WHEN A STRANGER CALLS (1979) (Mill Creek Entertainment Blu-ray review/Comparison)

WHEN A STRANGER CALLS (1979)

Label: Mill Creek Entertainment 
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Duration: 97 Minutes 
Audio: English DTS-HD Mono 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 
Director: Fred Walton
Cast: Carol Kane, Charles Durning, Rutanya Alda, Charles Durning, Tony Beckley

When A Stranger Calls (1970) is an urban legend-based thriller that I think every horror fan of a certain age grew up with on TV or VHS, I know I certainly did. I first saw it on TV in my early teens, right around when I started babysitting kids in my neighborhood. When I would babysit every time the phone would ring after the kiddos were asleep my heart would leap right out of my chest, it certainly had an effect on me, and I am sure it did the same for anyone who ever did any babysitting.

The film opens with highschool teen Jill Johnson (Carol Kane, Scrooged) babysitting the children of Dr. Mandrakis (Carmen Argenziano, Graduation Day) and his wife (Rutanya Alda, Girls Nite Out). While alone in the living room with the little ones asleep in their beds upstairs she begins receiving phone calls from a stranger asking "have you checked on the children?". These calls go on for a good while throughout the night, and finally unnerved she rings the police who say they will trace the calls, and just like in the seminal slasher Black Christmas (1974), they call back telling her that the calls are coming from inside the same house! She runs for the door just as the police arrive, and it turns out that the kids have been dead for hours, murdered by a disturbed man named Curt Duncan (Tony Beckley, The Fiend) who made his way into the home earlier in the night. 

Forward seven years and Jill has moved on from the tragedy, now married with young kids of her own, and unaware that the lunatic Duncan has escaped from the asylum for the criminally insane. Former cop turned private eye John Clifford (Charles Durning, The Dark Night of the Scarecrow), who worked the original case, is now on the trail of the escaped lunatic. After a terrifically
suspenseful start this middle third of the film is a bit of a slow-burn, with Durning tracking the homicidal loony through the seedier side of the city, it's not grinding to a half but it definitely slows down. 

The cast is fantastic, Tony Beckley's portrayal of the disturbed man is multi-faceted, portraying the character in such a pathetic sort way that you kind of feel bad for him, giving the character  a touch of humanity. Though you're never doubt that he's a madman, just barely able to contain his homicidal madness. At one point he follows a woman named Tracy (Colleen Dewhurst, The Dead Zone) home from a dive bar after getting a severe beat down by bar patrons after harassing her. He somehow manages to get invited inside by the woman, and she only just barely manages to get him out unscathed, not realizing the full threat until the following day when Durning's character  turns up on her doorstep and lays it. 

Things do pick up in the final stretch with Duncan inexplicably tracking Jill to a restaurant where she is dining with her husband while her kids are home with a babysitter, uh-oh. Jill is told there's call for her, and it sends chills down her spine when the familiar phrase "have you checked on the kids", greets her. This leading to a wonderfully nail-biting finale that nearly lives up to the first 20-min of the film.

Audio/Video: When A Stranger Calls (1979) arrives on Blu-ray from Mill Creek Entertainment in 1080p HD, framed in 1.85:1. It's a very filmic scan of the film elements that showcases plenty of natural looking grain throughout. The colors and skintones look accurate and well-saturated, with some  modest fine detail in facial features and clothing textures. Audio on the disc comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 with optional English subtitles. 

There are no extras what so ever, only a static menu offering the option to watch with/without subtitles. The single-disc release comes housed in a single-sided sleeve of artwork featuring the original DVD release artwork. This also comes with a retro VHS-style slipcover featuring the original movie poster artwork, with the disc having the same artwork as the wrap. 

Special Features:
- None  
When A Stranger Calls (1979) holds-up as creepy hider-in-the-house thriller, a tad soft in middle, but with a nail-biter of a start and finish. The new Retro VHS Blu-ray looks and sounds fantastic, highly recommended. 

Screenshot Comparison: 

Top: Mill Creek Entertainment Blu-ray (2020)

Bottom: Second Sight Films Blu-ray (2019)