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A surprisingly sold thriller, with performances and production values well above the generic slasher standards that the title implies. The story is actually a little odd, with the tightly directed and genuinely scary 'There's somebody in the house' teen slasher scenario actually acting as bookends to a more conventional police thriller in which cop Durning hunts down the killer. While many find this middle story a little too dull, and guilty of slowing down the incredible suspense created by the opening scenes, I for one found it fascinating, in no small part to the performances of Colleen Dewhurst and Tony Beckley.Together, the two character actors, known more for their award winning theatre work than movies, provide thoughtful and rounded characters with genuine subtlety and depth. Dewhurst's Tracy, a lonely middle-aged drunk, makes for a refreshingly original object of the killers obsession, while the entire movie is almost stolen by an outstanding performance by Brit Tony Beckley. His Curt Duncan is one of the few believable studies in violent psychosis to be found in the horror genre. This isn't a serial killer in a mask, with gimmicky tools of destruction, silently stalking teenagers. THIS serial killer is a socially dysfunctional nobody who drifts in and out of city doorways and homeless shelters, as clueless as the audience as to why he feels compelled to kill.Shot on location in the seedy streets, bars, hotels and shelters of Downtown Los Angeles, 'When A Stranger Calls' possesses an air of refreshing authenticity in a genre awash with stylized theatrics and unbelievable stretches of fantasy. A good film, that delivers way above expectations.
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