10 Biggest Plot-Changing Movie Phone Calls

It's easy to irritate any horror fan - simply claim that Halloween was the first slasher flick. They'll almost certainly rail against you, canceling all the rest of the noise at the party with their shrieking accusations of ignorance - how you have been remiss in not seeking out Peeping Tom or Psycho or Black Christmas.

The latter film, directed by Bob Clark, was a Canadian sleeper hit that reached the likes of Steve Martin and John Carpenter, among other major fans. The plot was even more simple than that of Halloween; a killer is in a sorority house over Christmas break, calling the tenants to harass and, ultimately, pick them off one by one.

This was the first major film variation on the "The Calls Are Coming From In The House" urban legend, although it takes many liberties. The most successful of its dated but effective suspenseful moments occurs when the heroine (Olivia Hussey) asks the police to trace the next obscene, eerie call.

This being 1974, police tracing methods were rudimentary, and the film offers us a rare insight into the process during a scene in which the operator has to run through bookshelf-sized computers to find the corresponding line.

The film's two remakes updated the film and largely ignored the phone call aspect, much to their detriment.