HANNA CHU
A&E Editor
Director Simon West must have been inspired by comedic spoof “Scary Movie” when directing “When a Stranger Calls” because the thriller movie exudes humor more than fear.
Camilla Belle stars as Jill Johnson, a young high school student who is attacked while baby-sitting in a mansion that is in the middle of nowhere.
The plotline of the movie is rather simple. Johnson is babysitting in a big house by herself with the children fast asleep upstairs when the telephone starts ringing. The person on the other end does not say anything, but it is clearly a man by his heavy breathing. This stranger continues to call Johnson, leaving her frightened in anticipation of her demise. However, the stranger does not appear until the last segment of the movie.
She fearfully calls the police at one point in the movie. At first, they tell her not to worry since the caller has not threatened her, and she is safe inside the house. The police trace the phone calls, realize the calls are coming from inside the house and warn her to get out of the house. By that time, of course, it is too late.
While the movie had the potential to be a memorable remake, the movie fails because the director’s attempt to recreate a classic thriller is unbearably overdone.
From the start of the movie, although the scenes are not scary whatsoever, there is always some kind of suspenseful, menacing music that makes hearts race. When Johnson is at track practice, hearts thump fast because of the loud background music. While running, she looks off at her boyfriend, and the music continues. Johnson talks to her best friend Scarlet (Tessa Thompson), and, of course, the music is still playing as if something is about to happen.
Unfortunately, nothing does happen until the last 20 minutes of the movie. The music simply leaves the audience waiting in expectation, but before Johnson even gets to the house, viewers figure out that there is no point in waiting for action in this movie, nothing will happen until the close of the movie. Music does make a huge impact on the tone of the movie. However, the music in this movie only exaggerates the fact that the movie is supposed to be a thriller.
The house where Johnson baby-sits poses another problem with this film. The bulk of the movie takes place in the Mandraki residence, which is an absolutely stunning house. The director must have been extremely impressed by the house as well because there are countless scenic shots of just the house throughout the movie. Even in the midst of Johnson trying to figure out who the heck is calling, the scenes jump back and forth from shots of Johnson to shots of the house. The public has been deceived. The beautiful adolescent isn’t the star of the movie, the house is.
The thing about doing a remake of an 80s thriller is that much of the film will be cliché. When Johnson sees a light on and someone moving inside the guesthouse, the audience screams silently, “Don’t go outside,” only to watch her sprint outside. When Johnson’s other best friend Tiffany sees a tree trunk conveniently fallen in front of her car, the audience screams, “Don’t get out of the car,” only to watch her get out. When the house’s security alarm goes off suddenly, and security services call to ask if everything is OK, Johnson, of course, says that everything is fine and hangs up.
The movie is full of clichés instead of surprises and will earn more laughs than screams. Hang up when this stranger calls.
02-09-2006
