When a Stranger Calls is a 2006 American psychological horror film directed by Simon West and written by Jake Wade Wall.

A local sheriff enters a home where multiple homicides occurred; an intruder killed three children and their babysitter using his bare hands.

Meanwhile, in Colorado, 125 miles away from the crime scene, 16-year-old Jill Johnson is babysitting for the wealthy Mandrakis family, as a consequence of exceeding her cell phone minutes.

Believing it is the Mandrakis' older son back from college, she investigates, but finds the guest house empty.

Screen Gems first announced production of When a Stranger Calls in August 2004, with Jake Wade Wall penning the script.

Screen Gems had plans to release both a remake of the original film and a sequel titled When a Stranger Returns.

Camilla Belle was then approached and almost turned the role down due to her personal dislike for horror films but West, the director, convinced her that he was going more for a psychological thriller so she accepted.

Belle was injured twice on the set; she struck a wooden bridge, cutting and scarring her hand, and also slammed her head against a glass window.

When a Stranger Calls: The Complete Original Motion Picture Score, 15-instrumental songs composed by James Dooley, was released on February 10, 2006.

When messaged, "Jill" (a Colloquis-style program) made small talk before panicking, as she received calls from a stranger asking her to check the children.

It does not involve calling her, but instead she directs users to a video security system on the official DVD site where the shadow of the stranger passes by frequently.

Special features include two audio commentaries (one with Camilla Belle and Simon West; the other with Jake Wade Wall), deleted scenes, a 20-minute making-of featurette, and trailers.

A Blu-ray version of the film was released for the first time by Mill Creek Entertainment on October 4, 2016, in a triple feature with I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) and Vacancy (2007).

The website's critics consensus reads: "When a Stranger Calls ranks among the more misguided remakes in horror history, offering little more than a rote, largely fright-free update to the original.

[15] Screen Gems was initially planning to make a sequel rumored to be titled When a Stranger Returns with Hayden Panettiere set to star as the babysitter, in light of the film's box office success.