1979 Movie's Opening Scene Still Haunts a Generation-Now It's Ranked One of the Most Terrifying Ever
In the opening scene of When a Stranger Calls, a 20-something babysitter named Jill (played by actress Carol Kane) arrives in a dark, creepy home in the suburbs to watch two kids for the evening. The kids are already asleep upstairs when she gets there. Soon a series of chilling phone calls start-on the other end of the line, the menacing voice asks, "Have you checked the children?" This week, this unforgettable opening from When a Stranger Calls was ranked among the "most terrifying" in movie history.
In their recent ranking, Collider ranked No. 6 in their list of "The 10 Most Terrifying Movie Opening Scenes of All Time." In terms of most horrifying, the scene beats out the opening scenes from horror greats The Ring (2002) and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), among others, if that tells you anything.
The opening sequence ends on a terrifying kicker (spoiler ahead). When the phone calls persist, Jill calls the police, who brush her off at first. But soon they call back to tell her, "We traced the call. It's coming from inside the house." And that's when every babysitter, wannabe babysitter, and latchkey kid across America lost their ever-loving minds. The scene persists when a shadowy figure emerges at the top of the stairs. And no, the kids definitely weren't OK.
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Culturally speaking, the movie's storyline spread far and wide (I can attest that its terrifying lore hit my elementary school in the early '80s ... IYKYK). The critics at Collider say the film's strong opening is its best asset, and the rest of the film doesn't match up.In other words, this movie died so another opening scene with a terrifying phone call-Scream, starring Drew Barrymore-could live! The Scream scene came in No. 4 for most terrifying, by the way.
The horror film project from writer-director Fred Walton and writer-producer Steve Feke began in 1977. It was originally released as a 20-minute short film titled, The Sitter, which was based on a newspaper article about an actual babysitter in Santa Monica, California, who received frightening telephone calls from a stranger hiding inside the house.
Initially, The Sitter short failed to get attention, but then the writers landed a booking at a Los Angeles theater on the same bill with the film, Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977). That single-week engagement landed the writer a feature-length film deal, and When a Stranger Calls was released on October 26, 1979.
Watch the When a Stranger Calls trailer:
In February 1993, a remake of the movie, When a Stranger Calls Back (1993) was released. It was a sequel to the original film, starring Camilla Belle.
Watch When a Stranger Calls on YouTube (currently free with ads).
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This story was originally published April 23, 2026 at 5:11 PM.