When a Stranger Calls (1979)

A well made and suspenseful horror-thriller with an intro baby sitting scene that i haven't forgot since i saw this film in the cinema some
40 (forty) years ago. A great opening indeed but impossible to keep that intensity for the rest of the film.
Charles Durning is always great to see and he's fine as PD and ex-crime cop John Clifford, even though i doubt he could chase anyone
mildly fit for any longer distance. Also there's some LA street atmosphere and actor Tony Beckley is very good as the mentally deranged
perp. I have never heard about him but he was great, and also Colleen Dewhurst was fine as Tracy, the lady in the bar.
Carol Kane we get to see in the first scene and then we won't see her until the 77 minutes mark.

Jill Johnson (Kane) babysits at the Mandrakis house when the couple has a night out. Someone calls "Have you checked the children" and
then hangs up and repeats this for many phone calls. Jill gets more and more afraid and finally calls the police who traces the calls, and tells
her that the calls are coming from .... well, anyway the children are murdered and the perp is an Englishman, Curt Duncan (Beckley).

Seven years later Duncan has escaped his mental asylum and the Mandraki's hires a PD, the ex-cop Clifford (Durning) to get the perp.
Here, the thriller almost turns into drama when we get to know Curt Duncan, a homeless bum living on the streets despised by everyone
and Tony Beckley acts so well that we almost pity him, almost, but he has killed two small children with his bare hands.

The Blu-ray presents the film in a 1.85:1 widescreen ratio with an English audio DTS-HD MA 2.0, no extras, region ALL

When a Stranger Calls Back (1993)

A strange and forgotten late sequel to the 1979 Hit "When a Stranger Calls" from the same director and with same actors, Carol Kane and
Charles Durning and with Jill Schoelen added, all giving great performances. Ha, ha, i actually liked this film better than the first one and
this even though this was made for TV or not. The plot is so wild and crazy in this strange Crime Mystery, and i love it.

The ending is Insane. A Ventriloquist and make-up expert perp ?

In this film Julia (Jill Schoelen) has a traumatic experience as a babysitter and 5 years later she's a student when she starts believing that
someone has been in her apartment and moved things. Jill Johnson (Carol Kane) the babysitter from the forst film, is now working at the
Campus and she believes Jill could be in danger and calls in her friend, Private Detective John Clifford (Durning) to help her.

The Blu-ray presents the film in a 1.78:1 widescreen ratio with an English audio DTS-HD MA 2.0, no extras, region ALL