MovieChat Forums > When a Stranger Calls (1979) Discussion > Anyone else think? *SPOILERS*

Anyone else think? SPOILERS

posted 11 years ago by hexedd
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I love this film, and think it's done extremely effectively and is still creepy even today, but I can't help but feel like even after several viewings over the years that the beginning and end sections of the film seem a bit out of synch with the middle section. They introduce you to Carol Kane and make you think she's the main protagonist and then suddenly the focus shifts to the killer, and then the detective, and then back to Carol Kane again at the end. It's like the story changes protagonists several times. In some ways I find this very effective, but in others it somehow feels like the beginning and ending are a different film than the middle. I wonder how much of this was due to editing, time constraints, etc.

Still a wonderful film and a classic, but I just wondered if it was only me that felt that way about the structure of it.

[–] plasmic_steve 11 years ago

Check out the Trivia section - the whole first part of the movie was originally a short film, and they later (not long after) went back and wrote and shot the rest of the movie. That's what it feels like two separate stories.

[–] hexedd 11 years ago

Oh wow, I must have missed that. I read the trivia but didn't see that. Thanks for the info!