When A Stranger Calls review

As anaemic, anodyne horror remakes go, this isn't as bad as The Fog. And that's all the praise that can be heaped on Simon West's 'update' (cellphones!) of the Carol Kane-starring 1979 shocker, in which a nubile babysitter (is there another kind?) finds herself terrorised by a raspy stalker who asks, "Have you checked the children?"

The original is an effective little shocker that leaves plenty of room for improvement - perfect fodder for a remake. Here, however, we have the icy first act thawed out over 87 tepid minutes, as Camilla Belle's sprog-watcher creeps around a ludicrously over-designed house.

Saved from one-star ignominy by a reasonably suspenseful final reel that finally adds a little slash to the stalk, this remains a routine, bland, sanitised chiller. Approach with caution.