Film Reviews

When A Stranger Calls

• Rating:
• Director: Simon West.
• Starring: Camilla Belle, Tommy Flanagan, Katie Cassidy, Derek de Lint.
• Details: US, 87mins, 15.

Because her mobile phone bill is so high, Jill Johnston (Belle) is forced to take a babysitting gig in a secluded country house. Left alone with two kids suffering from the flu, prank phone calls begin to disturb her night. Understandably spooked, Jill rings the police who tell her to try and keep the caller on the line so they can trace the call. When the caller rings again, the police trace the call and, to Jill's horror, find that it is coming from inside the house. After coming off the critically acclaimed set of the indie art house flick The Ballad Of Jack And Rose, Belle shows that she is part of a Hollywood system that releases pointless remakes of so-so '70s slasher movies. When A Stranger Calls will only appeal to those who have never seen a horror movie as the age-old signposts are waved (once again) in front of the camera during the set up; the remote operated fireplace, the sensor lights, the Japanese garden, the alarm - you can be thicker than Camilla Belle's eyebrows and still figure out that all of the above will come into play at some stage. Gore fans will be disappointed since there hardly a drop of blood spilt throughout but there are enough shots of Belle's body - who must have sat in the bath with her clothes on for a month to get them to fit that tightly - to keep lecherous boys smiling and jealous girls pouting during the quieter moments. As Belle's classmate says "It's just a bunch of skanks and skirts acting like idiots". Well put.

Review by Gavin Burke