976-EVIL (1988)

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Back in the late '80's, one had to call 976 numbers for every occasion, from phone sex to hearing Michael Jackson's tour plans. Nowadays, we have the internet, but Robert Englund's first and only directorial effort so far is still an entertaining change from the horror norm.

Hoax (Stephen Geoffreys) worships his ne'er-do-well cousin Spike (Patrick O'Bryan). Hoax's mother Lucy, played by the great Sandy Dennis, is another matter. She is a religious fanatic who keeps her thumb firmly on top of her nerdy offspring. She is a cross between Piper Laurie in "Carrie," and Ann Sothern in "The Killing Kind," donning wigs and giving more attention to her cats than her son. Spike calls a mysterious phone number, the title, for his "Horrorscope." Soon, the Horrorscope begins to get a little more personal, egging Spike on to commit small crimes. We know what happens when people try to get away from the Horrorscope- usually bloody deaths by phone. Spike goes out with and sleeps with Suzie (Lezlie Deane), as Hoax looks on. Hoax meets up with the dumped Suzie later, but she gets mad at him as well. By this time, impressionable Hoax has stumbled onto the mysterious phone number. In the film's best scene, Hoax accidentally kills another character with a few dozen spiders exploding out of a TV dinner. The Horrorscope begins changing Hoax into a demon, and he starts taking revenge on everyone who ever picked on him.

I do not really know why, but I thoroughly enjoyed this film more than I should have. There are some slow scenes, and Englund overextends himself in some of the special effects scenes. However, the young cast is up to the task, and Sandy Dennis is a scream. I hate "funny" horror villains, but here the film is an over-the-top comedy, so the humor works. The art direction is like a nightmarish crayon factory. There are weird lights and day-glo colors everywhere, it is like the Warren Beatty version of "Dick Tracy" on acid. The set is also bizarre, there is graffiti all over the place, from the high school to the movie theater to the eventual climactic home of Hoax and Spike.

While the ending is a letdown, "976-EVIL" is not the worst film ever made. It is nice and average, and better than I thought it would be. Followed by a sequel.

Stats:
(1988) 92 min. (* * *) out of five stars
-Directed by Robert Englund
-Written by Rhet Topham & Brian Helgeland
-Cast: Steven Geoffreys, Sandy Dennis, Jim Metzler, Patrick O'Bryan, Lezlie Deane, Maria Rubell, Robert Picardo, Paul Willson, J.J. Cohen, Darren E. Burrows, Gunther Jenson, Jim Thiebaud, Greg Collins, Joanna Keyes
(R)