976-EVIL (1988)

People who dial 976-EVIL receive supernatural powers and turn into satanic killers.

Director:

Robert Englund

Writers:

Brian Helgeland, Rhet Topham

Stars:

Stephen Geoffreys, Patrick O'Bryan, Sandy Dennis

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Stephen Geoffreys	...	Hoax
Patrick O'Bryan	...	Spike
Sandy Dennis	...	Aunt Lucy
Jim Metzler	...	Marty
María Rubell	...	Angela (as Maria Rubell)
Lezlie Deane	...	Suzie
J.J. Cohen	...	Marcus
Paul Willson	...	Mr. Michaels
Greg Collins	...	Mr. Selby
Darren E. Burrows	...	Jeff (as Darren Burrows)
Joanna Keyes	...	Suzie's Mother
Gunther Jenson	...	Airhead (as Gunther Jensen)
J.J. Johnston	...	Virgil
John Currie Slade	...	John Doe (as Jon Slade)
Demetre Phillips	...	Sergeant Bell

Storyline

People who dial 976-EVIL receive supernatural powers and turn into satanic killers.

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Plot Keywords:

woman on top | religious parent | cigerette | smoking | female frontal nudity | 

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Taglines:

Now, horror has a brand new number.

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Genres:

Comedy | Horror

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 March 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dial the Devil

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$2,955,917

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinetel Films, Horrorscope Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min 105 min (extended VHS cut)

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

You can see a club sign near the beginning of the film that says 'Diablo'.

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Goofs

When Hoax gets sick dissecting the frog he removes the surgical glove from his right hand. Then in the mirror in the bathroom it's back as he pulls out his hair, then when he's attacking the thug it's gone and then when he cuts off another thugs hand it's back.

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Quotes

Hoax: [in Biology class] Mr. Michaels, may I please be excused?
Mr. Michaels: What's a matter, Mr. Wilmoth? Feeling a little green around the gills?
Mr. Michaels: [both chuckle] Just a frog joke... Yes, you may be excused. But hurry back: we're cutting gonads next.

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Crazy Credits

Mindy Seeger is credited in opening credits but not in the final cast.

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Alternate Versions

DVD from Columbia Tri-Star is the 92-minute theatrical print.

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Connections

Referenced in You're So Cool, Brewster! The Story of Fright Night (2016)

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Soundtracks

I Want You Tonight
Written by Stephen C. Marston, Thomas Chase, and Steve Rucker

User Reviews

Average horror but unsatisfying

Well I personally found the film about average. The story centres around cousins Spike (Patrick O'Bryan) and Hoax (Stephen Geoffreys). Also in the picture is Hoax's religious nut mother Lucy (Sandy Dennis), who wins my award for the most annoying character I've ever seen in a movie, and that's not a good thing.

At the start of the movie Spike loses a game of poker to a gang and as a result must give up his motorcycle. Not really seeming too bothered by it all he phones up a number, 976-EVIL, which puts him through to some cheesy sounding "horrorscope" service. Paying some attention to what he hears Spike finds a way of getting the money for the gang so he isn't required to give up his bike. Hoax, who is basically a nerd, the subject of constant bullying also in turn phones the number and starts to hear the twisted horrorscope's advice...

The film itself is ok. Nothing special at all, but fun in it's own little way. O'Bryan and Geoffrey's performances were quite good, unlike the majority of the cast. 976-Evil is badly made in my opinion. The acting is bad and the direction is lacklustre...but lets give Rob some credit, at least the film wasn't too bad. The major problems with the film lie in the screenplay, acting in horror can be forgiven occasionally, and sometimes shaky direction can actually be of benefit to horror, but the screenplay needed to be solid and it wasn't.

The plot evolves far too quickly in some places and not near fast enough in others. After a particular incident in the film involving fish falling from the sky Jim Metzler is introduced as Marty, a journalist for a religious magazine, or at least I think he was, at one point he did pass himself off as a private investigator! Considering the rather small amount of information Marty was given throughout the film he certainly seems to trace the problems to the '976-EVIL' number rather quickly, this to me was a major plot fall.

Also some characters in the film just seemed to appear, while others disappeared for a while then came back with no explanation for their absence or why they've chosen to suddenly show up. The whole story seems very inconsistent on the speed at which it moves. To watch this film and fully enjoy it I think you need to keep concentrating which unfortunately in a film like this can be quite difficult to do now and again, but I think that's the only way for the whole film to make sense.

All in all a quite enjoyable, yet unsatisfying horror film, don't expect too much gore though there were some quite cool special effects and make-up and don't expect a masterpiece. Also, as the story is rather weak don't expect too much from that either, otherwise you will be disappointed. It's the type of horror film I'd probably watch again on sleepless nights.