When A Stranger Calls (1979)
Status:
Repeat Offender
Directed By:
Fred Walton
Starring:
Carol Kane
Charles Durning
Tony Beckley
Colleen Dewhurst
Carmen Argenziano
Favorite Character:
Jill Johnson
Plot Summary:
Dr. Mandrakis and his wife are headed out for the night for dinner and a movie and they’ve hired Jill Johnson as their babysitter for the evening.
At first glance Jill appears to be your average, teenage girl. She hangs out downstairs doing her homework and talking on the phone to her friend about boys while the children are upstairs sleeping.
After getting off of the phone with her friend she receives a series of phone calls from a mysterious man who repeatedly keeps asking her if she’s checked the children (which she hasn’t cuz she’s a really shitty babysitter…just sayin’).
Terrified by the phone calls she eventually calls the police who inform her there isn’t anything they can do about the phone calls unless the caller is threatening her or using obscene language (typical – talk about art imitating life). Instead the officer suggests she whistle loudly the next time he calls to deter him from calling again (cuz that’s helpful information right there).
A frustrated Jill gets off the phone with the police and the mysterious caller phones again which prompts Jill to call the police again. The officer tells her that they can try and have the call traced but in order to do that she needs to keep him on the line for at least a minute – which she does.
He ends up freaking her out even more before hanging up on her. The phone rings almost immediately and she picks up the phone and starts screaming that he leave her alone when she’s interrupted by the cop. THE CALL IS COMING FROM INSIDE THE HOUSE…OH MY GOD!!! RUN, BITCH, RUN!!!!!!!!!!
She attempts to flee the house, hampered by that damn security chain, and when she finally gets the door open there’s a cop standing there which causes her to let out a blood curdling scream (seriously, bitch…you know the bad guy is upstairs…why the fuck are you screaming?!?!)
The cops apprehend the bad guy, one Curt Duncan, and he is committed to the loony bin until he escapes 7 years later.
Clifford, the cop from the beginning, is now an investigator and he’s hired by Dr. Mandrakis to hunt down the escaped Duncan and get him the justice he was denied when the courts found Duncan insane and had him committed.
A cat-and-mouse game ensues with Clifford nearly catching Duncan a few times (yawn) before he escapes again in downtown Los Angeles.
Unfortunately for Jill, but fortunately for us (thank God it gets interesting again) she still lives in LA and due to her picture being posted in the paper Duncan finds her again. This time she’s married with two kids and while she’s out on a date with her husband and her kids are at home with a babysitter (you have to admit that’s funny) she gets a call from Duncan which causes her to fuh-lip out.
She and her husband, and a couple of cops, race back to the house which leads up to the terrifying conclusion that’s just as tense and heart-racing as the beginning.
Favorite Quote(s):
Jill Johnson: You really scared me, if that's what you wanted. Is that what you wanted?
Curt Duncan: No.
Jill Johnson: What do you want?
Curt Duncan: Your blood all over me.
Favorite Scene:
When the police phone back to tell Jill where the call is coming from.
Review:
A truly terrifying take on the old “The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs” urban legend. I watched this movie when I was 12 and the first 20 minutes (and last 20 minutes or so) scared the living bejesus out of me. I didn’t want to babysit for months after seeing it.
With that being said, I feel I need to be brutally honest - most of the film is boring as hell. It suffers from bad editing, over-acting, and Carol Kane’s character is only in the first, and last, sections of the film which is truly disappointing in my opinion. Despite all of that, I still really like this movie.
I do think that the three main parts were well cast. Carol Kane is an amazing actress and she has a very vulnerable look to her. She can also do frightened extremely well.
Tony Beckley’s portrayal of Curt Duncan was truly frightening. He managed to be sinister, creepy, and seriously off-putting with his facial expressions alone.
And Charles Durning, well, he might only be capable of the one facial expression, but he is definitely convincing as a grizzled ex-cop turned investigator hell bent on tracking Duncan’s character down and making him pay for what he did.
All-in-all it is worth seeing. Especially if you’re in the mood for a good scare!
Interesting Fact:
Based on the year the film took place, 1 minute would not be nearly long enough to trace Curt's call. Back when the movie was set, it would've taken 10-20 minutes for several switchboards and circuits to locate the origin of the call.
Rating:
Trailer:
The Last House on the Left (2009)
Status:
Second Time Offender
Directed By:
Dennis Iliadis
Starring:
Tony Goldwyn
Monica Potter
Sara Paxton
Garret Dillahunt
Spencer Treat Clark
Favorite Character:
Justin
Plot Summary:
Two cops, transporting a criminal in the back of their cop car, are driving along a deserted country road telling dirty jokes to each other. The criminal in the back of the car asks if they can stop so he can piss which, of course, they refuse to.
A short time later they happen upon a railroad crossing where they have to stop due to the fact there's a train (although I'd have liked to seen them chance it, but that's just me). One of the cops notices Krug, the criminal, has his eyes closed and appears to be praying. He cracks a joke and moments later the car is slammed into by a truck incapacitating both of the cops.
Inside the truck are Krug's brother Francis and his she-bitch Sadie. Sadie shoots the cop that was driving in the head after he moans and then climbs into the back of the car onto Krug (like a dog in heat) and proceeds to free him. Krug then gets out of the car and kills the other cop in a rather cruel fashion before the screen cuts to a girl swimming in a pool.
It's here we meet Mari Collingwood, her mother Emma, and her father John. On the surface they seem like the idyllic nuclear family (don't they all?), when in reality they aren't as perfect as they appear to be (boohoo!).
It appears to be time for their annual family vacation and the three set off for some unknown middle-of-nowhere lake house where they plan to spend the next few weeks enjoying their summer. Little do they know this is one vacation they should have skipped.
Upon arriving at their lake house Mari goes for a swim in the lake while her parents settle in and then she cons them out of the car which she uses to take into town to visit her friend Paige. Paige works at the town's general store and she and Mari proceed to hang out there where we learn that Mari and her parents had suffered the loss of her older brother Ben a year before the events of our story take place.
This is also where they meet Justin, a creepy, awkward teenager who is buying junk food and is apparently in the market for some cigarettes. Not wanting to offer up ID he suggests a trade. Paige sells him cigarettes sans ID in exchange for some primo weed, which Paige is all too happy to accept.
They head back to his hotel where Paige promises to "just be five minutes" before returning with the weed. Several minutes pass and Paige doesn't return so Mari goes to see what the hold up is. She finds them already smoking a joint and reluctantly joins in.
Their party is cut short, however, by the return of the room's other occupants - Krug, Sadie, and Francis. Justin is Krug's offspring and Mari and Paige are officially screwed (no pun intended). What started out as an easy way to score some weed has now turned into a life and death hostage situation (if only they'd listened to their parents about stranger danger).
Krug, Justin, and the others set off in Mari's car intent on heading out of town but Mari derails that plan when she tries to escape and causes Krug to crash the car (thank God for airbags...).
What happens next is beyond difficult to watch and could accurately be described as the most horrifying thing you will ever have to sit through - in any film, not just this one. It also sets the tone for the rest of the film which you find yourself inescapably committed to seeing.
Remember, what doesn't kill you only makes you temporarily homicidal...
Favorite Quote(s):
Morton: Praying now?
Krug: Oh Lord! Won't you grant me an empty mayonnaise jar to piss in.
Morton: You know, Krug, considering the rather notorious nature of the prison you're headed to, I think I'd pray for something a little more substantial.
Favorite Scene:
The last scene Krug is in. I know...I have issues.
Review:
Does it make me a bad/twisted/morally depraved person to say that I liked this film? Because I did, but not because of the content. As revenge films go it's nothing new and the only real difference between the remake and the original is that the daughter survives - which may, or may not, be a blessing.
The film is intense, the bad guys are oh so bad, the good guys are oh so wholesome, and watching the lines get blurred between what you know is right and what you have to do to protect yourself and those you love is a train wreck - in the sense that you can't look away despite the fact you know what's about to happen.
The roles were well cast, especially that of Tony Goldwyn's, and the story and direction were well paced and solid.
A lot of the complaints I've heard peg this as being boring, but I disagree. It is a slower paced movie, but it doesn't lag so much that it loses your interest.
Having seen the remake I do feel comfortable enough to say that it's a more solid horror effort. The first one was made on a very small budget and while the acting was good and it was just as difficult to watch as the remake, it did lack some polish and it had some fairly gaping plot holes.
And if you're sitting here, reading this, saying she's full of shit I would hope that you've seen both films. If you have, I'd love to know why you disagree with me, and if you haven't, shut the fuck up - go watch the movies - and then talk to me about it.
I'd also like to mention that the film score is amazing! But, then again, I am partial to John Murphy.
Interesting Fact:
According to Sara Paxton, in an interview, the rape sequence took 17 hours to film.
Rating:
Trailer:
The Crazies (2010)
Status:
Repeat Offender
Directed By:
Breck Eisner
Starring:
Timothy Olyphant
Radha Mitchell
Joe Anderson
Danielle Panabaker
Favorite Character:
Russell Clank
Plot Summary:
Something ain't quite right in America's heartland. A small town sheriff, David, whose leading an idyllic life with his pregnant wife (aww, how sweet...hey, that rhymed!), and whose days probably consist of breaking up bar fights and pulling over speeders (exciting...right?) has his life turned upside down one fine spring afternoon when the town's drunk, Rory, stumbles onto the baseball field with a shotgun.
Drawing his gun, probably for the first time in his life, he tries (rather unsuccessfully) to talk Rory down and ends up shooting him...to DEATH! (How rude!) He attributes the incident to Rory being drunk, but is schooled by Rory's wife that he was sober now, which the ME backs up later on making David look like a douchebag.
Over the course of the next twenty-four hours or so the townsfolk start going batshit crazy (I'm using that term mildly) and before David can get a handle on what's going on he, and the rest of the townsfolk, are kidnapped by men in military uniforms and gas masks and transported to a makeshift quarantine area where David is separated from his wife Judy.
True love prevails and David and his deputy, Russell, bust the fuck out of the quarantine, get some ammo, and head back to kick some ass and take some names. Only problem is, they've still gotta make it past the barricades and out of town...preferably in one piece, and that ain't gonna be easy. (I mean, these guys aren't rocket scientists...)
Favorite Quote(s):
David Dutten: [In the car wash, to the Deputy firing his shotgun out of the car window] RUSSELL!
Russell Clank: I saw a movement!
David Dutten: Everything is fucking moving!
Favorite Scene:
The car wash.
Review:
I'm not a huge fan of remakes, and despite having seen scores upon scores of horror movies, there are still those that have managed to slip through the cracks. The original version of this film is one of those few. Having shared that I don't have a problem saying that I really like this movie. I think I would really like this movie even if I had seen the original, which I plan to do very soon seeing as it's available on Netflix Instant.
The movie has a solid cast who all give top notch performances. The story isn't new (obviously) nor all that unique, but it is well done. Let's be honest, as a society we're pretty desensitized to most of the horrors out there. Murder, rape, war, famine, and abuse (to name just a few) are all things we see on a regular basis, but this manages to take all those atrocities we're so numb to and make them terrifying again because one thing that we still find frightening is disease of the weaponized viral/bacterial variety.
Also, here, we have the small town sentiment where everyone knows everyone and to watch people you've possibly known your entire lives descend into madness and depravity has to be not only terrifying to see/experience, but heartbreaking as well. That fear/heartbreak does a lot to add to the tone of the film and, in many ways, makes it scarier than it might have been otherwise.
If you're a horror fan and you haven't seen this one I would definitely add it to your list. It's not, by any means, the great horror film you will ever see, but it is definitely worth watching.
Interesting Fact:
Lynn Lowry, who costarred in the original version of The Crazies, has a cameo as an infected local riding her bicycle through the deserted center of town.
Rating:
Trailer:
