10 Biggest Plot-Changing Movie Phone Calls
5. Scream
Just when the slasher genre had run its course and seemingly died out in the early 90s, it rose again like its many-storied masked killers with the popularity of Scream. Screenwriter Kevin Williamson locked himself away in a cabin to pound out a draft of his hip, wry love letter to the genre.
Much of Scream's opening scene, which features a tortured Drew Barrymore receiving threatening phone calls before becoming the killer's second victim, pays homage to more than just When A Stranger Calls, including Dario Argento's Supiria and a Halloween reference thrown in for good measure.
Scream came about at just the right time in the history of cell phones for them to be machinations of plot rather than a hindrance. They weren't so omnipresent in teenager's lives that they would be a logistical nightmare.
By the time the sequel rolled around, Williamson took any criticisms about phone tracing and technology to heart, immediately dismissing them with a quick Called ID joke.