The Sitter

No one would deny the first twenty minutes of WHEN A STRANGER CALLS is pure classic horror material: perfectly edited, shot, and acted, genuinely terrifying. Unfortunately, that film meanders after that, taking the viewer through dull, muddled material until we get to a good finale that still cannot top the opening. So, it's no shock to discover WHEN A STRANGER CALLS was an expansion of the director's earlier short film, THE SITTER.

THE SITTER is just about the same as the opening of WHEN A STRANGER CALLS, right down to the dialogue and the weird use of freeze frame. It's a brilliant short, only flawed by a somewhat wooden lead actress who's no match for Carol Kane in the later version. But still, this is good stuff and worth seeking out.

"When a Stranger Calls" (1979) is an excellent thriller by Fred Walton and the first part of about twenty minutes is amazingly tense and scary, a masterpiece of the genre. Recently released in Brazil on DVD for the first time, it includes an interview with Fred Walton and the short "The Sitter" and the viewer learns that the feature is an extension of "The Sitter".

This short has basically the same screenplay of "When a Stranger Calls". However, the lighting and mainly Carol Kane make an impressive difference. The short is weak and does not build tension. Maybe in 1977 it was attractive, but now it is worthwhile watching only for comparison purpose. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "A Babá" ("The Baby Sitter")

Simple and weak short. The movie did it better and with more tension (although it has its flaws).

"The Sitter" is a faithful but relatively unremarkable adaptation of the classic urban legend "The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs". The short film features fairly strong performances by lead actress Lucia Stralser and Curt Sanders, the man behind the surprisingly unsettling voice that repeatedly terrorizes her. The film's wide shots also do a great job of conveying Jill's relative isolation and insecurity in the ominously quiet house. Other than that, however, I find "The Sitter" to be relatively unremarkable. The frightening phone calls that carry the plot along prove to be increasingly repetitive rather than truly building tension as they could, and the musical score utterly destroys any leftover tension that they might have. The calls should trigger an ominous atmosphere, not one that sounds as if Jill has stepped into the next level of "Luigi's Mansion". This ultimately proved to be "The Sitter"'s downfall in my opinion, as I found myself not especially caring about what would happen as it quickly drew towards its conclusion.

However, I am very much looking forward to watching "When a Stranger Calls", as I've heard it's done much better. Plus, you know, Carol Kane!

P. S.: I did very much enjoy the fact that Jill's solution to being terrorized over the phone is to raid the liquor cabinet. Classic move.

Just have to preface this by saying that 'When a Stranger Calls' is one of the most effective, terrifying horror films of all time. I was so excited when I found out this predecessor existed.

Good Lord.

This 20 minute short is a verbatim version of the first 20 minutes of the film. It honestly makes me lose respect for the original film; the way Walton adapted this segment verbatim, as if it was perfect.

The acting is absolutely horrendous on all fronts; the main girl is laughable, the cops are completely tone deaf.

The music is comically juvenile; if they were aiming for ironic creepiness what they hit was just disjointed.

1 star. This short is laughably amateur.