WHEN A STRANGER CALLS (1979) & WHEN A STRANGER CALLS BACK (1993) (Second Sight Blu-ray Review)

WHEN A STRANGER CALLS (1979) & WHEN A STRANGER CALLS BACK (1993) 

Label: Second Sight Films
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: 
Audio: English PCM 1.0 Mono 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

The original When A Stranger Calls (1970) is one of those urban legend-based films that I think every horror fan of a certain age grew up with, I certainly did, having watched in in my early teens, right around the time I started babysitting a pair of annoying kids for a friend of the family, everytime the phone would ring my heart would stop, it was always n my mind. I didn't end up babysitting the kids for very long, which turned out to be a good thing, a few weeks after I stopped watching them they burned their house down  while their granny was watching them, apparently they were playing with matches while grandma was asleep. 

The film opnes with highschool teen Jill Johnson (Carol Kane, Scrooged) babysitting the young children of Dr. Mandrakis (Carmen Argenziano, Graduation Day) and his wife (Rutanya Alda, Girls Nite Out). She finds herself alone in the house while the children are asleep upstairs, and while doing her homework begins receiving phone calls from a creepy voiced man who inquiring "have you checked on the children?". These calls goes on for a good while throughout the night, finally unnerved she rings the police who say they will trace the calls,  calling back a short while later and telling her that the calls are coming from inside the same house as her! 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 at some point. 

Forward seven years later and Jill is now married with a pair of her own children, unaware that lunatic Duncan escaped from the asylum he was sent to years earlier. But 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. This middle third of the film is slow-burning with Durning tracking the homicidal loony through the city, the film had such an electrifying and genuinely creepy opening 20-min that this part of the film slows it down considerably, it's not ruinous but I always find it a bit of a slog.

While I find that it's slowed down I do enjoy the cast here, Beckley is very good as the disturbed man, in fact he portrays the character in such a pathetic sort way that you kind of feel bad for him, he gives the character some humanity. Though you never doubt that he's a madman, just barely able to contain his homicidal madness, at one point following a woman named Tracy (Colleen Dewhurst, The Dead Zone) home from a bar where he's just received a beat down from the bar patrons after harassing her. He manages to creep his way into her home, and she just barely manages to get him out, not realizing what a threat he posed until Durning turns up on her doorstep the next day and lays it out for her, Dewhurst turns in a fine performance as a woman past her prime, lonely, but not that lonely. 

Things do pick up in the final third with Duncan inexecplaiably tracking down Jill to a restaurant where she is dining with her husband while her kids are home with a babysitter. He calls her at the restaurant and sending chills down her spine with the familiar phrase "have you checked on the kids", leading to a wonderfully suspenseful finale that nearly lives up to the first 20-min of the film. The film drags a bit in the middle but the beginning and end are fantastic, making this slice of suspense a classic thriller with some real nail-biting moments.  

The cast is great, the lensing is solid, the score is creepy, and it's well directed by Fred Walton, who also directed the maligned but awesome 80's slasher April Fools Day (1986), which is also sorely in need of a proper Blu-ray release.

Second Sight have also included the direct-to-cable TV sequel to the film, When A Stranger Calls Back (1993), which reunited director Walton with stars Durning and Cane who reprise their roles, adding a new babysitter to the mix by way of teen Julie (Jill Schoelen, Popcorn) who while babysitting a pair of kids receives a knock at the door from a man who says his car broke down nearby, it plays out much the same way as the first film, with the same results for the poor kids, and moving forward five years when Julie is a student at a local college, still traumatized by her experience years earlier, and now with someone stalking her. Enter Jill Johnson (Carol Kane) who is now a counselor at the same college as Julie, who calls in Durning's character to assist with the case. This was my first time watch of the sequel, for a direct-to-cable TV sequel is was well-done, mirroring the original but adding some new twists and turn, very glad second Sight saw fit to include it on this set. 

Audio/Video: When A Stranger Calls (1979) arrives on region-free Blu-ray from Second Sight Films presented in 1080p HD, framed in 1.85:1, looking very filmic. The new scan of the film elements showcases plenty of natural looking grain that hasn't been DNR scrubbed or tinkered with unduly. The colors are solid and saturated, blacks are deep and shadowy,  and we get some modest fine detail in facial close-ups and with clothing textures throughout. When A Stranger Calls Back (1992) is presented in the original full frame aspect ratio in 1080p HD, audio is 2.0 PCM with optional English subtitles. 

Audio comes by way of an PCM Mono track that is clean and well-balanced, the creepy score from Dana Kaproff (Empire of the Ants) springs to life nicely in the mix with nice depth and fidelity. Optional English subtitles are provided.

Extras on the disc include new interviews with director Fred Walton, actors Carol Kane and Rutanya Alda, and composer Dana Kaproff, plus the original 22-min film that inspired the film. 

We were only sent a "check disc" for the purpose of this review so I have no comment on packaging, booklet or the soundtrack CD that accompanies retail version of the release. 

Special Features: 
- The Sitter - Short Film (22 min) HD 
- The sequel ‘When a Stranger Calls Back' HD
- New int. with director Fred Walton (17 min)
- New Int. with actor Carol Kane (17 min) 
- New int. with actor Rutanya Alda (5 min) 
- New int. with composer Dana Kaproff (8 min) 

Limited Edition Contents:
- CD Soundtrack
- 40-page perfect bound booklet with new essay by Kevin Lyons
- Reversible poster with new and original artwork
- Rigid slipcase packaging

When A Stranger Calls (1979) gets a first-rate presentation from Second Sight Films, who were also kind enough to include the cable TV produced sequel, plus a handful of quality extras. Fans of suspenseful thrillers and creepy home invader films should absolutely dig into this nail-biting double-feature.   

GIRLS NITE OUT (1982) (DVD Review)

GIRLS NITE OUT (1982)

Label: Guilty Pleasures 
Rating: R
Region Code: 1 NTSC 
Duration: 96 Minutes 
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1) 
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 
Director: Robert Deubel
Cast: Julia Montgomery, James Carroll, Hal Holbrook, Suzanne Barnes, Rutanya Alda, David Halbrook

Girls Night Out (1982) also known as The Scaremaker opens creepily at the Weston Hill Sanitarium where inmate Dickie Kavanaugh hangs himself. Afterward a pair of knuckleheaded gravediggers are digging his grave in the dark of the night hen they are killed by someone with a shovel who then hides their bodies in the plot. Afterward a killer wearing a team mascot bear costume with a claws made of serrated knives stalks college teens during a campus wide scavenger hunt at nearby Dewitt College.

Turns out that Dicky Kavanaugh had been committed to Weston Hills twenty years earlier after having murdered the daughter of the chief of campus security named, a guy named Mac played by actor Hal Holbrook (Creepshow) who is seriously slumming it in this slice of z-grade slasher, surely only appearing to support his son who was cast in the movie as a tubby and frustrated student with a bad temper named David Prior. Prior's girlfriend Sheila dumps him at a school costume party after a victorious basketball game, dumping him for the school mascot, a nice guy named Benson. Prior leaves the party in a bit of a  rage shouting “You’re all whores!... I won’t forget this!"... what an asshole.

Not long afterward someone stabs Benson to death and makes of with his bear mascot costume, whispering "Sorry, but I need this more than you do". The killer then fashions a set of killer-claws from serrated steak knives which he slips into the paw of the bear costume. Afterward the killer in the bear costume begins killing off co-eds one by one during a campus scavenger hunt hosted by the campus radio station, with a disco-era looking DJ who wears a lot of shiny satin clothes and spins old time rock and roll tunes throughout the night. The DJ Chimes in throughout the night offering a new riddle to the whereabouts of the the next item to be sought - which sends co-eds to all ends of campus in search of the coveted objects. However, the killer is also listening to the radio and arrives at each of the locations to kill the first person to arrive, usually a young woman.  After each kill the murderer calls into show to announce each kill cryptically, not unlike like in the movie New Year's Evil (1980). 

Eventually The DJ gets weirded-out by the creepily cryptic phone calls and calls Mac the campus security guard to let him know what's happening, and soon enough the killer calls Mac and says that he is Dickie Kavanaugh and he's out for revenge. The incensed Mac calls the Weston Hill Sanitarium and is informed that it cannot be Dickie because he died several days ago. In true detective fashion Mac is reading through an old stack of newspapers for clues, at one point doodling onto an image of someone from which draws his suspicion of who the killer might be. Noteworthy is that Holbrook appears to have only showed up on set for a day of filming and most of his scenes are not shared with anyone, they're edited to appear as though he does, thought the end result is not exactly seamless, with the actor only sharing screen time with other actors in only a few shots. 

When the killer strikes he usually hiss the words "bitch, slut, pay a price you whore", whoever they are they certainly have some pent-up anger towards women. The killer seems to prefer throat slashes with those cool serrated claws but they aren’t opposed to a traditional stabbings from time to time.

The amount of characters is this one is a bit of a head-spinner, in fact there's no final girl per se, which is sort of weird for an early 80s slasher movie. There are way too many faces but they're a fun assortment who are more likable than the usual 80s slasher offered, which also sets it apart from the usual 80s stalk and slash movies. We have a couple of stoned dorks who love to joke around, a pair somewhat homo-erotic jocks who hang around shirtless a bit too much for straight guys, and kinky girls looking to get laid which again is a bit of a deviation from the norm. Aside from the familiar face of Hal Holbrook the movie also stars Julia Montgomery who will forever be remembered as nerd-obsession Betty Childs from The Revenge of the Nerds (1984), as well as the 80s comedy Up the Creek (1984) and the horror under-seen 80s horror gem The Kindred (1987)

The movie has a surprisingly cool soundtrack stuffed with oldies from The Lovin' Spoonful, 1910 Fruitgum Co, I can only assume that the producer’s must have had some nice connections in the music industry to score them - and could perhaps be a reason the movie has not arrived on Blu-ray et, sometimes those music rights are the hardest part of a movie to clear,. . 

The movie struggles with a weird tonal duality, at times it has a fun Porky’s sort of teen sex-comedy feel with loads of horny teen shenanigans but it also has a weird dark side which borders on sleazy and sorta cheesy at the same time, which not unlike the killer the movie is a bit schizoid, it doesn't feel like the director has a good idea of what sort of movie he wanted to make at the time, his name was Robert Deubel and he only directed a handful of movies, none of which I've watched. As for the kills they are kind of brutal but not very gory, with plenty of blood but they're obscured by the furry paws of the killer bear costume. The movie also suffers a bit because there's a definite lack of tension, the movie doesn’t really offer much in the way of suspense, but as a lover of goofy 80s slasher schlock I think this is a blast. 

The movie comes to a weird close when the killer abducts the side chick of one of the nice jocks who runs after her, tracking the killer to the cafeteria kitchen at the campus student union where all is revealed in a jarring and off-beat finale that stands apart from the rest of the movie with a bizarre shocker of an identity crisis infused finale. I found this to be a ton of fun even if it zips up a bit too fast for my tastes. This is definitely a movie full of what the WTF-ery and some goofy 80s awesomeness, but it is not a great slasher movie, just a weird one with a notable killer that stands apart from the rest of the pack. 

The movie is long overdue for a HD upgrade, I would love to see a distributor like Arrow Video, Vinegar Syndrome or Scream Factory pick this up and give it an upgrade with some cool extras, if just to see some new artwork with the killer-bear on the cover.  The way I see it is that if schlock like Evils of the Night (1985), Blood Rage (1987) and The Mutilator (1984) are Blu-ray worthy then I can only assume this won't be far behind.