10 Slasher Horror Movie Openings That Surprised Us All

5. When A Stranger Calls (1979)

Carol Kane fails to check the children in time in When A Stranger Calls
Columbia Pictures/Embassy Pictures

1979's When a Stranger Calls is a movie that has a surprising opening sequence and entire first act for several reasons.

Remember, this is the movie that first popularised the 'the calls are coming from inside the house' trope that would become a staple of the horror genre in the years following this Fred Walton film. As such, that opening act reveal in itself is a major shocker.

More shocking and outright disturbing about When a Stranger Calls' opening, mind, is the fact that the man menacing babysitter Jill Johnson (Carol Kane) in the Mandrakis household doesn't just eerily taunt her to check on the children she's looking after. No, this creep has actually killed the kids for sh*ts 'n' giggles.

Another way that When a Stranger Calls is somewhat surprising to some, is that this is a movie that isn't what they think. If you've merely heard about When a Stranger Calls or are relatively new to horror, chances are you'll think that the chilling stalking of Jill Johnson is the entire movie. Instead, that 'calls from inside the house' fable only makes up the opening act, before the film jumps ahead seven years.

That said, the When a Stranger Calls remake of 2006 does stretch that opening act babysitter sequence out and make it the sole narrative of the do-over's 87-minute run time.

Senior Writer
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 dayjob, 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.