neonmaniacs Made in the late eighties and directed by Robert Englund, I pretty much knew what to expect from '976 Evil' before it even began. Then I see the front cover which depicts some kind of beast above a telephone and the tag-line reads "One Number For Hell". I knew straight away I was going to enjoy this movie to a certain degree because it's exactly the type of film I like to watch, and I'm pretty sure most of the people who give this film terrible reviews and ratings knew they were going to hate it before watching it.Written by Brian Helgeland who boasts an expansive back catalogue of quality, solid screenplays, the story moves along at a solid pace. As the tension builds you know exactly when something awful is going to happen but heah, isn't that what this style of horror movie is all about.From the leather clad greaser Spike, right through to the awkward teenager Hoax (played by Stephen Geoffreys of 'Fright Night') the characters are standard fare for an eighties horror flick.Basically this is an eighties horror film about a teenager who becomes possessed after calling a 1-900 number. The rest of the film plays out exactly as it should with some nice one liners, a healthy portion of gore and an even healthier portion of cheese.The acting is far from perfect here but this isn't something that will bother an eighties horror fan.So if eighties horror isn't your thing give this one a miss. If however you normally like this style of horror, give it a chance. It does exactly what it says on the box.

Arlis Fuson Great little 80's horror, very unique, very original and just simply fun to watch. Great cast full of 80' and 90's legends and Robert Englunds directorial debut.When a nerdy kid calls a psychic hot line ran by the devil (or something - you decide) he is possessed and all his wishes come true and he takes on all of the people who bully him and cause his life to be a miserable one. His cousin finally steps in and realizes that he must destroy this possessed kid.Not a bad film, I was disappointed to see a mistake within the first two minutes. When a detective is blown up in a phone booth and his body flies back the rope is very visible. So major obvious flaws always make me knock points off, not that I am literally taking points.The production was decent and I thought this was one of those 80's horrors that stand up and competes really well with all thats out there. It's about a number you call on a "horrorscope". The number will give you anything you want, but gets mad if you don't use its gifts and let the evil take you over.Stephen Geoffreys did an amazing job acting here, hes one of my faves from the 80's. His dorky laugh and cool charm, what's not to like. He reminds me so much of Jack Nicholsan. Here he is the main guy possessed and he goes from nerd to quick witted, one liners via Satan so fast. He's truly one of the best actors in the 80's "teen" scene, yet he was way older I am sure. With movies like The Gate and Fright Night you cant go wrong with him. Patrick O'Bryan made his acting debut and will return in the movies sequel as well, but he didn't do much more in this biz. A lot of great acting here with stars from many of my old faves. Sandy Dennis (Parents, God Told Me To), Leslie Dean (Freddy's Dead), JJ Cohen (Back to the Future trilogy), Darren Burrows (Cry Baby) and Robert Picardo (Burbs, Munchies, Innerspace).Brian Helgeland and Rhet Topham did some pretty good writing here, they wrote some cool movies from that era and this is one of the best. I especially loved how evil it gets for a while. Geoffreys got evil and they showed him as a sex object as he does a séance in the middle of a pentagram and then the part with the spiders in the TV dinner was creepy... Good little film 6 out of 10 stars.

Coventry This odd, incoherent, cheesy and ridicule late-80's horror feature represents the directorial debut of Robert 'Freddy Krueger' Englund. And let's be honest, if it wouldn't be for his name on the credits, the film would have been righteously forgotten a long time ago already. "976-Evil" has an absurdly implausible plot and it takes far too long before the (tepid) gore & action kicks in. During the first hour of the film only really weird things – that largely remain unexplained - are going on, like a totally random biblical omen that exists of a shower of fish-rain. Yes, dead fish falling down the sky like normal rain! I'm not quite sure about the significance, but presumably it's God's sign to warn the lead characters that they will soon face an unholy type of evil. With reason, because rebellious teenager Spike and his nerdy cousin Hoax frequently call the titular phone number to get their daily "horrorscope". But the toll-free number is possessed with diabolical forces and turns its customers into homicidal monsters. Spike is strong enough to resist, but the miserable Hoax is an easy victim and he soon begins to mutate. He doesn't mind, though, because now he can finally fight back against his domineering mother, the school bullies and all the girls that rejected and laughed at him. You guessed it, "976-Evil" is just another lowbrow horror version of "Revenge of the Nerds" and the only good thing about it is the choice to cast Stephen Geoffreys. He's ideal to play a character that is simultaneously pathetic and creepy. In the second half of the film, there's a bit of gore and witty one-liners, but it's too late to improve the overall quality. The plot is unimaginably incoherent. Cousin Spike suddenly disappears at one point but randomly appears again for the finale, the amateur-reporter out of the blue hooks up with the school's headmistress and Robert Picardo's potentially terrifying character is never properly introduced. From time to time, you get the impression that Englund is a gifted director but on other occasions you damn him and his film to hell for being just another disappointing and time-wasting 80's turd.

dee.reid In "976-EVIL," Satan's on the line and if you value your soul, you better not pick up. Or so it goes in this lame-brained horror flick directed by Mr. Freddy Krueger himself, Robert Englund, which includes a script written by Brian Helgeland and Rhet Topham. With Englund's first time behind the camera, you would expect something truly unique or at least something close to being even remotely frightening like "A Nightmare on Elm Street" (1984), but when things get interesting "976-EVIL" devolves into typical slasher/possession stuff and thus joins the ranks of so many other "B" horror movies from the 1980s.The movie at least has an inventive premise: dialing the title phone number puts you on a hot line with the Devil himself. A creepy voice (Englund) on the other end gives you some advice (your "horror-scope") and it pays off, but usually at a price: your soul.Teenage biker-punk Spike (Patrick O'Neal), an indebted gambler, is able to use the words of wisdom bestowed upon him and break free of his poker habit before the hot line's influence has a chance to truly take hold of him. His cousin, shy and repressed Hoax ("Evil Ed" Stephen Geoffreys), isn't so lucky. Bullied and unlucky with the ladies, he dials 976-EVIL and before you know it, the otherwise good boy with good morals goes from fundamentalist Christian to practicing Satanist in the time it takes for you to dial that evil number. Now a full-fledged psychopath possessed by the Devil, he soon starts growing jet-black fingernails and scales and speaking in an ever-creepy Satanic voice who has a tendency of dropping painfully unfunny one-liners that mostly fall flat on their face.Of course with a title like "976-EVIL," you could only expect the worst from this horror movie. The film starts off good, with one unlucky caller meeting their demise, and then the main characters are introduced but once the scares start coming, it all falls apart. But even then, it takes almost forever for that to even start.Geoffreys, a regular in '80s horror movies like 1985's "Fright Night," seems almost pitch-perfect as the shy kid who stood to gain some confidence with Satanic powers, but comes off instead as another rejected nerd-turned-braindead screen slasher who goes on a murderous rampage against his tormentors. There is one particularly creepy sequence where he's able to manifest a spider TV dinner upon one unfortunate victim. We should have expected better from Mr. Englund and as expected, we got less. And Joe Dante regular Robert Picardo also appears as Mark Dark, the manager of a sleazy phone-sex operation."976-EVIL" - Hang up, fast!3/10