This remake of the 1978 horror film "When a Stranger Calls" provides a couple of new ways to measure the rate of inflation. The original was set in a nondescript, perfectly normal suburban home. In this update, the action takes place in a palatial waterside estate so elaborately conceived that it even has its own ecosystem.

Also, this film uses only the first episode of the earlier one, in which a hapless baby-sitter is terrorized by a menacing phone caller, and manages to stretch it out over a numbing 90-plus minutes.

Another, more predictable, difference comes with the casting. Instead of the quirky, average looking Carol Kane, the baby-sitter here is played by the beautiful Camilla Belle, whose nubile qualities are highlighted in a completely irrelevant scene in which she appears in a skimpy runner's outfit.

This week's installment in the "this film is so bad we're not screening it for critics" series, this remake directed by Simon West ("Lara Croft: Tomb Raider," "Con Air") is designed to capitalize on the title and premise of the original but offers little to those who fondly remember it.

Once again, a terrified sitter, Jill (Belle), becomes increasingly unglued as she spends a blustery night alone in a house, receiving call after call from a heavy-breathing psycho. Finally contacting the police and having the calls traced, she's horrified to learn that they're coming from inside the house. Mayhem ensues.

Eschewing gore and largely devoid of real thrills, the film will be most gratifying to those heavily invested in telephone company stocks, because the damn thing never stops ringing. Although a variety of supporting characters (including the nondescript psycho, played by Tommy Flanagan) make fleeting appearances, it's largely a one-woman show, with Belle forced to do the majority of her acting with her head stuck to a receiver.

Director West handles the proceedings in capable fashion, providing the requisite atmosphere of menace via sound and lighting effects, etc.

Arriving after such innovate horror flicks as "Hostel" and the "Saw" series, "When a Stranger Calls" seems less a well-timed remake than hopelessly retro.