The defence The Adrenaline Seeker
“Its refusal to behave is the point.”
The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.
Back to trending 
When a Stranger Calls Back
Horror · Thriller · TV Movie · 1993
Jill Johnson, now a crisis center counselor, reunites with retired detective John Clifford to hunt a killer stalking a coed.
Movie details
When a Stranger Calls Back
“Terror Is Twice As Chilling The Second Time Around!”
1993 Horror · Thriller · TV Movie 1h 34m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
5.9 / 10
Community rating
Jill Johnson, now a crisis center counselor, reunites with retired detective John Clifford to hunt a killer stalking a coed.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over When a Stranger Calls Back?
For the defence
The Adrenaline Seeker
“If it slows down, you check your phone.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Prestige Tourist
“You like your greatness pre-approved.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Trick
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Bloodline
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Evan values family above all else, and anyone who gets between him, his wife, and newborn son learns that the hard way. But when it comes to violent tendencies, it seems the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
Curse of Chucky
Horror · 2013
After her mother's mysterious death, Nica begins to suspect that the talking, red-haired doll her visiting niece has been playing with may be the key to the mounting bloodshed and chaos.
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later
Horror · 1998
Two decades after surviving a massacre on October 31, 1978, former baby sitter Laurie Strode finds herself hunted by persistent knife-wielder Michael Myers. Laurie now lives in Northern California under an assumed name, where she works as the headmistress of a private school. But it's not far enough to escape Myers, who soon discovers her whereabouts. As Halloween descends upon Laurie's peaceful community, a feeling of dread weighs upon her -- with good reason.
Wrong Turn 2: Dead End
Horror · 2007
Retired military commander Colonel Dale Murphy hosts the simulated post-apocalyptic reality show where participants are challenged to survive a remote West Virginia wasteland. But the show turns into a nightmarish showdown when each realizes they are being hunted by an inbred family of cannibals determined to make them all dinner!
Saw VI
Horror · 2009
Special Agent Strahm is dead, and Detective Hoffman has emerged as the unchallenged successor to Jigsaw's legacy. However, when the FBI draws closer to Hoffman, he is forced to set a game into motion, and Jigsaw's grand scheme is finally understood.
Compulsion
Thriller · 2024
Two women—Diana, a flamboyant and ruthless thief, and Evie, a seemingly innocent young woman with a troubled past—become embroiled in a series of horrific murders on the island of Malta.
Maniac Cop 2
Action · 1990
Undead cop Matt Cordell rises from the grave, and is after the criminals who murdered him in prison.
Funny Games
Thriller · 2008
When Ann, husband George, and son Georgie arrive at their holiday home they are visited by a pair of polite and seemingly pleasant young men. Armed with deceptively sweet smiles and some golf clubs, they proceed to terrorize and torture the tight-knit clan, giving them until the next day to survive.
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Fred Walton
Written by
Fred Walton
Carol Kane
Jill Johnson
Charles Durning
John Clifford
Jill Schoelen
Julia Jenz
Gene Lythgow
William Landis
Karen Elizabeth Austin
Skid Row Woman
Babs Chula
Agent
John Destry
Detective 1
Court is in session
Put When a Stranger Calls Back on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Prestige Tourist
“Oddness is not depth.”
A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.