When a Stranger Calls

When a Stranger Calls is a horror movie that uses The Calls Are Coming From Inside the House as a plot. It plays with the Urban Legend of "The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs".

There are two versions: the 1979 original, starring Carol Kane, and a 2006 remake, with Camilla Belle. The 2006 remake uses cell phones instead of the technical impossibility of a rotary-dial phone calling itself, and is no less effective for it.

Both movies follow Jill Johnson, who, after being grounded by her parents, is working as a babysitter for the children of a wealthy doctor and his wife. Not long into her job, however, she is plagued by persistent, creepy phone calls from someone who is watching her every move...


 * Ax Crazy: The Stranger.
 * Bittersweet Ending:
 * The Calls Are Coming From Inside the House (Trope Namer)
 * Catapult Nightmare: It happens to.
 * Cat Scare: Constantly.
 * Cry for the Devil: The original. Most people forget that the movie continued beyond the 22 minute mark, and was just gushing with this.
 * Dies Wide Open:.
 * Evil Phone
 * The Faceless: When the Stranger is finally revealed, his face is partially hidden by shadows right up until he is being.
 * For the Evulz: There's really no purpose to the stranger's phone calls, except to freak out Jill. And the audience.
 * Gory Discretion Shot: The opening scene.
 * Hey, It's That Voice!: The voice of the Stranger is provided by none other than Lance Henriksen.
 * Infant Immortality:
 * It Got Worse: Jill finds the phone calls annoying and mildly unsettling at first, but when they keep coming...
 * Spared by the Adaptation: in the remake.
 * Trailers Always Spoil
 * Vader Breath: Many of the phone calls made by the titular Stranger consist of his creepy, heavy breathing.
 * Vader Breath: Many of the phone calls made by the titular Stranger consist of his creepy, heavy breathing.