Movies Like When a Stranger Calls (1979)

When a Stranger Calls is a 1979 horror, thriller film from Fred Walton with a MovieMagicScore of 6.2/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with When a Stranger Calls Back and Hannibal.

Horror Thriller

When a Stranger Calls Back

1993

A retired detective and a crisis-center counselor hunt a killer stalking a coed.

5.8

MagicScore

Hannibal

2001

After having successfully eluded the authorities for years, Hannibal peacefully lives in Italy in disguise as an art scholar. Trouble strikes again when he's discovered leaving a deserving few dead in the process. He returns to America to make contact with now disgraced Agent Clarice Starling, who is suffering the wrath of a malicious FBI rival as well as the media.

6.8

MagicScore

The Grudge

2004

An American nurse living and working in Tokyo is exposed to a mysterious supernatural curse, one that locks a person in a powerful rage before claiming their life and spreading to another victim.

5.9

MagicScore

Dead Awake

2016

Kate Bowman (Jocelin Donahue) is an average social worker who, after the sudden death of her twin sister, is investigating the mysterious deaths of other people who died in their sleep. Shortly before their deaths, the victims all reported a supernatural force that appeared to them while they were suffering from sleep paralysis. When Kate investigates further into the case, she opens herself up to the creature's wrath and soon finds herself and her family suffering from an ancient evil.

5.2

MagicScore

Manticore

2022

Julián is a successful video-game designer whose life is plagued by a dark secret. But when Diana pops up in his life, the man will feel as though a chance at happiness is within his grasp.

6.9

MagicScore

Night of the Living Dead

1968

A ragtag group barricade themselves in an old Pennsylvania farmhouse to remain safe from a horde of flesh-eating ghouls ravaging the Northeast.

7.6

MagicScore

Marrowbone

2017

A young man and his three younger siblings are plagued by a sinister presence in the sprawling manor in which they live.

7.3

MagicScore

Anonymous Animals

2021

The balance of power between man and animal is reversed. In a remote countryside, any encounter with the dominant can become hostile. At the crossroads of fantastic and suspense kind, Anonymous Animals questions the place of animals in our societies.

6.3

MagicScore

Mindcage

2022

Detectives Jake Doyle and Mary Kelly seek the help of an incarcerated serial killer named The Artist when a copycat killer strikes. While Mary searches for clues in The Artist's brilliant but twisted psyche, she and Jake are lured into a diabolical game of cat and mouse, racing against time to stay one step ahead of The Artist and his copycat.

5.9

MagicScore

#10

All Hallows' Eve

2013

While watching two children on Halloween night, a babysitter finds an old VHS tape in the kids' trick or treat bag. The tape features three tales of terror, all linked together by a murderous clown.

5.7

MagicScore

#11

The Fly

1986

When Seth Brundle makes a huge scientific and technological breakthrough in teleportation, he decides to test it on himself. Unbeknownst to him, a common housefly manages to get inside the device and the two become one.

7.4

MagicScore

#12

Iron Lung

2026

In a post-apocalyptic future where an event known as "The Quiet Rapture" caused all known stars and habitable planets in the universe to disappear, a convict is sent to search an ocean of blood discovered on a desolate moon, using a small submarine nicknamed the "Iron Lung".

6.9

MagicScore

#13

Run Hide Fight

2021

A 17-year-old girl uses her wits, survival skills, and compassion to fight for her life, and those of her fellow classmates, against a group of live-streaming school shooters.

6.6

MagicScore

#14

The Amityville Horror

1979

George Lutz, his wife Kathy, and their three children have just moved into a beautiful, and improbably cheap, Victorian mansion nestled in the sleepy coastal town of Amityville, Long Island. However, their dream home is concealing a horrific past and soon each member of the Lutz family is plagued with increasingly strange and violent visions and impulses.

6.3

MagicScore

#15

Antebellum

2020

Successful author Veronica finds herself trapped in a horrifying reality and must uncover the mind-bending mystery before it's too late.

6.2

MagicScore

#16

Fright Night

2011

A teenager suspects his new neighbour is a vampire. Unable to convince anyone, he tries to enlist the help of a self-proclaimed vampire hunter and magician.

6.2

MagicScore

#17

The Sentinel

1977

As a young girl, Alison Parker attempted suicide after being traumatized by her father's sexual exploits. Now an elite fashion model, she moves to a Brooklyn Heights apartment building that houses a number of bizarre, eccentric tenants. After experiencing a string of disturbing occurrences, she attempts to uncover the building's sinister secret.

6.1

MagicScore

#18

Precious

2009

In Harlem in 1987, Claireece "Precious" Jones is a 16-year-old African American girl born into a life no one would want. She's pregnant for the second time by her absent father, and at home she must wait hand and foot on her mother, an angry woman who abuses her emotionally and physically. School is chaotic and Precious has reached the ninth grade with good marks and a secret – she can't read.

7.3

MagicScore

#19

Suspense.

1913

Abandoned by her maidservant in an isolated country house, a mother must protect herself and her baby from an invading tramp while her husband races home in a stolen car to save them.

7.1

MagicScore

#20

History of the Occult

2023

During the last broadcast of 60 Minutes Before Midnight, the most watched journalistic program on television, Adrián Marcato could expose a conspiracy and link the government to a obscure secret society.

7.0

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like When a Stranger Calls?

The top films similar to When a Stranger Calls by MovieMagicScore are When a Stranger Calls Back (5.8), Hannibal (6.8), The Grudge (5.9). Each shares horror/thriller themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is When a Stranger Calls worth watching?

When a Stranger Calls holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.2/10 from 284 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is When a Stranger Calls?

When a Stranger Calls (1979) is a horror, thriller film directed by Fred Walton, starring Carol Kane, Charles Durning, Colleen Dewhurst.

Where can I find more recommendations like When a Stranger Calls?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more horror recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like When a Stranger Calls Back Movies like Hannibal Movies like The Grudge Movies like Dead Awake Movies like Manticore Movies like Night of the Living Dead

About movies like When a Stranger Calls

This ranked list pairs When a Stranger Calls (1979), a horror and thriller film from Fred Walton, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Carol Kane take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

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