Quartile rating: 5.5/10 · 1 rating
Far away from the site of a gruesome murder, a teenager named Jill Johnson arrives at a luxurious home for a baby-sitting job. With the children fast asleep, she settles in for what she expects to be an ordinary evening. Soon, the ringing of a phone and the frightening words of a sadistic caller turn Jill's routine experience into a night of terror.
This 2006 remake of the 1979 horror film offers little that the original didn't already do, and the original itself was based on a limited premise. The plot is stretched thin — essentially a one-note concept (creepy calls to a babysitter) padded to feature length with minimal payoff. Acting is serviceable but unremarkable, with Camilla Belle carrying most of the film without much to work with. Cinematography is the relative bright spot, as the luxurious isolated house is effectively used to create atmosphere and tension. Novelty is very low — it's a remake of an already familiar premise that adds nothing new to the concept or execution. The ending is underwhelming and predictable, failing to deliver a satisfying resolution to the already thin tension built throughout.