crystallogic
I'm really torn about this one, folks. There are a lot of really nice things about it, but also quite a few that don't work. In the end I'm coming down positive because I think the good far outweighs the bad, and also, I believe that the director really did a stand-up job of turning a slightly questionable script into a really chilling, sometimes even atmospheric thriller.Can I just say that I think the reviewers who say the middle of this film is weak are close to the mark, but not quite there? In brief: everything featuring Kurt Duncan is awesome; everything featuring ex-cop John Clifford is not. Clifford is bull-headed, obnoxious and not much of a hero. Somehow, things that would work for a Lou Archer or Sam Spade just don't work for this guy. Charles Durning has all the right grizzled, hard-bitten attitude and checks all the right boxes, but I'm not convinced. Scenes like him getting a pep talk from his former colleague on the force just send everything to a grinding halt. I don't care about this guy. I care about Kurt Duncan, and i want to know what's happening with him. I enjoy classic detective novels, so it's not as though I'm opposed to the form; I just don't much like it here.Of course, I'm not saying Tony Beckley's Kurt Duncan is a hero. he's a monster, if an unfortunate one, and although the film manages to convey sympathy for him, that's down to performance and direction, I think, more than script, and besides, in the end you have no choice but to root for the ex-cop turned PI. Now, about this Tony Beckley. This guy should have been going places after this film. Simply put, his performance is really something to behold: both menacing and tragic and awkward and, well, when it comes down to it, completely insane. He's guaranteed to give you the chills on at least three occasions, and I'm not even talking about that oh-so-influential opening scene where he's just a voice on the phone. Now, I admit this wasn't my first exposure to Tony Beckley; in fact I know him better as mad botanist from hell harrison Chase in Doctor Who and the Seeds of Doom, made three-or-so years before this movie, where he delivered a brilliant, over-the-top and still scary performance that has to be seen to be believed. So, I already knew what he could do. This is a rather different performance though; much quieter and, well, less "camp", if that's even the right word, but pitch-perfect in every way. His death shortly after this film was made is a real tragedy because if all had been right with the world, his star would have been on the ascendent due to his performance as the crazed child killer Kurt Duncan. It was just not to be.So, as everyone knows who has read this review page (or seen the film, or even heard about it from elsewhere), the opening scene is a fantastic piece of suspense that could have made a great short film in its own right. It's just the prologue, really, and the closing scenes with Carol Kane's Jill are the coda that wraps everything round to the beginning again. It's a nice piece of writing, for sure. But Kurt trying to make his way in the world and slowly descending into madness is, to me, just as good, though I would rather have seen more of it and less of John Clifford, sorry to say. The scene in the bar with the middle-aged lady, who seems so very nice despite everything, is really, really good -- tense because you don't know if Kurt's bloodlust will kick in, but awkward because he's trying, trying to establish some kind of connection, and you're not totally sure if there are malevolent gears churning in his head, but you think there might be. For a moment, Kurt almost seems like a lost soul adrift in a ruthless world, and yes, you really, really hope the nice lady is going to be ok, but you can't help but imagine a path where Kurt calms down, makes a friend and gets away to start a better life elsewhere.I also did appreciate Carol Kane's performance in this movie, though really, she isn't in it much. She and the director pull off a real feat with the opening 20 minutes in the Doctor's house. Her tension is very evident and believable, and although her first call to the police is utterly useless and shows a lack of considered thinking, I sure as hell can't blame her. Then, the older Jill, living her storybook life, suddenly falls to pieces when she hears that voice on the phone again after all those years: "Have you checked teh children?"...a terrible echo from the past. Carol here pulls off a very convincing total panic attack and breakdown, and I felt she was really living this part. Nice job.Now, I'm not done criticising this movie yet, unfortunately. Although I have more good to say than not, I feel like someone, maybe a producer or some studio exec or something, might have tried hard to make this a more "acceptable" picture, and today I think we can say this was to the film's detriment. Although I think the director really believed in this material, on the whole it seems to lack a certain something. Maybe it's conviction? This was the 1970s, a fantastic era for horror films, but the 80s were so close you could smell them, and it's really just the excellent direction and Tony Beckley's performance that save When a Stranger Calls from being, perhaps, just a bit too sanitised. I've seen loads of 70s films; it's probably my favourite decade for genre films and I know just far they could go sometimes in showing the depths of human psychopathy and derangement. This film, tragically, seems to be pulling back, or maybe, someone is pushing in the wrong direction. the John Clifford character is an obvious nod to the need to have a hero to court the acceptance of the public. He's a really cliché character, and I'm glad that at least the crew had the good sense to end the film when it did, rather than give him a pat closing redemption scene or something. Jill's storybook life is a bit too convenient, although one could argue, this all the better to have it punctured by the return of Kurt the Demon. There are some small holes that could have been closed in the script, for instance, how did Kurt know Jill would be at the restaurant? if he was found insane at his trial, I'm surprised the subject of extradition to England never came up. And finally, the music, while effective in some places, often comes off as too bombastic and "Hollywood". Imagine if this film had been scored by les Baxter or something. I think that would have been great!
tupungato
As I waited to buy my ticket for "When A Stranger Calls," the promotional poster to the right of me included the words: "Unequivocally, the most frightening movie I have ever seen." The critic who made that concise comment expressed well my own response, and apparently that of the others in attendance, considering the writhing and uncontrolled screaming.Writers Steve Freke and Fred Walton created suspense and tension very effectively by getting viewers to live through the potential victim by focusing attention, as s/he did, where they shouldn't. The actors, too, did their job to make certain scenes almost too much to tolerate by reacting believably, either with appropriate fear and panic (Colleen Dewhurst and Carol Kane), or with determination, frustration, and vulnerability, in the case of the seasoned but imperfect detective played by Charles Durning.For the many people who have known life only with phones they can carry in their pocket, When A Stranger Calls may not keep them awake late at night. While they know (but probably take for granted) the incredible capability of an I-Phone, they probably can't imagine the power of a telephone that remained seated on a table or attached to a wall. They don't know what one experiences when he answers a call at 11:30 pm, repeatedly says "hello," but gets something disturbing in return. Did the menace who called to breathe heavily or mumble unintelligibly pose a real threat? Did he know where the victims lived? Was he calling from just down the street? At least the four walls and locked doors of home made one feel protected... until he saw When A Stranger Calls. The story didn't clarify how the psychotic prankster could make those phone calls. A person couldn't pick up a telephone, dial that phone's number, and cause another phone in the house to ring. Occasionally, families did maintain more than one telephone number, but the young children in When A Stranger Calls would not likely have needed a line to themselves.
