On the list of films that need to be remade, the moderate 1979 shocker "When a Stranger Calls" has to be pretty low. The original, starring Carol Kane, held a few minor thrills, the pinnacle being the revelation of where the call was coming from. But in an age of *69, caller ID, GPS locators and reverse-lookup, the anonymity of a telephone call just isn't all that frightening.
If nothing else, director Simon West - the man for whom "Con Air" was a career peak - does manage to keep the pace brisk. In short order we meet Jill Johnson (a character name so clearly held over from the 70s) a high school student on her way to baby-sit for the rich Mandrakis family who live in a palatial house in the middle of nowhere. No sooner does the family leave for the night than Jill begins receiving mysterious phone calls.
Brazilian starlet Camilla Belle is cast as all American high school girl Jill. Playing the role mostly with mouth-breathing awe, it's a shame she doesn't do more with those ample eyebrows. She possesses little of the nerdy charm that made Ms. Kane such a fun heroine. In fact, Ms. Belle is so fit, it hardly seems like a surprise that she gives the killer a run for his money.
The script by newcomer Jake Wade Wall is careful to answer some nagging questions, such as why Jill doesn't have a cell phone or car (though Internet access isn't touched on) and why she can't call anyone for help (her friends are at a party and out of range). But while Mr. Wall's script efficiently puts the film through its paces, what passes for dialogue (Jill's friend Tiffany: "I'm a bitch, you and I both know that.") adds nothing to the proceedings. Plus, the big reveal (the caller's location) has been so often parodied that it's less of a shock and more of a relief that the movie's almost over.
The film makes the Mandrakis household a marvel of technology, but for all the build-up, the house isn't used for much more than a setting. For some reason, those houselights, which turn on automatically when you enter the room, are finicky, leaving Jill in the dark at the most inopportune moments. Even an early display of Jill as a budding track star doesn't pay off.
Of all the plot holes in the film, the most egregious may be why, after we're told that the Mandrakis' have a live-in housekeeper and a son in the guesthouse, they need a babysitter in the first place. Then there's the question of why Jill doesn't just stop answering the phone. Of course, then there'd be no movie. And I'd have 90 minutes of my life back. Wait…why is that a bad thing?
