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HalloSCREAM! 2020 #01: Second Sight Back Catalog Review - When A Stranger Calls (Limited Edition)

Yes, yes yes!!! HalloSCREAM is back (And I'm most likely going to make it an annual thing too!) and it has a great selection of films for you to read about and me to enjoy (or endure, depending). The Main rule for HalloSCREAM is that it is either a new movie, an obscure format, a new release of the film, or an oddity. Now...with that intro out of the way let's get started with a great combination...Second Sight Film, Movies, thrillers, Babysitters, and scary loud phones... Have you ever watched a movie that you saw that was totally brilliant but then years later you forgot what it was called but really wanted to own a copy?

What? It's just me? Really?

Damn.

Well, this is one of four movies that fall in that category for me...and sadly the other three I STILL do not know what the titles are (Oh boy, this could be another adventure...)

When I started looking through the back catalog of Second Sight Film I saw they had this and it started ringing some bells, and when I was able to get hold of a copy and watch it I knew it was the movie I'd seen when I was a teenager...and I was babysitting!

Teenager Jill Johnson is babysitting one night for a physician and his wife. During the evening, a mysterious phone caller starts taunting her: sometimes he says nothing; other times he asks, "Have you checked the children?" Jill eventually fears for her safety and calls the police, who successfully trace his next call. Police are immediately dispatched and Jill narrowly escapes after a shocking discovery is made.

Seven years later the crazy caller escapes from a psychiatric hospital and resumes his demented mission, this time pursuing Jill's husband Steven and their children. The original lead detective, now a P.I. hired by the murdered children's father, is also hunting the murderer.

This is the original movie!

Based on the infamous urban legend and featuring one of the most famous and gripping opening scenes ever in horror movie history (homaged by Wes Craven in the opening of Scream), Fred Walton’s When a Stranger Calls is a masterclass in suspense that has rarely been equaled. This movie has scared people witless with its twists and turns, and barely any on-screen violence to this seminal thriller, but that is not a bad thing, this movie just reels you in and has you absolutely hooked and then some.

Fred Walton originally shot this film as a short entitled 'The Sitter', which was essentially the opening 20 minutes of 'When A Stranger Calls'. However, after seeing the massive success that Halloween (1978) had, Walton saw the potential of expanding the short into a full-length feature. The script was then expanded into a feature-length film about the pursuit of the villain.


So, that's the movie.... let's get to the disc itself.

Fred Walton being interviewed for this disc.

The movie was a new scan and restoration, which just made it absolutely amazing, great visuals, and brilliant audio it was a treat to watch this, and as soon as I settled down to watched this I was almost sent back to the time I was babysitting and watching this! As for extras, there are the original short "The Sitter" and the sequel TV movie "When A Stranger Calls Back" as well as interviews. It's great to have all of the stories there is one nice set there, and the movies both have English subtitles for the hearing impaired.

Second Sight Film made another beautiful Limited Edition here! Housed in a rigid slipcase packaging, the Blu-Ray case has a reversible sleeve featuring new artwork as well as original artwork, and the case holds the movie and a CD of the original soundtrack. Add to this a reversible poster and a 40-page perfect-bound booklet with a new essay by Kevin Lyons and you have a really nice collector's piece that is a must-have for people who love thrillers, cult classics, or movies from the '70s.

Both sides of the cover, showing new and original poster art

Sadly, the Limited Edition is now out of print, but sometimes stores may have stocks in warehouses hidden in corners and not realize (you'd be amazed how often this happens). There is a standard edition of the Blu-Ray also released by Second Sight Film that is basically the Blu-Ray from this set without the soundtrack CD.





When A Stanger Calls is rated 15 and unfortunately the Limited Edition is now out of print but the standard Blu-Ray is available from Second Sight Film HERE. It is also available on VOD.

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