When A Stranger Calls 2006

Scott Tobias, AV Club: The original should have been a short film; the new version shouldn't exist at all. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: Even by the lowest standards, this is a frightless, cynically made movie. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: This leaves young Belle (The Ballad of Jack and Rose) to wander rooms aimlessly, and for the musicians and Foley artists to work feverishly pretending there's reason for suspense. Read more

Tim Grierson, L.A. Weekly: Stranger is one long tease that, instead of building tension around Jill's efforts to outwit her mysterious stalker, has her run around the house, unsuccessfully calling every friend, cop and family member she knows. Read more

Jan Stuart, Newsday: Nothing in this droopy remake of the 1978 thriller starring Carol Kane could possibly be as frightening as the Windex bill for those two-story picture windows, not to mention the ones that surround the indoor arboretum and fish pond. Read more

Lisa Rose, Newark Star-Ledger: Dial M for mediocre. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: For real thrills, rent the original, turn down the lights and scare yourself silly. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: It's funny how the story's mechanics hold up in the age of cells (static) and caller ID. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: A production that never comes close to realizing its potential to tweak the viewer's primal fears. Read more

Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star: If there's a single dead-wrong instinct in this movie that isn't pursued with the blind determination of an amorous terrier during high-scent season, darned if I can remember it. Read more

Nigel Floyd, Time Out: If you've seen either Black Christmas or Halloween, there's nothing new here: the hyped-up score keeps telling us we ought to be scared, but the suspense feels mechanical and fake. Read more

Joe Leydon, Variety: A modestly clever concept gets indifferent execution in When a Stranger Calls, another bigger-yet-blander remake of an allegedly classic' '70s shocker. Read more

Matt Singer, Village Voice: This version is a thin, protracted study in shifting Hollywood strategies. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: When a Stranger Calls has been remade -- with undistinguished if inoffensive results -- by Simon West, who is quickly becoming a reliable purveyor of Hollywood's dreckiest dreck. Read more