10 Horror Movie Characters Who Died (But Survived The Remake)

3. The Mandrakis Children - When A Stranger Calls

Martyrs Lucie
Columbia Pictures/Screen Gems

2006's When a Stranger Calls tends to be a little overlooked when discussing some of the better horror remakes. Developing the opening scene of the 1979 film into a full feature, Simon West's redo is a very solid slow-burner that could've easily been a slog to get through.

In West's picture, we have 80 minutes of Jill Johnson (Camilla Belle) babysitting the Mandrakis children out in the middle of nowhere. When strange happenings and eerie phone calls start up, it becomes apparent that some nefarious figure is in the house, and Jill is tasked with protecting the kids from the threat that has now reared its head.

By the end of When A Stranger Calls, the creepy unknown intruder is apprehended by the police, and Jill and the Mandrakis youngsters are clearly shaken, but most importantly are alive.

Back in Fred Walton's 1979 movie, the film opens by having Carol Kane's Jill looking after the Mandrakis kids, before the movie jumps ahead seven years and picks things up with the traumatised Jill.

The big difference in these two movies is the '79 film has the intruder - who is an old seadog named Curt Duncan - actually murder the Mandrakis children in that opening act. Then, after a time jump, Duncan escapes from a psychiatric unit and has his focus on Jill's own kids.

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Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.