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...

This film provides examples of:
 * 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.