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.
Pooka Lives!
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A group of thirty-something friends from high school create their own Creepypasta about Pooka for laughs, but are shocked when it becomes so viral on the internet that it actually manifests more murdererous versions of the creature.
The Town that Dreaded Sundown
Thriller · 2014
A masked maniac terrorizes the same small community where a murderer known as the Phantom Killer struck decades earlier.
Candyman
Horror · 2021
A Chicago artist's sanity starts to unravel, unleashing a terrifying wave of violence when he begins to explore the macabre history of the Candyman.
The Strangers: Chapter 2
Horror · 2025
After learning that one of their victims, Maya, is still alive, The Strangers return to finish the job. With nowhere to run and no one to trust, Maya soon finds herself in a brutal fight for survival against psychopaths more than willing to kill anyone who stands in their way.
Insidious: The Last Key
Horror · 2018
Parapsychologist Elise Rainier and her team travel to Five Keys, NM, to investigate a man’s claim of a haunting. Terror soon strikes when Rainier realizes that the house he lives in was her family’s old home.
Insidious: Chapter 3
Horror · 2015
A prequel set before the haunting of the Lambert family that reveals how gifted psychic Elise Rainier reluctantly agrees to use her ability to contact the dead in order to help a teenage girl who has been targeted by a dangerous supernatural entity.
When a Stranger Calls
Horror · 1979
A student babysitter has her evening disturbed when the phone rings. So begins a series of increasingly terrifying and threatening calls that lead to a shocking revelation.
Halloween Kills
Horror · 2021
Michael manages to free himself from Laurie Strode's trap to resume his ritual bloodbath. As she fights for her life from injuries from their last encounter, she inspires her daughter Karen, her granddaughter Allyson, and all of Haddonfield to rise up against the unstoppable monster.
Halloween
Horror · 2018
Laurie Strode comes to her final confrontation with Michael Myers, the masked figure who has haunted her since she narrowly escaped his killing spree on Halloween night four decades ago.
Insidious: Out of the Further
Horror · 2026
Gemma, a young mother raising her daughter in the house she grew up in, discovers she can travel into The Further, where she possesses an ability to bring what lives there back to the real world.
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.