976-EVIL (1988)

USA, 1988
92m
35mm film, colour, 1.85:1
Ultra Stereo, English

An American horror film directed by Robert Englund.

Plot Summary

976 EVIL is a free daily horoscope phone service used by teenager Spike and his cousin Hoax. But it's a trap and Hoax is possessed by demonic forces over the phone.

Credits

Crew
Director: Robert Englund
CineTel Films, Horrorscope
Executive Producer: Paul Hertzberg
Producer: Lisa M. Hansen
Screenplay: Rhet Topham, Brian Helgeland
Director of Photography: Paul Elliot
Editor: Stephen Myers
Music: Thomas Chase, Steve Rucker
Sound Recording: Beau Franklin
Costume Designer: Elizabeth Gower-Gruzinski
Makeup Effects: Kevin Yagher Productions, Inc.
Makeup Supervisor: Susan Reiner
Special Effects: Sandra McCarthy, Kevin F. McCarthy
Art Director: David Brian Miller

Cast
Stephen Geoffreys (Hoax)
Patrick O'Bryan (Spike)
Sandy Dennis (aunt Lucie)
Jim Metzler (Marty Palmer)
Maria Rubell (Angella Martinez)
Robert Picardo (Mark Dark)
Lezlie Deane (Suzie)
J.J. Cohen (Marcus)
Paul Willson (Mr Michaels)
Greg Collins (Mr Selby)
Darren Burrows (Jeff)
Joanna Keyes (Suzie's mother)
Gunther Jensen (airhead)
J.J. Johnston (Virgil)
Joe Slade (John Doe)
Demetre Phillips (sergeant Bell)
Don Bajema (deputy)
Jim Thiebaud (Rags)
Wendy Cooke (gang girl)
Thom McFadden (minister)

Alternative Titles

976 – A Sátán hívószáma – Hungarian title
976 – Chiamata per il diavolo – Italian title
976 РEl tel̩fono del infierno РSpanish title
Dial the Devil – working title
Fandens til nummer – Danish title
Força Demoníaca – Brazilian title
Horrorscope – working title
La ligne du diable – French, French Canadian title
La llamada del diablo – Argentine title
Llamada siniestra – Argentine DVD title
Llamadas satánicas – Mexican title
Llamadas siniestras – Mexican DVD title
Puhelu helvetistä – Finnish title
Super Evil – Pakistani title
Телефон дьявола – Russian title

Links

Sequel
976-Evil II (1991)

Extracts included in
Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy (2010)

References

Periodicals
Cinefantastique vol.18 no.4 (May 1988) p.14 – review (by Frederick C. Szebin)
Cinefantastique vol.19 no.3 March l989) pp.55-56 – review (by Steve Biodrowski)
City Limits no.316 (22 October 1987) p.26 – note
City Limits no.375 (8 December 1988) pp.31-32 – review
The Hollywood Reporter vol.306 no.45 (28 March 1989) pp.4, 64 – credits
Monthly Film Bulletin vol.56 no.660 (January 1989) pp.22-23 – credits, synopsis, review
Screen International no.682 (10 December 1988) p.20 – credits, review
Time Out no.955 (7 December 1988) p.43 – review
Variety 29 March 1989 p.16 – credits, review

Books
The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror by Phil Hardy (ed.) p.436 – credits, review
Educational Institutions in Horror Film: A History of Mad Professors, Student Bodies, and Final Exams by Andrew L. Grunzke pp.104, 108, 122-123, 186
The Films of the Eighties by Robert A. Nowlan and Gwendolyn Wright Nowlan p.400
Horror and Science Fiction Films IV by Donald C. Willis p.361-362 – credits
Horror Films of the 1980s by John Kenneth Muir pp.752-753 – credits, synopsis, review