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When A Stranger Calls (1979 Film)
''When a Stranger Calls'' is a 1979 American psychological horror film written and directed by Fred Walton and co-written by Steve Feke. It stars Carol Kane, Colleen Dewhurst, Tony Beckley and Charles Durning. The film derives its story from the classic folk legend of "the babysitter and the man upstairs". The film has developed a large cult following over time because of the first 20 minutes, now consistently regarded as one of the scariest openings in film history. The first 12 minutes of Wes Craven's ''Scream'' (1996) is an homage to the opening of ''When a Stranger Calls''. The film was released in the United States on September 28, 1979, by Columbia Pictures. It was commercially successful, grossing $20 million at the box office. It received a mixed critical reception, with many praising the opening scene and performances, but criticism for its writing and lack of scares. It was followed by the 1993 made-for-cable sequel ''When a Stranger Calls Back'' and a remake in 2006. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fred Walton (director)
Fred Walton (born 1949) is an American film director and screenwriter. Among his films are ''When a Stranger Calls (1979 film), When a Stranger Calls'', ''April Fool's Day (1986 film), April Fool's Day'', ''The Rosary Murders'', ''I Saw What You Did (1988 film), I Saw What You Did'', ''When a Stranger Calls Back'' and ''The Stepford Husbands''. Born around 1950, Walton was raised in Chevy Chase, Maryland. He graduated from Denison University, where he majored in theater. As of 2016, Walton resided in Portland, Oregon, where he has lived since the 1990s. Filmography References External links * 1949 births Denison University alumni Film directors from Maryland Living people Horror film directors {{US-film-director-1940s-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
When A Stranger Calls (2006 Film)
''When a Stranger Calls'' is a 2006 American psychological horror thriller film directed by Simon West and written by Jake Wade Wall. The film stars Camilla Belle, Brian Geraghty, Katie Cassidy, Tessa Thompson and Clark Gregg. Belle plays a babysitter who starts to receive threatening phone calls from an unidentified stranger, played by both Tommy Flanagan and Lance Henriksen. It is a remake of Fred Walton's 1979 horror film of the same name, which became a cult classic for its opening 20 minutes, which this remake extends to a feature-length film. The film was theatrically released on February 3, 2006. It was panned by critics but was a moderate box office success, grossing $67 million worldwide on a $15 million budget. Plot A local sheriff enters a home where multiple homicides have been committed; the victims are three children and their babysitter, all slaughtered brutally by an intruder using his bare hands. In Colorado, 125 miles away from the crime scene, sixteen-year-o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang. Although the name "Rotten Tomatoes" connects to the practice of audiences throwing rotten tomatoes in disapproval of a poor stage performance, the original inspiration comes from a scene featuring tomatoes in the Canadian film ''Léolo'' (1992). Since January 2010, Rotten Tomatoes has been owned by Flixster, which was in turn acquired by Warner Bros in 2011. In February 2016, Rotten Tomatoes and its parent site Flixster were sold to Comcast's Fandango. Warner Bros. retained a minority stake in the merged entities, including Fandango. History Rotten Tomatoes was launched on August 12, 1998, as a spare-time project by Senh Duong. His objective in creating Rotten Tomatoes was "to create a site where people can get access to reviews from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Variety (magazine)
''Variety'' is an American media company owned by Penske Media Corporation. The company was founded by Sime Silverman in New York City in 1905 as a weekly newspaper reporting on theater and vaudeville. In 1933 it added ''Daily Variety'', based in Los Angeles, to cover the motion-picture industry. ''Variety.com'' features entertainment news, reviews, box office results, cover stories, videos, photo galleries and features, plus a credits database, production charts and calendar, with archive content dating back to 1905. History Foundation ''Variety'' has been published since December 16, 1905, when it was launched by Sime Silverman as a weekly periodical covering theater and vaudeville with its headquarters in New York City. Silverman had been fired by ''The Morning Telegraph'' in 1905 for panning an act which had taken out an advert for $50. As a result, he decided to start his own publication "that ouldnot be influenced by advertising." With a loan of $1,500 from his father- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands within the British Isles. Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland; otherwise, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea and the Irish Sea. The total area of the United Kingdom is , with an estimated 2020 population of more than 67 million people. The United Kingdom has evolved from a series of annexations, unions and separations of constituent countries over several hundred years. The Treaty of Union between the Kingdom of England (which included Wales, annexed in 1542) and the Kingdom of Scotland in 170 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Happy Birthday To Me (film)
''Happy Birthday to Me'' is a 1981 slasher film directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring Melissa Sue Anderson and Glenn Ford. Its plot revolves around six brutal murders occurring around a popular college senior's birthday. Filmed primarily in Canada and upstate New York, ''Happy Birthday to Me'' was distributed by Columbia Pictures, and released theatrically in North America on May 15, 1981. The film received mostly mixed reviews from critics. Plot Virginia "Ginny" Wainwright is a pretty and popular high school senior at Crawford Academy, a member of the school's "Top Ten," an elite clique of the most privileged and popular students. Each night, the group meets at the Silent Woman Tavern, a local pub. One night en route to the tavern, Bernadette O'Hara is attacked in her car by an unseen assailant. She struggles and plays dead to catch the killer off-guard before running to get help. She then runs into an unseen individual whom she is familiar with and begs for help, but the p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of storing several hours of high-definition video (HDTV 720p and 1080p). The main application of Blu-ray is as a medium for video material such as feature films and for the physical distribution of video games for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. The name "Blu-ray" refers to the blue laser (which is actually a violet laser) used to read the disc, which allows information to be stored at a greater density than is possible with the longer-wavelength red laser used for DVDs. The polycarbonate disc is in diameter and thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Conventional or pre-BD-XL Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual-layer discs (50 GB) being the industry standard for feature-l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brewster's Millions (1985 Film)
''Brewster's Millions'' is a 1985 American comedy film directed by Walter Hill. The film stars Richard Pryor and John Candy. The screenplay by Herschel Weingrod and Timothy Harris was based on the 1902 novel of the same name by George Barr McCutcheon. It is the seventh film based on the story. Plot Monty Brewster is a Minor League Baseball pitcher with the Hackensack Bulls. He and his best friend, Spike Nolan, the Bulls' catcher, are arrested after a post-game bar fight. A man offers to post their bail if they will come to New York City with him. At the Manhattan law office of Granville & Baxter, Brewster is told that his recently deceased great-uncle Rupert Horn, whom he has never met, has left him his entire $300 million fortune but only if he can complete a challenge with several conditions. Brewster can choose to receive $1 million upfront or attempt to inherit the whole estate by spending $30 million in 30 days. In the former case, the law firm becomes the executor of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
48 Hrs
''48 Hrs.'' (pronounced 'forty-eight hours') is a 1982 American buddy cop action-comedy film directed by Walter Hill, who co-wrote the film with Larry Gross, Steven E. de Souza and Roger Spottiswoode. It stars Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy, the latter in his film debut, as a cop and a convict, respectively, who team up to catch two hardened criminals. The title refers to the amount of time they have to solve the crime. Though it is predated by Richard Rush's ''Freebie and the Bean'', the film is often credited as being the first in the "buddy cop" genre, which includes early entries in the genre such as ''Lethal Weapon'', '' Bad Boys'' and ''Rush Hour''. ''48 Hrs.'' was Joel Silver's first title as a producer. Its supporting cast features Annette O'Toole, James Remar, Frank McRae, David Patrick Kelly, Sonny Landham, Jonathan Banks and Brion James. The musical score was composed by James Horner. Released by Paramount Pictures on December 8, 1982, ''48 Hrs.'' was one of the mos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States. The publication has won more than 40 Pulitzer Prizes. It is owned by Patrick Soon-Shiong and published by the Times Mirror Company. The newspaper’s coverage emphasizes California and especially Southern California stories. In the 19th century, the paper developed a reputation for civic boosterism and opposition to labor unions, the latter of which led to the bombing of its headquarters in 1910. The paper's profile grew substantially in the 1960s under publisher Otis Chandler, who adopted a more national focus. In recent decades the paper's readership has declined, and it has been beset by a series of ownership changes, staff reductions, and other controversies. In January 2018, the paper's staff voted to unionize and final ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Sitter (1977 Film)
''The Sitter'' is a 1977 American horror- thriller short film directed by Fred Walton on which his 1979 feature film '' When a Stranger Calls'' is based. It is a suspenseful retelling of the classic urban legend of " The babysitter and the man upstairs" about a babysitter who is menaced by mysterious and frightening phone calls which are finally revealed to be coming from inside the house. Plot On the evening of March 21, 1972 in Santa Monica, California, a teenage girl named Jill Johnson is babysitting the children of Dr. Mandrakis at his house. The children have been put to bed upstairs and Jill is downstairs in the living room doing her homework. She receives a telephone call from a man who asks her if she has checked the children. Jill dismisses the call and goes back to her homework. The anonymous caller dials back several times. Eventually Jill calls the police, who inform her to keep the caller on the line long enough for them to trace the call. After the stranger calls ag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rutanya Alda
Rutanya Alda (born Rūta Skrastiņa; October 13, 1942) is a Latvian-American actress. She began her career in the late 1960s, and went on to have supporting parts in ''The Deer Hunter'' (1978), ''Rocky II'' (1979), and ''Mommie Dearest'' (1981). She also appeared in a lead role in the horror films '' Amityville II: The Possession'' and '' Girls Nite Out'' (both 1982). Life Rutanya Alda was born Rutanja Skrastiņa (Rūta Skrastiņa) in Riga, in German-occupied Latvia, the daughter of Vera ( ''née'' Ozoliņa), a businesswoman, and Jānis Skrastiņš, a poet. Alda, her grandmother, her mother and her brother spent seven years in a displaced persons camp in Allied-occupied Germany after World War II. She then relocated with her family to the United States, briefly living in Chicago before settling in Flagstaff, Arizona. Career With a career spanning nearly 50 years in show business and over 100 roles, Alda might be best known for her performances in ''The Deer Hunter'' as Steven's w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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