds children. Finds her obligatory bitch friend dead.The creepy stranger attacks her, which basically includes in runningafter her. She gets out of the house, has a bad dream about the guy after she's"recovering", and goes crazy because of him.It took FOREVER for her to do anything besides answer the phone andwalk around doing her best at attempting to look afraid.If you want a horror movie, try some Hitchcock.

larry_w14 2013-05-01 23:53:11

no suspense, no nothing

Did not have great expectations, but more than I got! Very surprisedhow poor, especially with Simon West as director. Not classics, but Ithought both past outings Generals Daughter and Con Air were prettygood. Man, he fell off the cliff on this effort. Only twinkle was thephotography which was crisp and evident of his past movies. Howeverfirst thing you have to do is in a movie like this is give us somedrama and suspense!!! Although the actors were okay, I was praying itwas something weird like the parents were the killers (not wantingbabysitter to bother(check on) kids in beginning, etc), or somethinglike that...otherwise EVERYONE knew that in end what was going tohappen - the unknown killer will appear(horrors!!). That and a HORRIBLEvery end of movie - well, enough said - perfectly okay to skip thisbomb!

SinnerStar 2013-05-01 15:48:26

Absolute Garbage

This film carries about as much suspense as an episode of Emmerdale !The film breaks down like this :-A girl is babysitting, she gets prank phone calls, and it turns out thephone calls are coming from inside the house. SCARY ! 10 minutes fromthe end the "killer" pops up, chases the girl round the house, then thepolice arrive. BORING.Oh, I almost forgot, they have a dream sequence at the end where thegirl thinks the killer is still after her.Whoever made this film should be tortured.There is no reason given why the killer likes to kill people, why onearth has a teenage girl who is babysitting not got a mobile phone andkeeps answering the house phone anyway ?How on earth did the killer get into the most impenetrable house in thefirst place ?Dear director - make better films !

Brandt Sponseller 2013-04-30 09:38:07

Clinically competent, but lacks verve

Do you like your horror to be gore-free and have low body counts? Areyou easily scared watching scenes of protagonists creeping around dark,deserted houses as they hear strange noises and overreact to shadows?If so, When A Stranger Calls might be just the ticket for you, becausemore than 80 percent of this short film is one such extended scene.It didn't work very well for me. It's not because I care about gore andbody counts--although I certainly don't mind that stuff, but I justmentioned that for fans who do care, pro or con, about it. No, it'sthat for better or worse--I figure it's worse, but there's not much Ican do about it--fright is not an emotion that I ever have in responseto films. It's been that way ever since I can remember--even as a kid Idon't remember ever being frightened by horror. Instead, I usuallywanted the monsters to win. I often identified with the monsters. I'ddress up as Dracula for Halloween, not because I thought it was scary,but because it was a chance to literalize a beguiling fantasy--to beyourself, whatever that was--to be very different from norms--and stillbe accepted for it. So I do love the horror genre, but fear has nothingto do with why I love it.Director Simon West has a different idea, and he banks his first horrorfilm, a remake of a 1979 film of the same name, on a bet that he canscare you. West also apparently subscribes to the theory that we'll bemore frightened by what we imagine than what we can actually see. Sofor about an hour (When A Stranger Calls is only about 80 minutes long,not counting the credits), we're treated to Camilla Belle trying to actfrightened of things that she imagines, and we're supposed to empathizewith her. I think Belle is gorgeous. She's been great in other films,like 2005's The Chumbscrubber, and she's not exactly bad here, but herhorror chops need some work. It's usually difficult to buy that she'sscared or alarmed. In fact a couple times she came across as caringmore that she looked good, or that the camera wasn't catching her inunladylike positions.Making matters worse, West seems to care a lot more about setting uppotential scares than he does about objects and people within hisfictional world behaving in a non-puzzling way. Anyone who knows myviews knows that I don't expect films to cohere with what we know orbelieve to be true about the actual world. But when, say,remote-controlled living room fireplaces belch out roiling torrents ofbillowing flames fit for Hades in a film that's not otherwisefantastical; or when characters show up out of the blue, inside aputatively alarmed home because the garage just happened to be leftopen--even though we have no reason to believe that they knew where thehouse was located; or when the same character goes from being a bitbelligerent and carefree to scared out of their wits just because theydropped their car keys and it's windy outside, then it's unjustified toexpect audience members to not become distracted, in a bewildered way,by such occurrences.West displays him film literacy a bit. For just a couple examples, thebeginning makes a strong reference to Fritz Lang's M (1931), M servesas a parallel for the modus operandi of the antagonist, and both thesetting and a later, important scene in a bathroom are taken are takenright out of the play-by-play book of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining(1980). The premise of the film is based on an overused urban legend,while the creeping-through-a-dark-and-lonely-house idea, as well as themysterious objects that shouldn't be left behind, the red herrings, theclothes on hangers being mistaken for bogeymen, and later, theunexpected bodies popping up, are all taken from horror films almost asold as the genre itself. Beyond that, West doesn't give us much.I wasn't always disappointed while watching When A Stranger Calls, andit's not just because I like looking at Belle. This may be overlytrodden territory, but West and crew have their mechanics down in anacademic--or maybe clinical--way. It was enough to keep me watching.However, that's not enough to make When A Stranger Calls recommendable.Once you learn technique, it's your responsibility as an artist to dosomething more interesting with it. I can't say it something moreinteresting was done here.

Gatis Morgan 2013-04-30 02:25:50

Scared the crap out of me!

OH MY GOD!!! I'm still shaking, this movie scared me so much! This is aremake, no this is THE REMAKE! I haven't seen the original but thatdoesn't really matter right now. I'm just not into all the old moviesso much. I was watching it alone at home and it was very late and dark.The creepy thing was that the phone ringed while the movie but it wasjust my sister calling, scared me tho.Well the movie was about the girl Jill, she was baby sitting andreceived all the strange phone calls, don't really wanna tell you tomuch about it, just watch it yourself! I recommend it to everyone whoreally wants to get scared and not for people with weak nerves!

fruitytootie8 2013-04-26 16:12:01

sooo good! i love it!

I don't understand what people are talking about! this movie was thebest! it was sooooo thrilling! it gave you that adrenaline rush thatyou get before you ride a roller coaster. when you first see the kidsare gone you think they're dead but when you find out they're reallynot its like "omg that as a close one" so... i am certainly glad thekids weren't dead and all those freaks that want the kids dead , youare so phsyco and awful and will probably grow up to be a cereal killerone day!!!!!!!! any wayz... i loved it and i definitely think everyoneshouldgo see it!!!! its not that scary just thrilling. (i don't think iwill ever babysit ever again!) lol. (at least no in a big house withlike 30 bazillion windows!!!! an i guy seeing everything i do!)

2013-04-26 08:16:33

One giant cliche

Oh the joys of babysitting. Free food, free phone calls, free porn and free unwanted pranks calls from a stranger who is inside the same house. Isn't that supposed to be exciting? Well I guess that would depend on the individual who is forced to sit through this entire movie. I have regretfully wasted about 87 minutes of my life. I can't tell you what my state of mind was when I decided to watch this movie. When A Stranger Calls is one of those cult favorite thrillers that really didn't need re-visioning. The story is old and we've heard the urban legend when we were kids. We know how it starts and how it ends. It would appear that the group behind this motion picture only had one thing in mind, THE ALMIGHTY DOLLAR. Why else would somebody want to remake an R rated picture with a watered down and unsatisfying PG-13 rating? What other reasons are there? To tell the truth ladies and gentlemen, there are no other reasons. Money is the root to the abomination that is When A Stranger Calls.In the movie we fallow Jill Johnson, a naive and rebellious teenager who is grounded because of her monstrous cell phone bill. Luckily for Jill she has to miss the bonfire that all of her friends are going to. What does she have planned? Well she has to baby sit at the Mendrakis household. With the parents going out for the night, Jill gets to stay in this big fancy house with the children sound asleep in their beds. Nothing happens for a while and as Jill begins to relax she starts receiving weird phone calls. Some are from friends and prank callers while another is from a stranger who hardly speaks a word. The sound of breathing on the other line has Jill worried that someone is trying to bug her. The stranger calls back later and asks Jill if she's checked the children. Desperate for help Jill calls the police in hopes to identify the caller. Time flies by and Jill is still getting the weird phone calls. The police calls Jill back to warn her that the phone calls are coming from inside the house.Wow that is such a shocking twist, it would have scared me to death if it hadn't been told before. The problem with When A Stranger Calls is that it contains nothing original. And by nothing I really do mean nothing. The film itself is one giant cliché. We've heard this story before and we already had a movie based on it. Is it so great of a story that we have to be reminded of it? There really is no point. The scares are outdated and there is very little violent content. If it were not for the fireplace scene this movie could have been premiered on television, or the Disney channel. That's how watered down it is, the movie is built on false scares and ridiculous dialog. While the film does run under an hour and twenty three minutes it felt way too long. Nothing suspenseful kicks in until the first hour, so it drags most of the way. All you'll get from the movie is boredom, cheap scares and irritation. This movie easily could have been thirty minutes long but somebody had to find a way to extend it. It's been done before and this movie isn't much of an improvement.Although the musical score was good it was just overdone. You'll hear music in places it shouldn't belong and it ruins the mood. Dialog scenes with no action shouldn't have a frightening score playing in the background. The topic of the movie is very realistic, it can happen to anyone at anytime. The driven goal for this movie was to let the audience use their imaginations. That is another aspect in which the movie fails. Rather than using your imagination you'll just be wondering when the movie will end. Or even better, you just may end up hoping for the main character to die in a brutal and pleasuring way. Why feel scared and worried for an unlikeable main character? I really couldn't care less. When A Stranger Calls is a thriller that fails in almost every aspect. This remake is filled with horrible clichés and very little content. The story is outdated and unsatisfying to watch. Avoid this movie at all costs, don't even watch it on a dare. If you had a chance to do something with this movie I highly recommend using it as a torture device. Tie up all your friends and make them watch it. They'll love you for the rest of your life.