WHEN A STRANGER CALLS BACK

Carol Kane 

WHEN A STRANGER CALLS BACK (made-for-cable telefilm/1993). Co-writer/director: Fred Walton. 

A babysitter named Julia (Jill Schoelen) is watching her two charges when a man comes to the door and tells her his car has broken down. Julia is smart enough not to let him inside, but when she offers to phone for assistance, she discovers the phone is out of order. Afraid to tell him this, she lies and says she's made the call. Then things get much worse. The suspenseful prologue of this film possibly out-creeps the prologue in the first film, When a Stranger Calls. 

Jill Schoelen

As in the first movie, the scene then shifts five years into the future, when Julia fears she is being stalked by that man outside the house, who disappeared along with the children. Two people who believe her story and come to her aid are Jill Johnson (Carol Kane,) who has her own babysitting horror story to tell, and private eye John Clifford (Charles Durning), who came to Jill's assistance in When a Stranger Calls. Jill is convinced that every weird thing that's happened to Julia is real, but John is a little more skeptical. Both agree, however, that the man or men who terrorized her five years before have to be tracked down. But is this mysterious figure tracking them down as well?

Gene Lythgow

When a Stranger Calls Back is arguably better than, and certainly just as good, as the original. Walton doesn't just replay the prologue of the first film, but comes up with some new twists, and the storyline that follows is also different from the original movie. The sequel is a bit slow at times, but it is atmospheric and never shakes its sense of dread. One scene in a hospital is especially creepy, and the exciting climax is also noteworthy. The performances are good -- this includes Gene Lythgow in an important role --  but as in the first film, I wish the characters had been better developed. Although Kane had a husband and children in the first film, they are not even referred to in passing in the sequel -- she even uses her maiden name -- and we never learn all that much about Julia or her stalker. There are also some annoying loose ends. However, the film is still entertaining and suspenseful, and the eeriness is abetted by the photography of David Geddes and the score by Dana Kaproff.

Verdict: Worthwhile sequel is creepy and disquieting. ***.