When a horror movie sucks

Reviews make no secret of the fact that "When a Stranger Calls" is based on the well known urban legend about the baby-sitter, harassed by obscene phone calls to the point that she has the police trace the location of the caller. Finally the sitter learns that the caller is inside the house (it should also be noted that this is a remake of a well liked 1979 horror flick). The hope one should reasonably be able to hold out when going to a film like this, is the story is going to be told in a way that is creative and engaging. Ideally, the known story will be presented from unexpected or under explored angles. Unfortunately, this is not the case for "When a Stranger Calls." \nThe majority of the film is devoted to leading baby-sitter, Jill Johnson (Camilla Belle), slowly discovering what audiences have known all along. While this creates great suspense, as it is meant to do, the tension it builds is not followed by enough action to satisfy the need created by the slow build up. \nThe groundwork for all the scares is set up too far in advance and highlighted too clearly. The consequence is nothing is ever as scary as it would be if there were ever any actual surprises or if the clues were enigmatic enough to make you wonder if what you think is going to happen is actually going to happen. \nOn the upside, the house in which Jill is terrorized is pretty awesome and also sufficiently threatening, which makes the film increasingly more watchable. If it had been a choice, I would have skipped the film and paid my eight bucks to explore the house. Also, it can be said that Belle's ("The Ballad of Jack and Rose") acting, while certainly not stunning, is only painful to watch when she attempts to interact with other characters face to face. She is certainly adequate when it comes to being frightened by the chilling voice on the phone. Belle does succeed, however, if just by a hair, in being likable enough to keep you invested in her survival through the whole film. \n After all the bad things I've said about "When a Stranger Calls," I feel I should note that the theater where I saw it was packed with young, high-school-aged girls, screaming their heads off at every poorly executed twist of the plot. This means some people will find the movie scary. This also gives some other people one more reason not to go see this in theaters.