Voted for When a Stranger Calls as I have very fond memories of it. Second and ver close is Black Christmas, he just sounded so damn crazy on the phone.:nervous:
Let's not forget Hitchcock's "Dial M for Muder" in 3-D!! Far from his best work, but early phone terror anyway (1953).
For sure no question When A Stranger Calls. That scares the hell out of me, every time I watch it it scares me and I don't scare easily at all. :cry:
Black Christmas for me. Those phone calls were just so disturbing. Though I find it hard to believe, even as big as that house was, that they could not hear the psycho screaming like that from another part of the house.
When a Stranger Calls is one of my favs. When I was growing up, we actually had two phone lines in our house. After I saw When a Stranger Calls, things weren't the same when my parents left me at home alone. :eek1:
Black Christmas (the original), no contest. Followed, immediately, by the phone scenes in A Nightmare on Elm Street. Who could forget that the line "whatever you do, don't fall sleep" was delivered over the telephone?? You never will. Scream's use of the phone was a gimmick and not all that relevant to the film's deeper meaning. It was a good gimmick though. I can't believe The New York Ripper didn't make the list. Or, What's the Matter with Helen? Or, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (That scene where Bette Davis speaks in Joan Crawford's voice is pretty amazing. I don't remember whether it was creepy or campy, but it was just plain glorious.)