976-Evil (1988)
Review by horrornews.net
Before going to a life of gay p*rn Stephen Geoffreys committed himself to two of the 80’s greatest gems, those being Fright Night and this little beauty of a monster flick, 976-EVIL. Now in this movie Stephen plays an outcast whiny little mama’s boy, Hoax Wilmoth. Seems Hoax doesn’t have a friend in the world but that doesn’t get him down, his overly religious mother Lucy loves him dearly and takes very good care of him, as long as he’s living for the lord and not eating anything on the couch. His cousin Spike lives in his back yard and provides him with what all perfect role models should give to their followers, bikes, broads and beer. Hoax is completely obsessed with Spike’s life, so much that he tries to be just like him, like when he puts holes in the muffler of his scooter so it sounds like Spike’s motorcycle, trying to act tough like Spike’s friends, who ultimately flush his head in the school toilet, until Spike comes to save the day.Hoax just wants to fit in with with his badass cousin.
As the story goes, one night as Spike is relaxing in his room, after losing a assload of money in a poker game with his friends, reading a magazine an ad pops out for a Horrorscope Hotline. Well Spike’s curiosity gets to the best of him and he calls the number. A voice comes on the phone and gives him his fortune, convincing him that he’ll soon not have any money problems, which persuades him to steal some of his inheritance from Hoax’s mother’s cabinet but he gets caught in the act by Lucy who runs him outside with her mighty god powers when out of nowhere it starts raining fish! Well she takes it as a sign from god to show Spike away from his evil ways and yadda yadda.
So the next day a cop named Marty Palmer comes around claiming he works for some religious magazine and questions Lucy about the raining fish incident which spikes his curiosity into following Spike. Well good thing he does because Spike goes to the auto shop for a part for his bike when he decides to call the hotline again, this time it tells him to steal a pair of expensive leather gloves from the shop which he starts to do then changes his mind and goes outside to his bike. Then the phone rings. He picks it up and the same voice that tells him that he should take what he wants repeats himself. Well Spike gets pissed and hangs up then walks off. Well next thing you know a car down the street starts on its own with no driver and heads right at him but his ass is saved by the nosey Marty.
The next day back at school Hoax is introduced to Suzie, Spike’s “flavor of the week”, which he takes a real shining to. Anyways later that night Suzie and Spike are having sex in Spike’s place when they end up running off to the movies after Hoax ruins the mood with his spying through Spike’s window. Anyways Hoax goes to investigate Spike’s empty room, finding Suzie’s panties and the ad for the hotline, so he calls it up thinking its some joke and it too tells him what he wants to hear, that his dream girl awaits him at a late movie, which is where Spike and Suzie are. So after a big argument Spike and Suzie have at the theatre when Spike goes off to gamble with his pals, Suzie decides to leave and is confronted by Hoax, who ends up going to have pizza with her. Well the hit it off fine until a spider comes across the table and scares the sh*t out of Suzie. Hoax takes the spider to the door to let it go but Spike’s pals show up, stomp the spider and ruin their little pizza party. After tossing Hoax on the floor one of Spike’s pals finds Suzie’s panties in his back pocket which pisses her off and she runs away.
Back home a pissed off Hoax decides he’ll call the hotline again, this time telling him to do a ritual to teach her a lesson which he does, ultimately killing her in a really badass way. From then on Hoax goes into this transformation, turning into a sick, twisted demon bent on getting his revenge on the people that made him look like a chump. As far as the rest of the movie you’ll just have to see for yourself but just know that it doesn’t disappoint. I don’t want to tell you too much, but you have to admit, sounds pretty damn good at this point doesn’t it?
976-EVIL is definitely a movie to define it’s time at the closing of the 1980’s, the styles, the hair, the clothes, all of it. The only thing I found annoying about the movie is the constant phone ringing in most of the scenes, it kinda got tiring after a while but what can you do right? Anyways the entire cast was pretty damn good, there were really no “hang-ups” to the movie and the ending was pretty kickass. I really like how Robert Englund puts a big emphasis on the religious aspect of the movie, that being mainly through the Aunt Lucy character played extremely well by Oscar award winning Sandy Dennis.
If you’re big into 80’s horror flicks for their novelty and humor definitely give 976-EVIL a run, it’s a great flick. You’ll love the quirky little one-liners and just about everything.
976-Evil (1988)
Review by thedigitalbits.com
One of the only directorial efforts from Freddy Krueger himself, Robert Englund, 976-Evil was released by New Line Cinema in March of 1989 to a poor reception from critics and a disappointing box office take. Acquiring the home video rights for the film was Columbia Pictures, who released the film on VHS and Laserdisc in an extended version. Thanks to this and repeated cable airings, the film managed to garner a small cult following. It was also followed up with a direct-to-video sequel three years later, but without the involvement of any of the original cast or crew (outside of the producers).
In this late 80s horror fest, a pair of teenage cousins, one a motorcycle-riding bad boy named Spike (Patrick O’Bryan), and the other a repressed geek named Hoax (Stephen Geoffreys) discover a seemingly harmless phone number which gives its callers their “horroscope” for the day whenever they call. However, it turns out to be a direct line to Satan himself, who influences his callers into doing reprehensible things, eventually leading to murder and mayhem. Investigating who is behind this hotline to Hell is a supposed private investigator (Jim Metzler), who follows around Spike and his girlfriend (Lezlie Deane), while also checking in with the local high school principal (María Rubell). Hoax, who is being horribly mistreatment by everybody, including school bullies and his overbearing mother Lucy (Sandy Dennis), decides to get back at his aggressors, but with the power of Satan as his means of spreading death and destruction.
Color me surprised at Sony Home Entertainment’s decision to not just release a Blu-ray of 976-Evil, but to give a little extra special treatment. That is, if you buy the first run of this title, you’ll also get a nice slipcase replicating the film’s VHS release artwork, right down to the vintage Columbia Pictures Home Video logo along the spine. A nice touch for collectors, to say the least. As for the film’s A/V quality, Sony does their usual great job at delivering a satisfying presentation. This may have been a very low budget film, but the transfer featured on this release is quite good. Grain is handled well and detail, although a bit soft in places, particularly during some of the film’s optical effects, is still impressive. From the plastic coverings on the furniture in Hoax’s home to the graffiti that litters the bathroom walls at his high school, everything is well-defined. The film’s color palette isn’t that aggressive, aside from red for obvious reasons, but hues never look faded. Skin tones are much of the same. Black levels are relatively stable, which is a good thing as a lot of the film takes place at night or in dimmer lighting situations. Overall contrast and brightness is satisfactory as well. It’s also a stable presentation with very little leftover film damage aside from some speckling and possibly a few minor compression artifacts.
For the audio, several options are available: English 5.1 DTS-HD, English 2.0 DTS-HD, and French, German, and Spanish 1.0 DTS-HD. I personally found the 2.0 track to be more apt for the presentation at hand, but the 5.1 certainly has enough to offer in the surround department to warrant a listen. Dialogue is clean and clear on both tracks and there’s some directionality to be had, particularly with multiple channels. Sound effects aren’t abundantly potent, but some low end activity is occasionally present during the film’s more explosive moments. I found the music and score elements slightly anemic as they’re mostly front speaker-oriented, but overall, there wasn’t much worth nitpicking about on either track. And for those who might need them, several subtitle options are included in English SDH, Chinese Traditional, French, German, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish.
The extras are brief but welcome. Included is the aforementioned alternate home video version of the film, which is presented full frame from what looks to be a high quality VHS source. This version of the film runs about 12 minutes longer than the theatrical version. There’s no added gore or nudity as most of the extra footage takes place at the beginning, including further establishing shots of the diner and movie theater, more of the raining fish scene, a scene of Hoax visiting the principal, more of Marty visiting Lucy including an additional scene between he and Hoax, and Spike catching Hoax snooping around in his room. Other numerous little scene extensions can also be found here and there, but curiously, the scene of the lady being harassed by the 976-Evil hotline and getting a face full of broken glass isn’t present in this version. Getting back to the theatrical cut, there’s also a new audio commentary with director Robert Englund and his set decorator/wife Nancy Booth Englund, as well as a paper insert with a Digital HD/Ultraviolet code.
976-Evil, at least to me, is more of curiosity to long-time Robert Englund fans and Nightmare on Elm Street fans than it is to the horror community at large. It offers some shock value and gives you a character to simultaneously root for and despise at the same time, but it’s certainly not an all-time classic. That said, I’m thrilled to have it on Blu-ray in such fine quality, and I hope that this is just a taste of what’s to come from Sony on Blu-ray – if indeed, they are planning on releasing more horror films from their back catalogue. Ahem, Candyman, ahem.
- Tim Salmons
976-Evil (1988)
Review by talkingpulp.com
“[Possessed Hoax produces two ripped-out hearts] Would it be possible… to enter the game with a pair of hearts?” – Hoax
976-EVIL probably has a bad rap. It’s not a good movie, per se, but it gets more negative attention than it deserves. It is underappreciated, in my opinion, even if it is far from perfect. Plus, it was directed by Freddy Krueger himself, Robert Englund.
The film stars Stephen Geoffreys, most famous for playing “Evil Ed” in Fright Night. He is just as strange in this picture but even with that strangeness, he is likable and charismatic. In this, we get to see him break down from a nerdy kid into a demon possessed badass with some really good lines and cool moments.
The film isn’t boring but it also isn’t too exciting. It feels like a rehash of a lot of things 80s horror fans had already seen with better execution. Tapping into the hotline craze of the 80s was a cool touch, though. It became a story where the supernatural was reliant on technology to spread itself into the world, similar to what we would see years later with the Japanese film Ringu and its American remake The Ring. Not to mention all the films since then that tap into people getting possessed or killed by supernatural evil working through websites or social media platforms.
976-EVIL isn’t a complete waste but it isn’t a must see movie either. It works on a day when you’ve exhausted every 80s horror film you can think of and find this sitting on a streaming site. It is a good way to kill 90 minutes and Stephen Geoffreys gives a memorable performance.
Also, the big finale in the house where “Hell froze over” is well done. I always liked this part of the film and it stands out as a memorable horror finale from this era.
Rating: 6/10
