Tuesday, February 28, 2023

When a Stranger Calls Back - 1993

 Goddamn it I was off by one year in my guess!  I guessed 1992.

I watched and was impressed a while back when I watched When a Stranger Calls.  This film, though I had never seen it, shocked me with just how much a true horror movie it was, and it's grim and more realistic view of a serial killer.  So then, why not watch the made-for-TV sequel movie that came out 14 years later?

Well, it's a bit of a decline, in case the words "made for TV" didn't clue you in.  When a Stranger Calls Back takes the same idea, basically does it again, but instead of upping the stakes, it sort of turns them down.  Then as if to over-compensate throws you one of the most insanely incongurent end sequences of all time.

WASCB has some act issues for sure, such as the long, long middle section where essentially nothing happens, except that the plot pieces that have happened happen again.  Basically, a woman is watching a kid in a house while the parents are away, and someone comes knocking at the door saying his car is stalled down the street.  He asks the babysitter to call a tow truck.  Picking up the phone, she realizes the cord has been cut, and this guy continues to terrorize her.

WASCB isn't bad by any means, and the scenes of the door interaction and then figuring out that maybe the killer somehow got inside are truly scary.  It's just a little bit slow...  and like I said, it's not a bad ending, especially if it was in a different movie, it just does not belong in THIS movie.  

I'll still give this 3 stars though.

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