10 Brilliant Horror Movie Concepts Not Taken Far Enough

10. When A Stranger Calls (1979)

When a Stranger Calls has its place rightfully in horror history for its shocking reveal that babysitter Carol Kane's phone tormentor is actually calling her from INSIDE THE HOUSE!

Unfortunately this reveal occurs only ten minutes into the film... The rest of the movie is the somewhat dull, plodding story of Charles Durning's detective John Clifford as he follows the former caller after his escape from a sanitarium, attempting to predict his next move.

It appears that generation after generation of horror fans discover this movie and can't help but be disappointed when the film shifts gears and becomes a much more slow moving police drama instead of holding the tension and eerie dread the first ten minutes promise. How could it have done this, you ask? Wouldn't a film about a serial killer moving house to house and terrorizing babysitter after babysitter via telephone been much more satisfying? A young fan named Kevin Williamson thought so and was moved to write Scream on a stormy night in the early '90s.

Of course none of this can take away the fact that the film is wonderfully performed. Superb acting from Charles Durning, Carol Kane, Colleen Dewhurst and Tony Beckley make up for the film not playing out as the straight-forward horror-thriller the chilling opening promised.