Black Christmas is a 1974 Canadian slasher film produced and directed by Bob Clark, and written by Roy Moore. It stars Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder, and John Saxon. The story follows a group of sorority sisters who receive threatening phone calls and are eventually stalked and murdered by a mentally ill killer during the Christmas season.
The Amityville Horror is a 2005 American supernatural horror film directed by Andrew Douglas and starring Ryan Reynolds, Melissa George, and Philip Baker Hall. It also featured the debut of actress Chloe Grace Moretz. Written by Scott Kosar, it is based on the novel The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson, which was previously adapted into the 1979 film of the same name, while also serving as the ninth film in the Amityville Horror film series, which documents the experiences of the Lutz family after they move into a house at 112 Ocean Avenue, Long Island. In 1974, real-life mass murderer Ronald DeFeo Jr. killed six members of his family at the same house in Amityville, New York.
When a Stranger Calls is a 1979 American psychological horror film written and directed by Fred Walton, co-written by Steve Feke, and starring Charles Durning, Carol Kane, Colleen Dewhurst and Tony Beckley. Its plot follows Jill Johnson, a young woman being terrorized by a psychopathic killer while babysitting, the killer's stalking of another woman, his returning to torment Jill years later, and a detective's trying to find him. Rachel Roberts, Ron O'Neal, Carmen Argenziano, and Rutanya Alda appear in supporting roles. The film derives its story from the folk legend of "the babysitter and the man upstairs".
When a Stranger Calls is a 2006 American psychological horror film directed by Simon West and written by Jake Wade Wall. The film stars Camilla Belle, Brian Geraghty, Katie Cassidy, Tessa Thompson and Clark Gregg. Belle plays a babysitter who starts to receive threatening phone calls from an unidentified stranger, played by both Tommy Flanagan and Lance Henriksen. It is a remake of Fred Walton's 1979 horror film of the same name, which became a cult classic for its opening 20 minutes, which this remake extends to a feature-length film.
When a Stranger Calls Back is a 1993 American made-for-television psychological horror film and a sequel to the 1979 classic When a Stranger Calls which reunites stars Carol Kane and Charles Durning with director Fred Walton from the original film. It was originally broadcast on Showtime on April 4, 1993.
When a Killer Calls is a 2006 direct-to-DVD horror film directed by Peter Mervis and starring Sarah Hall, Mark Irvingsen, Robert Buckley, Derek Osedach, and Rebekah Kochan. It was distributed by B movie company The Asylum. The film was released in February 2006, to coincide with the theatrical release of the 2006 remake of When a Stranger Calls, which this film is a mockbuster of.
Babysitter Wanted is a 2008 American horror film directed by Jonas Barnes and Michael Manasseri. It was written by Barnes and stars Sarah Thompson as a babysitter who is seemingly stalked while babysitting a strange child in a remote house in northern California.
The Night Caller is a 1998 American thriller film starring Shanna Reed and Tracy Nelson about a crazed woman who becomes obsessed with a radio talk-show personality.
The Strangers is a 2008 American psychological horror film written and directed by Bryan Bertino. The film follows a couple whose stay at a vacation home is disrupted by three masked intruders who infiltrate the home one night. It is the first installment in The Strangers film series. The screenplay was inspired by two real-life events: the multiple-homicide Manson family Tate murders and a series of break-ins that occurred in Bertino's neighborhood as a child. Some journalists noted similarities between the film and the Keddie cabin murders that occurred in Keddie, California, in 1981, though Bertino did not cite this as a reference.
The babysitter and the man upstairs—also known as the babysitter or the sitter—is an urban legend that dates back to the 1960s about a teenage babysitter who receives telephone calls that turn out to be coming from inside the house. The basic story line has been adapted a number of times in movies. The 1950 murder of teenage babysitter Janett Christman is commonly cited as a source of the legend.
The House of the Devil is a 2009 American horror film written, directed, and edited by Ti West, starring Jocelin Donahue, Tom Noonan, Mary Woronov, Greta Gerwig, A. J. Bowen, and Dee Wallace.
The Sitter is a 2011 American black comedy film directed by David Gordon Green and written by Brian Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka. The film follows a slacker college student who, after being suspended, is forced by his mother to fill in for a babysitter that called in sick. During this time, he takes his charges along for his extensive criminal escapades.
The Babysitter is a 2017 American teen black comedy slasher film directed by McG and written by Brian Duffield. It stars Samara Weaving, Judah Lewis, Hana Mae Lee, Robbie Amell and Bella Thorne. The film follows a lonely 12-year-old boy (Lewis) who discovers that his babysitter (Weaving) is part of a satanic cult that wants to kill him. The film was released by Netflix on October 13, 2017, and received mostly positive reviews from critics. A sequel, The Babysitter: Killer Queen, was released on September 10, 2020.
The Wailing is a 2016 South Korean horror film written and directed by Na Hong-jin and starring Kwak Do-won, Hwang Jung-min, Chun Woo-hee. The film centers on a policeman who investigates a series of mysterious killings and illnesses in a remote Korean village called Gokseong in order to save his daughter. The film was both a commercial and critical success.
The Sitter is a 1977 American short horror-thriller film directed by Fred Walton on which his 1979 feature film When a Stranger Calls is based. It is a suspenseful retelling of the classic urban legend of "The babysitter and the man upstairs" about a babysitter who is menaced by mysterious and frightening phone calls which are finally revealed to be coming from inside the house.
The Strangers: Prey at Night is a 2018 slasher film directed by Johannes Roberts and written by Bryan Bertino and Ben Ketai. It is the sequel to The Strangers (2008) and the second installment of The Strangers film series. The film stars Bailee Madison, Lewis Pullman, Christina Hendricks, Martin Henderson, and Damian Maffei. The plot follows a family vacationing to a secluded mobile home park, where they are attacked by three masked strangers.
The Night Sitter is a 2018 American comedy horror film directed by Abiel Bruhn and John Rocco. It stars Elyse Dufour, Jack Champion, Jermaine Rivers, Amber Neukum, J. Benedict Larmore, Ben Barlow, Bailey Campbell, Joe Walz, Deanna Meske and Manny Sandow.
The Babysitter: Killer Queen is a 2020 American black comedy slasher film directed and produced by McG, from a screenplay he wrote with Dan Lagana, Brad Morris, and Jimmy Warden. It is a sequel to the 2017 film The Babysitter and stars Judah Lewis, Emily Alyn Lind, Jenna Ortega, Robbie Amell, Andrew Bachelor, Leslie Bibb, Hana Mae Lee, Bella Thorne, Samara Weaving, and Ken Marino. The film continues the story of Cole Johnson, two years after the events of the first film, who must again fight to ensure his survival after a secret is unburied, as he is hunted by demonic enemies, both old and new.
The Strangers film series consists of American psychological horror films. Based on an original story by Bryan Bertino, the plot centers around three masked psycho-sociopathic home invaders that prey on the innocent owners. Though the first film was marketed as "based on a true story", this was a misdirect as the filmmaker stated that he wrote the concept from a series of break-in burglaries that took place in his neighborhood when he was growing up, as well as borrowing elements from the Manson Family Tate killings. Continuing this marketing technique, a "based on a true story" tag was also included at the beginning of the sequel.
