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DEDICATED TO THE HORROR GENRE
TEN TOP PHONE CALLS IN HORROR
The ringing of a phone strikes terror into the hearts of some. Is it a cold-call? Is it work? Is it that friend you've been trying to freeze out of your life? Well, it could actually be worse! Here are ten of the scariest phone calls the horror genre has to offer.
Halloween (1978)
Proof that Michael Myers isn't just a killing juggernaut with a mask fetish… he also has a morbid sense of humour. In this scene with the lovely genre actress P.J. Soles (playing the brilliantly named Lynda Van Der Klok), he appears as an archetypical "sheet ghost", complete with comedy spectacles. Unfortunately, Lynda assumes that he's her boyfriend Bob, who Michael has left impaled in the kitchen downstairs. Unable to get a reaction from him, she phones Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) who is babysitting across the street and is promptly strangled with the phone cord. After a classic response from Laurie ("First I get your famous chewing, now I get your famous squealing"), it prompts the final act as a curious Laurie encounters The Shape for the first time.
976-Evil (1988)
Mostly known for being the directorial debut of one Robert "Freddy Krueger" Englund, this minor horror (literally) demonises the premium-rate telephone number system that was popular in the late 1980s but has since been superseded. Hopeless nerd Hoax (Stephen Geoffreys from "Fright Night") seeks guidance by constantly ringing the title number and getting a personalised "Horror-Scope" (accessed by tapping 666 naturally). Its mostly lame voiceovers telling him to act like a "real man", but one call sees his accepted a "reverse call" where a crappy blue SFX covers his body, and he gradually transforms into a demon. Full marks, however, for showing the portal to Hell as ice-covered, rather than the usual Hellfire and Brimstone.
Cell (2016)
The film's not great (understatement intended), and the book isn't one of Stephen King's finest works, but the basic concept of "Cell" is still chilling. The best moment in the movie occurs in the opening sequence at the airport. Clayton "Clay" Riddell (John Cusack) is in Boston Airport trying to connect with his estranged family, but his cell phone dies. Lucky for him, because at that moment a phenomenon known as "The Pulse" is released across all mobile phone networks. We hear it as a burst of nightmarish static, but it turns anyone who hears it onscreen into an instant "Rage Zombie", who will merrily bash in the brains of the nearest person, or knock their own teeth out. Humankind's addiction to their phones pretty much guarantees a quick extinction, so it's all downhill from there… in so many ways.
One Missed Call (2003)
We're referring to the original J-Horror from Takashi Miike here, and not the (slightly lame and predictable) US remake from 2008. Having said that, it's not one of the great J-Horror classics, despite several sequels, and there are some considerable comparisons to be made with "Ringu" and "Ju-On". Nevertheless, this still manages to be quite creepy and compelling in its own right. Victims in the film receive missed phone calls from "themselves". When they listen to the answerphone messages, they apparently hear their own deaths from two days in the future! So far, so "Ring". But the "Final Destinations" deaths play out nicely and there's effective mythology that is built up. Best of all though, is when the severed hands or the phones of the victims are seen to dial their own numbers after each death. *Brrr*
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
A classic moment from a classic film. Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) has killed most of Nancy Thompson's (Heather Langenkamp) friends and made a life a misery. He twists the knife with a simple prank call to her. Using an unplugged landline phone (remember those?) Fred entices the Final Girl to pick up the receiver and whispers; "I'm your boyfriend now Nancy!". If that wasn't bad enough, he metamorphoses the receiver into a facsimile of his burnt mouth and slips her his tongue! Talk about dirty phone-calls! It's a simple effect but made better by the editing and unexpected nature of it. The sequence was updated and remixed for a similar scene in "Wes Craven's New Nightmare" in 1994.
The Babadook (2014)
It's only a brief scene, but it's a chilling one that makes an impression. After reading the "Mister Babadook" book to her son, Amelia Vanek (Essie Davis) become spooked out by the notion of the bogeyman and destroys it. The book soon turns up again, however, and more bad things happen. The worst moments are set in motion when the phone rings and Amelia answers it, only to hear a nightmarish croaking voice say; "Bah-Bah-Dook-Dook-DOOK!!". Okay, so it's not exactly "Get out! The call's coming from inside the house…", but it IS creepy, and it gives a physical and audible presence to the so-far-unseen entity that lasts for the rest of the film.
Scream (1996)
The opening of Scream is probably one of the best ever horror sequences ever made. Affluent Californian teen Casey Becker (played by Drew Barrymore) is home alone and getting reday to watch a scary movie when she gets a phone call from a stranger. He seems nice enough and the two start flirting but things take a sinister turn when he asks what her name is. 'Why do you want to know my name?' she asks. 'Because I wanna know who I'm looking at' is the terrifying response. Casey soon realises that this seemingly affable voice is a front and that she's in big, big trouble.
Lost Highway (1997)
I mean, of course there has to be a David Lynch film on the list! There are a few weird calls in Mulholland Drive and Twin Peaks but we're going with Lost Highway for the creepiest. It's a thoroughly odd and amazing film and there isn't enough space here to even attempt to lay down some context, but there's a scene where the main character, Fred(Bill Pullman), is at a party and he spots a pale faced man, known in the film as the Mystery Man. The Mystery Man approaches Fred and tells him that have met before, at Fred's house. Fred is having none of it but the Mystery Man then says 'in fact, I'm there right now'. Fred recoils but the Mystery Man asks him to call home and see. Fred makes the call and someone picks up. It's The Mystery Man, seemingly right in front of him at the party and also inside Fred's house...
Black Christmas (1974)
Black Christmas is one of those films that really needs to get a bit more recognition – not only as the best Christmas horror movie ever made, but as the joint-best slasher film too. Very early on, there's a scene where Margot Kidder's character and her sorority housemates receive an obscene phone-call. It's not just your run-of-the-mill heavy breathing call – someone is ranting and babbling in strange voices and they're also a total potty mouth. The girls hope it's a frat bro just messing about, but they couldn't be more wrong and it's not long before the bodies start piling up.
Ringu (1998)
A phone call telling you that you are going to die in seven days is never well received at the best of times. But it's even more horrifying if it's a fact, rather than a threat. In Hideo Nakata's Ringu, a teenage girls confide in her friends that she was a weird video tape a week ago with some friends and that after the video ended, they received a phone call that told them they would all be dead in seven days. Sure enough, the two girls are killed by an unseen force. The girl's aunt, a newspaper reporter, begins to investigate her death and winds up in a remote cabin watching the cursed video tape which shows a series of disturing but seemingly random images. She then receives a phone-call and although it's mainly an unearthly screeching sound, she is left in no doubt that her life is in imminent danger.
Halloween (1978)
Proof that Michael Myers isn't just a killing juggernaut with a mask fetish… he also has a morbid sense of humour. In this scene with the lovely genre actress P.J. Soles (playing the brilliantly named Lynda Van Der Klok), he appears as an archetypical "sheet ghost", complete with comedy spectacles. Unfortunately, Lynda assumes that he's her boyfriend Bob, who Michael has left impaled in the kitchen downstairs. Unable to get a reaction from him, she phones Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) who is babysitting across the street and is promptly strangled with the phone cord. After a classic response from Laurie ("First I get your famous chewing, now I get your famous squealing"), it prompts the final act as a curious Laurie encounters The Shape for the first time.
976-Evil (1988)
Mostly known for being the directorial debut of one Robert "Freddy Krueger" Englund, this minor horror (literally) demonises the premium-rate telephone number system that was popular in the late 1980s but has since been superseded. Hopeless nerd Hoax (Stephen Geoffreys from "Fright Night") seeks guidance by constantly ringing the title number and getting a personalised "Horror-Scope" (accessed by tapping 666 naturally). Its mostly lame voiceovers telling him to act like a "real man", but one call sees his accepted a "reverse call" where a crappy blue SFX covers his body, and he gradually transforms into a demon. Full marks, however, for showing the portal to Hell as ice-covered, rather than the usual Hellfire and Brimstone.
Cell (2016)
The film's not great (understatement intended), and the book isn't one of Stephen King's finest works, but the basic concept of "Cell" is still chilling. The best moment in the movie occurs in the opening sequence at the airport. Clayton "Clay" Riddell (John Cusack) is in Boston Airport trying to connect with his estranged family, but his cell phone dies. Lucky for him, because at that moment a phenomenon known as "The Pulse" is released across all mobile phone networks. We hear it as a burst of nightmarish static, but it turns anyone who hears it onscreen into an instant "Rage Zombie", who will merrily bash in the brains of the nearest person, or knock their own teeth out. Humankind's addiction to their phones pretty much guarantees a quick extinction, so it's all downhill from there… in so many ways.
One Missed Call (2003)
We're referring to the original J-Horror from Takashi Miike here, and not the (slightly lame and predictable) US remake from 2008. Having said that, it's not one of the great J-Horror classics, despite several sequels, and there are some considerable comparisons to be made with "Ringu" and "Ju-On". Nevertheless, this still manages to be quite creepy and compelling in its own right. Victims in the film receive missed phone calls from "themselves". When they listen to the answerphone messages, they apparently hear their own deaths from two days in the future! So far, so "Ring". But the "Final Destinations" deaths play out nicely and there's effective mythology that is built up. Best of all though, is when the severed hands or the phones of the victims are seen to dial their own numbers after each death. *Brrr*
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
A classic moment from a classic film. Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) has killed most of Nancy Thompson's (Heather Langenkamp) friends and made a life a misery. He twists the knife with a simple prank call to her. Using an unplugged landline phone (remember those?) Fred entices the Final Girl to pick up the receiver and whispers; "I'm your boyfriend now Nancy!". If that wasn't bad enough, he metamorphoses the receiver into a facsimile of his burnt mouth and slips her his tongue! Talk about dirty phone-calls! It's a simple effect but made better by the editing and unexpected nature of it. The sequence was updated and remixed for a similar scene in "Wes Craven's New Nightmare" in 1994.
The Babadook (2014)
It's only a brief scene, but it's a chilling one that makes an impression. After reading the "Mister Babadook" book to her son, Amelia Vanek (Essie Davis) become spooked out by the notion of the bogeyman and destroys it. The book soon turns up again, however, and more bad things happen. The worst moments are set in motion when the phone rings and Amelia answers it, only to hear a nightmarish croaking voice say; "Bah-Bah-Dook-Dook-DOOK!!". Okay, so it's not exactly "Get out! The call's coming from inside the house…", but it IS creepy, and it gives a physical and audible presence to the so-far-unseen entity that lasts for the rest of the film.
Scream (1996)
The opening of Scream is probably one of the best ever horror sequences ever made. Affluent Californian teen Casey Becker (played by Drew Barrymore) is home alone and getting reday to watch a scary movie when she gets a phone call from a stranger. He seems nice enough and the two start flirting but things take a sinister turn when he asks what her name is. 'Why do you want to know my name?' she asks. 'Because I wanna know who I'm looking at' is the terrifying response. Casey soon realises that this seemingly affable voice is a front and that she's in big, big trouble.
Lost Highway (1997)
I mean, of course there has to be a David Lynch film on the list! There are a few weird calls in Mulholland Drive and Twin Peaks but we're going with Lost Highway for the creepiest. It's a thoroughly odd and amazing film and there isn't enough space here to even attempt to lay down some context, but there's a scene where the main character, Fred(Bill Pullman), is at a party and he spots a pale faced man, known in the film as the Mystery Man. The Mystery Man approaches Fred and tells him that have met before, at Fred's house. Fred is having none of it but the Mystery Man then says 'in fact, I'm there right now'. Fred recoils but the Mystery Man asks him to call home and see. Fred makes the call and someone picks up. It's The Mystery Man, seemingly right in front of him at the party and also inside Fred's house...
Black Christmas (1974)
Black Christmas is one of those films that really needs to get a bit more recognition – not only as the best Christmas horror movie ever made, but as the joint-best slasher film too. Very early on, there's a scene where Margot Kidder's character and her sorority housemates receive an obscene phone-call. It's not just your run-of-the-mill heavy breathing call – someone is ranting and babbling in strange voices and they're also a total potty mouth. The girls hope it's a frat bro just messing about, but they couldn't be more wrong and it's not long before the bodies start piling up.
Ringu (1998)
A phone call telling you that you are going to die in seven days is never well received at the best of times. But it's even more horrifying if it's a fact, rather than a threat. In Hideo Nakata's Ringu, a teenage girls confide in her friends that she was a weird video tape a week ago with some friends and that after the video ended, they received a phone call that told them they would all be dead in seven days. Sure enough, the two girls are killed by an unseen force. The girl's aunt, a newspaper reporter, begins to investigate her death and winds up in a remote cabin watching the cursed video tape which shows a series of disturing but seemingly random images. She then receives a phone-call and although it's mainly an unearthly screeching sound, she is left in no doubt that her life is in imminent danger.
Halloween (1978)
Proof that Michael Myers isn't just a killing juggernaut with a mask fetish… he also has a morbid sense of humour. In this scene with the lovely genre actress P.J. Soles (playing the brilliantly named Lynda Van Der Klok), he appears as an archetypical "sheet ghost", complete with comedy spectacles. Unfortunately, Lynda assumes that he's her boyfriend Bob, who Michael has left impaled in the kitchen downstairs. Unable to get a reaction from him, she phones Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) who is babysitting across the street and is promptly strangled with the phone cord. After a classic response from Laurie ("First I get your famous chewing, now I get your famous squealing"), it prompts the final act as a curious Laurie encounters The Shape for the first time.
976-Evil (1988)
Mostly known for being the directorial debut of one Robert "Freddy Krueger" Englund, this minor horror (literally) demonises the premium-rate telephone number system that was popular in the late 1980s but has since been superseded. Hopeless nerd Hoax (Stephen Geoffreys from "Fright Night") seeks guidance by constantly ringing the title number and getting a personalised "Horror-Scope" (accessed by tapping 666 naturally). Its mostly lame voiceovers telling him to act like a "real man", but one call sees his accepted a "reverse call" where a crappy blue SFX covers his body, and he gradually transforms into a demon. Full marks, however, for showing the portal to Hell as ice-covered, rather than the usual Hellfire and Brimstone.
Cell (2016)
The film's not great (understatement intended), and the book isn't one of Stephen King's finest works, but the basic concept of "Cell" is still chilling. The best moment in the movie occurs in the opening sequence at the airport. Clayton "Clay" Riddell (John Cusack) is in Boston Airport trying to connect with his estranged family, but his cell phone dies. Lucky for him, because at that moment a phenomenon known as "The Pulse" is released across all mobile phone networks. We hear it as a burst of nightmarish static, but it turns anyone who hears it onscreen into an instant "Rage Zombie", who will merrily bash in the brains of the nearest person, or knock their own teeth out. Humankind's addiction to their phones pretty much guarantees a quick extinction, so it's all downhill from there… in so many ways.
One Missed Call (2003)
We're referring to the original J-Horror from Takashi Miike here, and not the (slightly lame and predictable) US remake from 2008. Having said that, it's not one of the great J-Horror classics, despite several sequels, and there are some considerable comparisons to be made with "Ringu" and "Ju-On". Nevertheless, this still manages to be quite creepy and compelling in its own right. Victims in the film receive missed phone calls from "themselves". When they listen to the answerphone messages, they apparently hear their own deaths from two days in the future! So far, so "Ring". But the "Final Destinations" deaths play out nicely and there's effective mythology that is built up. Best of all though, is when the severed hands or the phones of the victims are seen to dial their own numbers after each death. *Brrr*
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
A classic moment from a classic film. Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) has killed most of Nancy Thompson's (Heather Langenkamp) friends and made a life a misery. He twists the knife with a simple prank call to her. Using an unplugged landline phone (remember those?) Fred entices the Final Girl to pick up the receiver and whispers; "I'm your boyfriend now Nancy!". If that wasn't bad enough, he metamorphoses the receiver into a facsimile of his burnt mouth and slips her his tongue! Talk about dirty phone-calls! It's a simple effect but made better by the editing and unexpected nature of it. The sequence was updated and remixed for a similar scene in "Wes Craven's New Nightmare" in 1994.
The Babadook (2014)
It's only a brief scene, but it's a chilling one that makes an impression. After reading the "Mister Babadook" book to her son, Amelia Vanek (Essie Davis) become spooked out by the notion of the bogeyman and destroys it. The book soon turns up again, however, and more bad things happen. The worst moments are set in motion when the phone rings and Amelia answers it, only to hear a nightmarish croaking voice say; "Bah-Bah-Dook-Dook-DOOK!!". Okay, so it's not exactly "Get out! The call's coming from inside the house…", but it IS creepy, and it gives a physical and audible presence to the so-far-unseen entity that lasts for the rest of the film.
Scream (1996)
The opening of Scream is probably one of the best ever horror sequences ever made. Affluent Californian teen Casey Becker (played by Drew Barrymore) is home alone and getting reday to watch a scary movie when she gets a phone call from a stranger. He seems nice enough and the two start flirting but things take a sinister turn when he asks what her name is. 'Why do you want to know my name?' she asks. 'Because I wanna know who I'm looking at' is the terrifying response. Casey soon realises that this seemingly affable voice is a front and that she's in big, big trouble.
Lost Highway (1997)
I mean, of course there has to be a David Lynch film on the list! There are a few weird calls in Mulholland Drive and Twin Peaks but we're going with Lost Highway for the creepiest. It's a thoroughly odd and amazing film and there isn't enough space here to even attempt to lay down some context, but there's a scene where the main character, Fred(Bill Pullman), is at a party and he spots a pale faced man, known in the film as the Mystery Man. The Mystery Man approaches Fred and tells him that have met before, at Fred's house. Fred is having none of it but the Mystery Man then says 'in fact, I'm there right now'. Fred recoils but the Mystery Man asks him to call home and see. Fred makes the call and someone picks up. It's The Mystery Man, seemingly right in front of him at the party and also inside Fred's house...
Black Christmas (1974)
Black Christmas is one of those films that really needs to get a bit more recognition – not only as the best Christmas horror movie ever made, but as the joint-best slasher film too. Very early on, there's a scene where Margot Kidder's character and her sorority housemates receive an obscene phone-call. It's not just your run-of-the-mill heavy breathing call – someone is ranting and babbling in strange voices and they're also a total potty mouth. The girls hope it's a frat bro just messing about, but they couldn't be more wrong and it's not long before the bodies start piling up.
Ringu (1998)
A phone call telling you that you are going to die in seven days is never well received at the best of times. But it's even more horrifying if it's a fact, rather than a threat. In Hideo Nakata's Ringu, a teenage girls confide in her friends that she was a weird video tape a week ago with some friends and that after the video ended, they received a phone call that told them they would all be dead in seven days. Sure enough, the two girls are killed by an unseen force. The girl's aunt, a newspaper reporter, begins to investigate her death and winds up in a remote cabin watching the cursed video tape which shows a series of disturing but seemingly random images. She then receives a phone-call and although it's mainly an unearthly screeching sound, she is left in no doubt that her life is in imminent danger.
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