When A Stranger Calls (1979 Film) - Plot

Plot

Jill Johnson (Carol Kane) is babysitting the children of a doctor at their home. When the children are asleep, Jill receives a telephone call from a man who asks her if she has checked the children. At first, Jill dismisses the telephone calls as a practical joke; however, as the calls become more frequent and threatening, Jill becomes frightened and telephones the police, who promise that they would trace the call if Jill would keep him on the telephone line long enough. Jill, frightened to extreme measures, arms herself as she receives one final telephone call from the nefarious caller. Soon after her conversation with him, Jill receives a call from the police, only to find out that the stalker is calling from inside the house. The suspense of this part of the movie climaxes when a light turns on at the top of the staircase, which allows Jill to see the shadow of the stalker. Jill immediately runs to the front door to scream for help.

Officer John Clifford (Charles Durning) is then shown at the police investigation. At this point, the viewer learns that the children had been murdered by the perp several hours earlier. Also, the murderer is identified; he is an English merchant seaman named Curt Duncan (Tony Beckley), and is subsequently sent to an asylum. Seven years later, Duncan escapes from the asylum, still psychopathic. Dr. Mandrakis hires ex-cop Clifford, now a private investigator, to find Duncan.

Still not knowing Clifford is after him, Duncan is now a homeless, vagrant loner. He gets into a fight and is beaten after disturbing a middle-aged woman, Tracy (Colleen Dewhurst), in a tavern, and later follows her to her apartment. Feeling sorry for his disastrous appearance and for the fact that his attempts at a conversation with her started the fight in the first place, Tracy makes light conversation with him. While they are in the doorway talking, Tracy's phone rings forcing her to excuse herself so she can go answer it. While she is on the phone, Duncan lets himself into her apartment. Tracy doesn't tell him to leave her place right away nor explicitly rebuffs his awkward proposal to visit her for coffee the next night, assuming or hoping it will be the last of him she will see.

Meanwhile an increasingly obsessed and vindictive Clifford, having confided to a former partner (Ron O'Neal) that his intention is to kill Duncan rather than arrest him, follows Duncan's trail right to the tavern where the fight took place, and from there to Tracy's residence—- precisely the same night in which Duncan is likely to arrive for his visit. Clifford goes there and tells her just how dangerous her situation has become. He also tells her that Duncan literally tore and hacked up Mandrakis' children with his bare hands, rendering them virtually unrecognizable, which explains why he was found smeared with blood by the police; this, along with some eerie flashbacks experienced by Duncan later in the movie, is one of the few moments where the carnage at the Mandrakis household is described. Upon hearing this, Tracy reluctantly accepts to be Clifford's bait at the tavern that evening, although Duncan doesn't arrive and she finally decides to return home. Clifford then leaves Tracy's place; Duncan, who was hiding in Tracy's closet, pushes her to the wall and briefly muffles her cries for help. When he frees her, her horrified shrieks alert Clifford, force the intruder to flee the scene and mark the start of a cat-and-mouse chase through the streets of downtown Los Angeles, during which Clifford is outrun during at least two occasions and finally loses Duncan's track.

Jill Johnson is now an adult, married with two young children. One night, Jill and her husband Stephen go out to dinner in celebration of a promotion. A friend named Sharon babysits her children. She references that she saw Jill in the newspaper. Curt Duncan happens to find the same newspaper in the city, and begins to look for Jill once again. While the couple is out, Jill gets a telephone call at the restaurant. She answers, and gets another "Have you checked the children...?" Jill panics and calls Sharon. She says nothing is wrong. The police arrive and escort Jill back home. John Clifford tries to telephone Jill, but gets no signal. Jill and Stephen sleep. Later, Jill goes down for a glass of milk, when the lights go out. She goes back upstairs and gets in bed once again. The closet door opens a little, and she hears the voice of Curt Duncan. She tries to awaken Stephen, who turns around, revealing that Curt is actually in the bed. He rips Jill's nightgown and chases her around the room. Clifford arrives, and kills Curt, shooting him twice. Stephen is revealed to be in the closet, alive but seemingly unconscious. As Clifford comforts Jill, the last view is of the house, in view of the frightening eyes of Curt Duncan.