976-Evil II (1991)

A seemingly harmless telephone service endows an evil teacher with powers from beyond the grave

Director:

Jim Wynorski

Writers:

Erik Greenberg Anjou (as Erik Anjou), Rick Glassman (story)

Stars:

Debbie James, René Assa, Patrick O'Bryan

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Debbie James	...	Robin
René Assa	...	Mr. Grubeck
Patrick O'Bryan	...	Spike (as Pat O'Bryan)
Philip McKeon	...	Taylor (as Phil McKeon)
Leslie Ryan	...	Paula
Rod McCary	...	Dr. Jamison
Paul Coufos	...	Stone
Karen Mayo-Chandler	...	Laurie
George 'Buck' Flower	...	Turrell (as Buck Flower)
Sigal Diamant	...	Barmaid
Joy Ballard	...	Stripper
Yavone Evans	...	Reporter
Eric Anjou	...	Detective
Angela Gordon	...	Cashier
Christopher Garr	...	Skeech

Storyline

A seemingly harmless telephone service endows an evil teacher with powers from beyond the grave

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Plot Keywords:

telephone booth | telephone call | satanism | demon | sequel | 

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Taglines:

Call if you dare!

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Genres:

Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for horror violence

Did You Know?

Trivia

The It's a Wonderful Life part of the film was originally supposed to have been a video game segment, but was changed for budgetary reasons.

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Goofs

When the truck Grubeck steals to chase after Spike is shown pulling out of the impound lot of the police station the rear shutter of the trailer is open. During the chase itself several shots show the shutter is now closed most likely to hide the pyrotechnics loaded into the trailer for the impending explosion at the end of the chase.

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Quotes

Pig Head: Hey Spike! Watch where you point that thing!

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Connections

Edited into Ghoulies IV (1994)

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Soundtracks

Spooky Talkin'
Written and Performed by Vincent D'Onofrio
Courtesy of Miles Away Music

User Reviews

This sequel has that straight to video feel about it, doesn't dial up as much terror

Saw this sequel and while not incredibly terrible, it was inferior to 976-Evil. There are aspects of the plot here that are better, but there is a cheapness to the whole thing too. One can tell that they did not have the budget they had in the first film. There was also way too much that was established in the first film that is ignored during this one. It is a sequel, it does use the same phone service and Spike does return; however, Spike seems like a totally different character now (though he is played by the same actor) and the whole thing just seems a bit generic in a way.

The story has a Dean or a principal being arrested for a rash of killings and a kill at the beginning of the film. I say Dean or principal due to the fact the school they show seems like a high school, but they seem to infer it is a college. Lockers and nurses who yammer that you should be in class seem more out of high school to me. Well, Spike is headed for the town, determined to stop the killings and the strange 976 number...remember when they revealed the operator dude at the end of the first film was in on it? Well, if you did, you remember more than the writers of this one as this aspect is ignored completely. Instead, the dean or whatever, uses astral projection to kill those that try to persecute him.

The film misses the mark, more so than the first film. It basically needs more work than did the first one to make it better. I liked the idea behind it, but I would have preferred they followed a bit more of the story of the first film. Astral projection killer, somewhat cool. Multiple off screen deaths...not so cool. I do believe the off screen death count was higher than the on screen one. They did some good things, but this sequel seems almost rushed despite four years in between films, it does seem cheaper and to many issues with the story tying it with the first film. That "It's a Wonderful Life" meets "Night of the Living Dead" kill was pretty cool though.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

August 1992 (Italy)

Also Known As:

976-EVIL 2: The Astral Factor

Filming Locations:

San Pedro, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinetel Films, Grey Matter Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1