Wow! Such a good movie.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Blistering performances.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

The atmosphere was resonant and intriguing in the introduction, with the vibrant atmosphere of the fair injecting some much needed originality into the film. However from this point I found the film dull and uninspiring due to a flat story line, poor script, bland and repetitive cinematography and amateurish acting. The tension was incredibly forced seemingly inspired by the 'aspiring director's handbook for crappy tension' which used all the cliché tricks such as stumbling for keys meant to create suspense, but I kinda found it laughable instead – this was repeated for most the movie. The plot build up seemed to lead nowhere leaving me disappointed at the not so climactic climax. Even though the movie was only 90 minutes it seemed to drag on and on because of the nothingness story. However, the chosen locations are to be praised as they invoke a feeling of hopelessness and isolation mirrored by the character.I wouldn't really recommend it, unless you are really scraping the bottom of the barrel for horror films. I guess it's a pretty good comedy if you like screaming cliché at the top of your lungs like I do.

There are some movies that, when you move past a certain age, you really struggle getting into the drama/suspense of the plot and characters. "When A Stranger Calls" is exactly that kind of movie.For a basic plot summary, this film sees babysitter Jill Johnson (Camilla Belle) terrorized by a mysterious caller who won't seem to leave her alone. As the calls keep coming in, Jill gets progressively creeped out and decides to take action.Like I said in the opening, the trouble with this movie is that once you are over about 15-16 years of age, the suspense themes of the film will no longer truly creep you out. Simply put, this is a "tween" flick through and through, as there really isn't enough "real" suspense to suck in those who have seen these types of efforts before.The other dramatic problem with "Stranger" is how they deal with Jill's antagonist. Instead of leaving anything to mystery, pretty much the whole scenario of what will happen is laid out in the film's opening scene. A bit more mystery might have been the way to suck in those viewers who aren't necessarily enraptured by the "babysitter in peril" angle.Overall, then, "When A Stranger Calls" is a below-average effort in the suspense genre, doing just enough to avoid a dismal rating. If you want any enjoyment from it at all, watch it with a young or pre-teen. Otherwise, this one can easily be skipped.

Spoiler Alert! This movie had a decent opening I suppose and sort of good character build up, but for the most part it was missing the kills any normal slasher fan would want. In fact, you never see anybody die which is really kind of a disappointment. The movie had some good scary and suspenseful scenes like this scene where Jill is outside and she sees the silhouette of a man in the window, walking back and forth. Another decent scene is when she is hiding in the pond, under the bridge, and sees the maid's body, truly intense. The killer's identity is never really explained and it has a great atmosphere but besides that the movie is truly boring and not enough kills. It also has sort of an unhappy ending where Jill seems to have gone completely insane. Overall I give it a 5 out of 10.

A case of a remake being better than the original!! I hated the 1979 version!! I thought this version was scarier and a lot more entertaining! I like Camilla Belle as the star of the film. No it's not a classic "gem" of a movie, but it's a pretty good popcorn flick on a Friday or Saturday night. Its filled with constant suspense from beginning to end. Overall, when a stranger calls (2006) gets a rating of 7/10 for being entertaining fun and suspenseful! There have been a lot worse remakes, trust me on that. So don't be suede by the negative reviews, take my advice and check it out for yourself! You might like, you might not, but just check it out.