Hotline (1982 TV Movie) User Reviews

Made for TV awesomeness

[BandSAboutMovies · 5/10 · 2 February 2020]

Originally airing on CBS on October 16, 1982, this made-for-TV movie was directed by Jerry Jameson, who also was the in the director's chair for movies like The Bat People, Airport '77 and the Gunsmoke and Bonanza reunion movies.

Lynda Carter (TV's Wonder Woman as well as Miss World USA 1972) plays Brianne O'Neill, an art student who is getting stalked by The Barber, a man who claims to be behind several killings in the paper.

Who is The Barber? Is it Justin Price (Granville Van Dusen, who was the voice of Race Bannon on The New Adventures of Jonny Quest)? Deranged killer Charlie Jackson (James Booth, Airport '77)? Former actor Tom Hunter (Steve Forrest, Mommie Dearest), who has been in love with Brianne for a long time? Her boss Kyle Durham (Monte Markham, Jake Speed, We Are Still Here)? Or her co-worker Barnie (Frank Stallone!, Ground Rules)?

Look for Harry Waters, Jr. in this movie. He played Marvin Berry in Back to the Future, the guy that Marty McFly used to steal rock 'n roll from black people.

There's a death by harpoon gun, so this movie has that going for it. Consider it an early 80's American low budget made for TV giallo and you'll be fine.

Who Is Stalking Wonder Woman?

[JasonDanielBaker · 25 January 2015]

Chesty California art student Brianne O'Neill (Lynda Carter) accumulates multiple admirers from her night-time job tending bar. They range from creeps to charming eccentrics. Dr.Justin Price (Granville Van Dusen), a psychiatrist who runs a distress centre falls somewhat in to the latter category. He hires her to answer distress calls at his centre during the day.

In to this attractive young widow's life a stalker enters and aggressively pursues her invading her home. Possibly the same depraved individual is behind multiple murders of young women in the area. Probably the same sicko is continually calling Brianne at the distress centre speaking in riddles and taunting her.

Price downplays the seriousness of the phone calls as do co-workers. A lot of cranks call in to the centre and they are used to it. But the raspy-voiced creep continues to call the centre and asks for her. Brianne continues to accept the calls and play along trying to guess the riddles he keeps leaving her with even as he calls her at home and then the bar.

Brianne doesn't scare easily. That is one of the first things we find out about her. Because of this aspect of her character she can indulge her curiosity sorting through the variety of weirdos she meets with seemingly lesser regard to her own life and limb than most might have. But given that a number of the same weirdos are within her social circle that might be another reason.

The surprise resolution to the mystery is mildly jarring to the viewer but considerably more so to the heroine/potential next victim.

Though less than brilliant this goofy but fun CBS TV movie has real appeal not merely for its distinguished cast but also for the fact that it tells us a story rather than giving us a lecture. Far too many made-for-TV movies produced at that time and since featured a serious social issue plot and 'Based on a true story' pedigrees. An old-fashioned movie with a fictionalized narrative was becoming rare in made-for-TV cinema.

The script for this production could have been made into a low-budget feature. Because it was on television it offered the viewer a movie night without leaving the comfort of home or incurring the expense and hassle of going to the cinema.

MEH!

[Rainey-Dawn · 3/10 · 9 December 2019]

One good scene about 10 minutes into the film then it's all down hill. Predictable, average and mildly interesting. I guess I was hoping for more since Lynda Carter is the star but it fell greatly after 30 minutes into it.

3/10

Out of Service

[saint_brett · 4/10 · 1 June 2023]

Hotline: hotline call me on the hotline. Call me up. Call me up.

The movie starts out with a body dump scene.

So much for that "please be thoughtful and dispose of your trash in the can business." The unknown assailant rolls her down an embankment.

I like that movie where Jackie Brown has the metallic talons and is murdered and rolled up in a carpet, then dumped like trash in a junkyard at the end.

A creep in a bar keeps repeating, "Hey, sweet meat," and turns out to be a real gentleman who tips the lady twenty bucks and feels entitled to a night of ooh la la in return. Hey, big spender.

His advances are rebuffed, and his sour mash turns to sour grapes and revenge.

The movie establishes three or four potential suspects, and some of them are decoys.

It's a whodunnit movie.

The problem with these movies, like "Murder on the Orient Express," is that once you've seen them, you know who the killer is, and any suspense or surprise is then void with any future viewing.

Stalking long, tall Sally home, two different strangers help themselves in her house, and one offers her a job as a phone sex worker.

With no name actors and a plot yet to explain itself, I can't compare anyone to someone else. I guess I could call the Jennifer Connelly lookalike "the one who drives a white car with a coffin-red interior." I don't know what the hell car it is she's driving. It's not a Bentley, an Aston Martin, or a GT.

People ring up this hotline crisis center and order pizza, Subway, or what have you, and if it's delivered three minutes late, they threaten self-harm or, worse, suicide.

Nothing happens in the movie until a creepy weirdo starts ringing the phone-a-thon money raiser and starts with the threatening messages.

He's got that whole, "What's your favorite scary movie?" voice going on and speaks riddles with a tinge of a British accent.

I bet this nutcase even rang into the Melvin Belli show and claimed to be Zodiac.

Building a repertoire with the one who drives a white car with a coffin-red interior, the calls come fast, even personal, and I got half a penny says that he eventually calls her at her home. (Check.)

Clarence Boddicker sells her a listening device to wiretap the landline, and the cryptic messages flood in.

The one who drives a white sports car with a coffin-red interior flies all the way to Vegas just to take a phone call from Ghostface.

Here she meets some Lecter wannabe, and the scene is really pointless.

Just like the creep who follows her back from Reno and proceeds to stalk her in the parking lot. It's a dead-end lead that goes nowhere.

There are no murders, just psychological torment.

At least the Scorpion Killer acted on his impulses and didn't just hide behind phone calls with empty rhetoric.

As predicted, he calls the one who drives a white sports car with a coffin-red interior at her home on her unlisted number.

The movie never explains why the one who drives the white sports car with the coffin-red interior was targeted.

Am I supposed to be surprised when it's revealed who the tormentor is near the end?

I don't even know who it is.

He reminds me of the VHS cover of "Dead End Drive-In," or remember that idiot from "Headless Eyes" who locks himself in the meat locker and freezes to death?

Whoever it is, they're wearing blue eye shadow and heavy mascara and resemble something out of "Class of Nuke 'Em High." They die ridiculously as a deep-sea diver shoots him with a spear gun.

Above average made -for tv film with good suspense

[nutty227 · 8/10 · 17 June 2001]

Hotline is a pretty good made-for television movie,that,if given a chance,can keep you on edge for the duration.I saw it when it came on the tube for the very 1st time.Lynda Carter does a fine job as the lead role, playing a character named Brianne O'Neill who takes a job at a hotline crisis center.Soon she receives calls from a man using bizarre, macabre nursery rhymes and calling himself "The Barber".He describes his murderous activities and inclinations over the phone, and the suspense builds as the killer closes in on O'Neill, all the while repeatedly reporting his deeds to her over the phone.This is an obscure film that's worthy of some attention,-rarely does it come on television.

Steve Forrest's in it, and that's good enough for me (g)

[Boogalow · 9/10 · 8 March 2006]

Seriously though, this isn't a bad movie. OK, so it's formulaic of it's time and you can pretty much guess where it's going and who the killer is, and who the killer is not! Lynda Carter is good as the heroine of the piece and doesn't do a bad job. Steve Forrest's character is such a lonely soul in it that he can literally break your heart with a tone of voice and a look - he is such an under-rated actor, he's just brilliant, and I'm slowly going broke collecting all his movies; especially rarities like this one!

Also, a surprise to see fellow Brit Julian Fellowes as a store owner called Leo (with hair) - that was a hoot.

All in all, not a bad film as I said earlier, I'm guessing at the time it was made in 1982 it would have been suspenseful but by today's standards it's pretty tame but great to watch on a dark rainy night - make sure your doors are all locked though (just in case).

Excellent, Scary, Brilliant!!!

[etetreault · 4 January 2002]

This is perhaps Lynda Carter's scariest movie in her long sucession of thrillers. I bought this on video and it is now considered vintage. I don't believe you can purchase it anymore. I have been in love with Lynda Carter since I first saw her crowned as Miss America back in 1973. I simply watched this one on Halloween night back in 82 because she starred in it. To my surprize, Lynda was finally given a good script. Up until then her she had been given lousy movies to work with. The only consolation to some of her earlier films was that she was always brilliant eye candy and still is even now. If anyone is given the opportunity to see Hotline I suggest you watch this one. It is perhaps the most terriying made for tv movie ever. Too bad Lynda is not really Wonder Woman for this film!!! You'll love the diabolical finale!!!

Enjoyable Made For TV Thriller

[ladymidath · 8/10 · 25 March 2022]

Lynda Carter of Wonder Woman fame is excellent as Brianne O'Neil, an art student and bar tender who is convinced to help out as a volunteer at a hotline centre run by psychiatrist Justin Price, Granville Van Dusen.

Soon after she begins to receive creepy phones calls from The Barber.

Hotline really does channel the old Giallo films. The creepy voice over the phone, the young woman attempting to work out who it is. The trail of dead female bodies, the twisted riddles, all that's missing is the music score by Goblin.

It keeps the mood and and suspense the whole time even though it's a made for tv movie. The acting is good and the cast as a whole does a great job. Hotline is a good 1980s movie.

Lynda Carter after WONDER WOMAN

[thomandybish · 28 April 2001]

TV thriller concerns Lynda Carter hot on the trail of a killer who communicates with her via telephone about his heinous deeds. It's a race against time as the body count rises and the killer comes closer and closer to making Lynda his next victim! Okay suspense, but the prime attraction is of course Ms. Carter, who made a slew of TV flicks after WONDER WOMAN was cancelled and looked good, even if you didn't buy her as a detective or social worker or whatever she was playing in any particular film.

Solid, well-made TV thriller

[I_Ailurophile · 8/10 · 25 July 2022]

The thing is, given the premise, it's a pure crapshoot as to who the antagonist may be; the narrative gives us a likely suspect at the start, but it's just as possible the culprit could be someone the character is friendly with. There's a dire realism on hand about violence against women - and the declination of men or authority figures to do anything about it - that makes the plot more open-ended than perhaps the screenwriters even intended. To that point, one could argue that the casting of major star Lynda Carter (Wonder Woman!) in the lead role is also a meta touch, reflecting the sad truth that no one is immune to that peril. Put these aside and 'Hotline' may come across as a fairly standard thriller, TV movie or otherwise, but that doesn't mean it can't still be enjoyable. In fact, I think this is fairly solid, and it holds up well even 40 years on.

True, this isn't the first such story to involve escalating cryptic messages, and excepting the cast, there maybe isn't something to stand out so much about this rendition as to make it a must-see. But it stands tall nonetheless, well-written and very capably made. Johnny Harris' original music, driven by synthesizers, lends definite atmosphere, and to some degree reminds of Italian maestros Goblin who contributed to Dario Argento's gory giallo. This dovetails neatly with the haunting air of mystery, which manages to be grisly without actually showing a great deal of violence. The building urgency throughout the length only expands outward as it becomes more apparent the perpetrator could be anyone at all - right up until the last half hour so, and the pieces start to come together. I really quite like Stancil E. D. Johnson and David E. Peckinpah's screenplay; it feels smart and focused. The characters are broad enough as to denote universality, but open enough as they are penned to give the cast some leeway in embodying them. And the scene writing and narrative are rife with plentiful tension and suspense to keep us locked in and see - well, maybe not how it will end, because that's easy enough to guess, but who really is the killer.

Jerry Jameson shows fine mindfulness as director to secure as much ambience as possible, with carefully considered shots and some very specific use of lighting. Crew behind the scenes offer excellent contributions to flavor the tableau, including hair and makeup work. And the cast is very good. Carter is the chief attraction, of course, and she illustrates sharp range and poise as a leading lady; there's no questioning why she can claim such household name recognition. Her co-stars are no slouches, however, with those in supporting parts bringing their characters to life with able personality to complete the picture.

If slightly predictable and not perfectly gripping, 'Hotline' was crafted with no small amount of attentiveness to make the story as taut and harrowing as it could be. One rather has expectations of made-for-TV movies being a step or two down from major studio productions, yet I think sufficient hard work went into this that it measures up reasonably well to its more visible brethren. A content warning of sorts is perhaps necessary on account of the realist thematic content, and I can understand how this won't appeal to all viewers just out of personal preference. Still - recommendable especially for fans of Lynda Carter - 'Hotline' is all the same a worthy TV thriller that deserves one's time if you have the chance to watch.

"We Have Ourselves A Very Bad Hombre Here!"...

[azathothpwiggins · 26 September 2022]

Brianne (Lynda Carter) tends bar at a local tavern. An unsettling incident leads her to a side job involving the phone service of the title. Of course, we know from a grim, opening sequence that Brianne's life is about to take a turn.

Let the creepy phone calls begin.

First off, fans of Ms. Carter should love this movie, since she's in almost every scene! She's also very good in her sleuthing role. The movie itself is decent, with some mystery and suspense. Not a bad made-for-TV thriller, though there are some odd things about the finale that seem a bit too convenient. Still, worth watching all the way through...

My Favorite Lynda Carter TV Movie

[edw1976 · 10/10 · 27 June 2023]

Post-Wonder Woman Lynda Carter truly delivers in this made-for-tv film that's solid and actually still can give one chills after 40 years. I saw it when I was a kid, then revisited it when I'd forgotten what happened years later. I was pleasantly surprised at how well-done the film truly is, from acting to the soundtrack.

Enough time had passed since "Wonder Woman" (3 years) for Lynda to ace playing the lead in this scary (at the time, for sure) spook-fest, who-dunnit flick. She didn't have super powers to save her now. As Brianne, Lynda's more than convincing, and holds your attention throughout. Her best acting since WW for sure.

I don't know if Ron owns the rights to all these early tv movies of Lynda's, but if he does and isn't releasing them, that's just not cool, man. Not saying that's the case, I just hope not. There's too much greatness in the '80's of Lynda that we're unable to stream and/or get on dvd. Check this one out if you ever have the chance. If you're a fan of Lynda Carter and the genre in general, you'll be glad you did.

Barber, Barber, Shave A Pig!

[supersalsantos · 14 July 2003]

Wonder Woman Lynda Carter swaps her hotpants for a hotline in this unintentionally hilarious made-for-TV hokum about a Samaritans style crisis helpline gal attracting the unwanted attentions of the fabulously monickered serial killer, The Barber (so-called because of his penchant for hacking off his victims locks), who delights in feeding her cryptic nursery rhyme style riddles when planning his next murder. Predictably, the too-clever-by-half loon makes the mistake of targeting Ms Carter as that next corpse-to-be and the result is seldom in doubt thereafter.

Love those 80's movies

[bryantkatie · 9/10 · 27 February 2023]

I been watching a lot of Lynda Carter lately besides a wonder Woman, especially Partners in Crime with her and Loni Anderson which I surprisingly like,found out they are best friends in real life,well far as this movie I'm watching it now and had to comment before I finished it. The psychiatrist talks loud enough so she can hear his conversation,see's and hear her interaction with the drunk. The person is waiting in her house,she has time to lay across the bed relax,take a full shower,put a robe,socks on,and the psychiatrist knocks on the door wouldn't the killer have struck already seeing he was in the house the whole time. Why didn't the psychiatrist come in the open door when he first saw the guy come in? She could have been dead by than,doesn't make sense. Lol I'm going to finish the movie now,the whispering on the phone is funny I love movies like this and I love Lynda.

Hotline

[brankristyllc · 24 June 2019]

Where was this movie filmed. I can't find anything on this question.

Excellent

[Delrvich · 8/10 · 30 May 2021]

A little slow, but, time well spent. Lynda Carter will easily hold your interest.

---------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Deliberately bad 2 I don't want to see it 3 I didn't finish and or FF'd through it 4 Bad 5 I don't get it 6 Good 7 Great but with a major flaw 8 Great 9 Noir with moral.