Babysitters Beware...

I just saw this at Growball Cineplex last night with M.


Given my default setting of generally abhoring the horror genre, I'd say that this was one of the below average ones. But.... It's been a long time since I've reviewed any kind of movie and because I'm in a bloggin mood, I thought I'd give it a shot.

But first, let's have a look at the best part of the movie.


Heh, say hello to Camilla Belle, folks. I thought she was pretty fly. She's still up-and-coming; the most famous movies she's been in were Practical Magic (that one with Sandra Bollocks and Nicole Kidding) and Lost World: Jurassic Park. Minor roles apparently.

Anyway, back to the movie. When A Stranger Calls is actually a remake of the 1979 film with the same name when I looked it up on Wikipedia after watching the movie. Just check out the poster for the 1979 one:



A pretty basic but scary premise: you're the babysitter and while sitting alone in the clients' home, you start to get phone calls from a stranger, each one more threatening than the last. That's surely going to drive anyone mad.

And this movie feeds on that fear. And it shallows chunks at a time when you can see in a modern setting, Jill (the babysitter), is surrounded by all kinds of modern household gadgets which supposedly gives us better protection from outside threats. But they just don't.

Lemme see: Jill has land lines connected to 2 phones, one of them being cordless with a seemingly unlimited range. She has a cellphone. And she's in a big modern home with what looks like a fully-featured home security system.

Certainly there are going to be more modern devices than its 1979 version right? Trust me: the home security system with all its codelocks and stuff is featured very prominently in this film.

Yet, with all the protection in the world, Jill just doesn't seem to be having a very good day. First of all, it's like, she can't seem to get through to anyone on her cellphone: either they're out of range or she gets the answering machine. Geez, I'd thought every major town in the US would have blanket cell cover.

Also, despite, the home security system, the intruder still manages to get into the house. (I'm not giving a spoiler here either. This particular and vital fact was featured in every one of the previews so you'd know that the killer does get into the house eventually).

And throughout the show, I kept wondering how the hell did the killer got to know that 'there's this chick, man, like she's hot man! And ya know what? I just happen to know she's babysitting tonight at the Mandrakis' so I'm gonna go over there, maybe play some mind games then kill her... yeah!'

Yeah, how'd he know that Jill's babysitting there that night?

I'm not gonna talk about the whole plot (which is about as straight forward as you can get). Go see the movie. But you know, as the movie rolls toward the end, I kept waiting for some kind of conspiracy-twist to the story. Wishful thinking on my part, I guess.

In the end, it's all about what we already know. Have a friend along when you're babysitting in a large house with lots of dark corners and corridors.