Can somebody tell me how can the killer calls from upstairs? I though there's no cellphone yet in 1979... Are the Mandrakis have 2 phone line in their house? (I born in 92, I don't really know about telephone system in 70s...)
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Haha.. I have parallel phone line in my house, and tried like what you said, but the telephone didn't ring... Instead it rang one time when I send a text message from cellphone...
But it's explain for what happened in this movie... Thanks!! :D
There was a second line in the house with a completely different phone number...
So you do have a plan? Yeah, Mr. White! Yeah, science!
Didn't the father mention having an office number in the beginning when he Jill fist comes over? I assume the killer called from that line.
sharePretty sure they state that there was an old line upstairs that was never disconnected.
shareNo cell phones. Back when we had dial phones, there was a number you could dial that would ring the phone. Actually there were several--each one would do a different ring pattern--long short long etc. You would dial the number, then hang up. The phone would ring until it was picked up. That's when the killer would also pick up the line and talk. Few knew about this, but it was mainly known by telephone employees to test the lines. I believe it went out with touch tone (digital) lines.
"Cum Grano Salis"
Though in the late 70s (79 like when the movie was made) there were both car phones and cell phones. Cell phones were less than a decade old then but they were invented in 73. But the above poster probably is correct into referencing the old style test rings
shareI haven't seen this movie, since it first came out and scared the stuffings out of me. This is based on a true story that I was told happened up The Island, when I babysat in the late 60's. Yes, there was an old home office line upstairs that was never disconnected. The killer had traumatized the babysitter after she called the police for over and hour and that is why they were able to trace the call.
What makes this extremely scary to me is that we never knew what happened to the killer. Yes the middle was a little slow, but it had to reset the mood and the tone. This movie was based on facts, whether true or at the very least urban lore.
Cell phones were instantiated in the '40s; they were very rare, and used in State/Federal business, though. 1973 was the year of the first cell phone call as we know it today, but iirc it wasn't until 1983 that a cell phone company came into existence to sell phones to the public. Even then, the price and portability was a huge issue; that's why pagers became common before cell phones.
shareNot totally; there were tons of codes - like dialling 200 (among others; the numbers for many features varied regionally) to have an automated voice announce the number (used when lines would be hooked up), for example. At least in some parts of the Midwest, on lines that had a NPA-NXX ready to function as a party line, a person could even get multiple different rings (the number of the possible party add-ons). So the killer *could* have just done that, but as you pointed out, the police say in the first part that the family had an additional line still active upstairs that they had forgotten to have disconnected.
Sigh...phones used to be cool. As children, my friends and I could spend hours looking for telephone easter eggs.
OP, cell phones actually predate 1979, just nothing like what they are today. But the person who said there was an additional wired line upstairs is correct. It used to be really common to have 2, 3, or more coming to a house; around the time I started getting enough calls to annoy the rest of the family, I got my own line, as did most of my friends. Kind of like parents get their children cell phones once they are in grades 3-4 these days. Only back then, it was more important because many areas didn't have call waiting, so if work called to get in touch with a parent, they would keep getting an engaged tone until their children got off the line...which could be hours, especially for tweens and teens. And also, there was no 'redial' yet, so a caller would have to dial the number full-out over and over, or get the operator to cut in and ask the talking parties to hang up.
shareThe house I grew up in had three separate lines:
1. Home
2. Computer (1980s/1990s -- internet but before www)
3. Debtors (people calling for bills got that number)
-Nam
I am on the road less traveled...
In the beginning the owner states there are several ones in the house with different numbers.
shareIt's how it was in the old days when someone had an office at home. two lines.
Though there was also a way to get your own line to ring back then. It was a pretty common source of entertainment for kids around 9 years old to figure this out or learn about how to do it from a friend. I forgot the method, but it was just a dialing sequence (I think).
You're right! There was a way back then to make your own line ring. I remember torturing my fmaily with it. But in this movie, the home owners were quite wealthy and he had a business office in his house that had a different phone number all together. Yet it was registered to the same house.
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