Just saw the scariest 20 minutes in cinema history.

[Amasov]

I watched the ORIGINAL 1979 film, When A Stranger Calls, with Carol Kane. I heard a lot about this movie and always wanted to see it. So, I watched it for the first time the other night.

Horror/Suspense films never leave much of an impact on me. I'm not normally scared by them, but I have to say, this one is an exception. I sat home, alone, the other night and started to watch it. The opening scene of this move was just utterly terrifying.

Carol Kane plays a teenager who is asked to babysit to children - who are never seen as they are in their bedroom fast asleep. Later into the evening, she begins to receive phone calls from, a stranger no less, who is consistently asking her if she has gone upstairs to check on the children. At first she shrugs off the calls, thinking it is some kind of prank, but as the night goes on, the calls become more frequent. Now terrified, she calls the police, but they tell her there is nothing they can do. They tell her if this stalker calls again to keep him on the line so they may trace the call.

Moments later, he calls. She keeps him on the phone for about a minute or two, even asking him what he wants. His response is a simple, "I want your blood..... ALL OVER ME!", which by the way, has to be the creepiest voice I have ever heard. After she hangs up, the police call back and inform her the call is coming from inside the house and warn her to get out immediately. Her reaction is followed by several quickshots of different areas of the house played to a very scary soundtrack.

As she slowly makes her way to the door, she looks up toward the staircase and sees a light come on from the upstairs hallway followed by the shadowy figure of the stalker slowly coming for her.

My description isn't even doing the entire sequence justice, but I'm sure you guys have seen it.

Either way, I found it very chilling and terrifying. This marks the first time I was truly scared watching a movie, I must say.

[The Fatman]

Classic movie, great scene. Makes you wonder why Horror has become such a lost art since the 70's.

[Aragorn]

^ Two words: torture porn.

When The Exorcist was re-released into theaters, the younger people in the audience laughed at it.

[Gep Malakai]

Phew. I saw the title and thought you meant Rolland Emmerich had started filming Asimov's Foundation trilogy. Crisis averted!

[J. Allen]

Aragorn wrote:

---

^ Two words: torture porn.

When The Exorcist was re-released into theaters, the younger people in the audience laughed at it.

Bingo.

I love classic horror films. The new stuff isn't horror, it's torture porn. It's an attempt to see just how bloody and graphic as they can. Story isn't important, just bring on the severed chests with the heart hanging out, with dogs eating it. That's what passes for horror films these days.


J.

[Aurian]

Amasov wrote:

---

I watched the ORIGINAL 1979 film, When A Stranger Calls, with Carol Kane. I heard a lot about this movie and always wanted to see it. So, I watched it for the first time the other night.

Horror/Suspense films never leave much of an impact on me. I'm not normally scared by them, but I have to say, this one is an exception. I sat home, alone, the other night and started to watch it. The opening scene of this move was just utterly terrifying.

Carol Kane plays a teenager who is asked to babysit to children - who are never seen as they are in their bedroom fast asleep. Later into the evening, she begins to receive phone calls from, a stranger no less, who is consistently asking her if she has gone upstairs to check on the children. At first she shrugs off the calls, thinking it is some kind of prank, but as the night goes on, the calls become more frequent. Now terrified, she calls the police, but they tell her there is nothing they can do. They tell her if this stalker calls again to keep him on the line so they may trace the call.

Moments later, he calls. She keeps him on the phone for about a minute or two, even asking him what he wants. His response is a simple, "I want your blood..... ALL OVER ME!", which by the way, has to be the creepiest voice I have ever heard. After she hangs up, the police call back and inform her the call is coming from inside the house and warn her to get out immediately. Her reaction is followed by several quickshots of different areas of the house played to a very scary soundtrack.

As she slowly makes her way to the door, she looks up toward the staircase and sees a light come on from the upstairs hallway followed by the shadowy figure of the stalker slowly coming for her.

My description isn't even doing the entire sequence justice, but I'm sure you guys have seen it.

Either way, I found it very chilling and terrifying. This marks the first time I was truly scared watching a movie, I must say.

I agree. I blame that scene for all the sleepless nights and my refusal to watch horror movies again

[Skywalker]

Gep Malakai wrote:

---

Phew. I saw the title and thought you meant Rolland Emmerich had started filming Asimov's Foundation trilogy. Crisis averted!

I thought he'd just seen the first twenty minutes of Twilight.

[byron lomax]

I love classic horror films. The new stuff isn't horror, it's torture porn. It's an attempt to see just how bloody and graphic as they can. Story isn't important, just bring on the severed chests with the heart hanging out, with dogs eating it. That's what passes for horror films these days.

I hate the torture-porn films as well, but not all of the "new stuff" can really be classified as such. Take The Descent for example.

[Lonemagpie]

That 20 minutes is actually the original movie as a whole - it was intended as a short film called The Sitter, and that's it in total. It's only after Haloween became a hit that they went back and expanded it to feature length by adding the "7 years later" hour.

[Amasov]

J. Allen wrote:

---

Bingo.

I love classic horror films. The new stuff isn't horror, it's torture porn. It's an attempt to see just how bloody and graphic as they can. Story isn't important, just bring on the severed chests with the heart hanging out, with dogs eating it. That's what passes for horror films these days.


J.

You're absolutely right. I went and saw Rob Zombie's remake of Halloween and was offended. How dare he take a classic such as that and have the nerve to try to update it, while at the same time shedding more on what made Michael Myers a psychopath.

I don't know about everyone else, but the whole reason why Michael was terrifying was because you did not know WHY he murdered - he just did it. To me, that's much more horrifying. I also appreciate Halloween for its lack of bloodshed. The new version has too much of it.

To me, a successful horror movie is all about being psychological, not about how much blood you can spill or how many cheap (or fake) scares you can shell out. A great horror film is one that gets your imagination to torture you. In fact, Carol Kane had said that at the screening of When A Stranger Calls, the audience stood up screaming and yelling at the screen at the scene when the shadowy figure is coming for her from the upstairs bedroom. That is success right there.

To shift the subject a tad; I'm sure this will make you all VERY happy. I read in a magazine recently that MGM is remaking Poltergeist.

Will these brainless retreading of Hollywood classics ever end?

[Spot's Meow]

I can't remember if I've seen this or not. I might have seen it when I was very young. Or read a book version or something. I remember taking in this story somehow and being very scared. I need to watch this soon.

Like you I am usually not at all phased by horror movies. The only one that has ever scared me was Halloween. And possibly this one, if I did in fact see the movie...

[Amasov]

Spot's Meow wrote:

---

I can't remember if I've seen this or not. I might have seen it when I was very young. Or read a book version or something. I remember taking in this story somehow and being very scared. I need to watch this soon.

Like you I am usually not at all phased by horror movies. The only one that has ever scared me was Halloween. And possibly this one, if I did in fact see the movie...

Here, check this - From Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7Olc-lYnak

[ManOnTheWave]

Lonemagpie wrote:

---

That 20 minutes is actually the original movie as a whole - it was intended as a short film called The Sitter, and that's it in total. It's only after Haloween became a hit that they went back and expanded it to feature length by adding the "7 years later" hour.

That makes a lot of sense. I remember watching the beginning on tv and was glued to the set. I lost interest after that segment.

[Starbreaker]

DON'T watch the remake unless you're a masochist.

[Harvey]

Aragorn wrote:

---

When The Exorcist was re-released into theaters, the younger people in the audience laughed at it.

That's because The Exorcist isn't really scary. It's got a great sense of style, but I wasn't scared by it. For that, you'd have to see Alien or the original Halloween.

I'll agree that "torture porn" (a label that is totally wrong, but I won't go there) isn't anything close to 1970s horror, though.