976-EVIL

Plot synopsis:
The movie centers around cousins Spike (Patrick O'Bryan) and Hoax (Stephen Geoffreys), both teenagers who live with Hoax's overtly religious mother Lucy (Sandy Dennis). While Spike is the neighborhood motorcycle bad boy, Hoax is an introverted nerd. Even though Spike genuinely cares for his cousin and protects him from bullies, Hoax is filled with resentment that he cannot stand up for himself or get the girl he wants (both of which Spike does effortlessly).
Both boys stumble upon 976-EVIL, which on the surface is just a novelty phone line that gives creepy-themed fortunes for a few dollars. However, the line is actually used by Satan to subtly corrupt mortals into his bidding. Spike loses interest in the line quickly, but Hoax soon discovers the true nature of the line and uses it to get revenge on everyone who has wronged him.
Soon Hoax's spirit is almost entirely consumed by Satan, who possesses Hoax to cause death and destruction, culminating in an opening to Hell appearing before their house. Spike confronts Hoax, but is quickly overpowered. In a desperate last ploy, he calls earnestly to his cousin, reminding him of the plans they had to take a vacation that summer.
Hoax's fleeting soul resurfaces briefly, and realizes his horrible mistake and embraces Spike, begging for help. Spike, realizing Hoax is lost and cannot be separated from the demonic presence, betrays his cousin and throws him into the pit of Hell.

Tags: horror, cult, revenge, murder, violence

Review:
There are lots of times when you know that someone is going to die, and he draws it out to the point where it is almost painful to watch (I obviously can't give examples without ruining it.) So, I recommend it to anyone who likes horror..
Actor Robert Englund, who had played nightmare-invading/teen throat-slashing Freddy Krueger in the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET movies for several years, was a perfect choice to direct this scary/funny movie.
Also in the picture is Hoax's religious nut mother Lucy (Sandy Dennis), who wins my award for the most annoying character I've ever seen in a movie, and that's not a good thing.
Freddy Krueger himself, Robert Englund directs a film about an outsider getting their revenge, in the style of films like Carrie and Evilspeak.
As you've probably guessed; brains aren't a major strongpoint here.The relationship between the two cousins that the film centres on makes up its backbone, and it could have been good if Englund had spent a bit more time concentrating on it.
Unsurprisingly, the kill scenes and gore seem to be Englund's main priority, and while I don't necessarily have a problem with this; the final third is pretty much entirely about the younger cousin's 'revenge', and it doesn't take long to get really boring.
The acting isn't too bad, with future gay porn star Stephen Geoffreys taking the lead role and convincing as a young kid despite actually being in his mid-twenties during filming.
The opening stalking scene of the victim being blown up and set on fire in a phone booth, having the spiders in the oven- dinner, the bathroom stalking when he's possessed taking out the gang- members who bullied him and the second poker game held during the rampage are perfect examples of the cheesiness throughout here, as they should not be taken seriously and yet come across as perfectly serious during it's time.
Not the best horror film that you will watch, but it is significant as Robert Englund's director debut.It's a typical story of a nerdy teen (Stephen Geoffreys) with a whacked out mother (Oscar-winner Sandy Dennis looking a lot heavier than I remember her), who keeps getting his head shoved in the toilet by the school bullies, and just wants to be cool like his cousin Spike (Patrick O'Bryan).He manages to find a way to reach out to the dark side and get revenge on everyone - well, almost everyone.
if that is your real name" with no reason in the story to presume that it may not be his real name - genius I am a huge Robert Englund fan, I wish he would direct a comedy, if he can make a horror so funny I think his comedy would give people a hernia.The worst film ever made, I cant wait until it comes out on DVD so I can buy it!!!!!!.
His portrayal of a geek pushed around by creeps at school and then taking revenge on them when he gains Satanic powers by dialing a 976 horrorscope number is undeniable fun.Yes, there are plot holes galore but Geoffreys performance as wigged out psychobitch geek who ain't gonna take it anymore is utterly kickass.
So much so I had to rave about it twice in this review.The direction and script needed a lot of work and director Robert Englund should have played the part of the magazine reporter himself, but it still makes for a sometimes fun horror flick..
I also am surprised to see that Robert Englund directed this one and I think he did okay as most of the problems I found with the film came more from the story and from the editing.
The imagery is great and it has some okay acting as it is not stiff, the end has the killer getting a bit too cute with the one liners actually reminding one a bit of Freddy Krueger's lines in the Elm Street horror films.The story has a strange phone number that seems to predict things a bit too well being used by a dude named Spike; however, Spike soon stops using the number after nearly being killed by a runaway car.
Hoax is played by Stephen Geoffreys, best known as Evil from Fright Night.
He is pretty much the same character, just a bigger nerd this time around.The film had some good moments and I liked it somewhat.
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.
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.
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.
Robert Englund does a reasonable job in directing this film, and the cast approach their characters in the typical way horror film characters are approached.
The acting isn't great, the plot could use touch-ups, other than that it's not too bad.Stephen Geoffreys plays Hoax, the typical high school loner who gets picked on.
When Hoax finds a piece of paper which has the "Horror"scope number 976 EVIL on it, he calls it up and is transformed into a revenge seeking demon.It surely isn't worthy of making a sequel to it, however it did spawn a sequel, which I haven't had a chance to see yet, however I understand that Spike returns in the second movie..
The plot isn't very strong, with the focus much more heavily on over-the-top and often ridiculous gore-- as one might expect from a film directed by Freddy Krueger himself, Robert Englund.
Stephen Geoffreys' performance as Hoax is exactly what one might expect after his role in Fright Night-- he's intense, wild, and interesting-- but his co-star, Patrick O'Bryan, is far less notable as Spike.
The film attempts to heavily lean on the cousin bond as a plot device, but the relationship isn't very well-developed, or very believable, which leaves much of the story transparent and wholly unsurprising.That being said, it's easy to enjoy if you don't expect it to be something more than a cheap teen horror movie from the 80s.
Yes, it's often campy, but I find it entertaining as hell.The fact that 976-EVIL is directed by Robert Englund (the original Freddy Krueger) makes it kind of worth watching all on it's own.
Robert Englund finally steps behind the camera, directing "976-EVIL", about a phone number that gives people satanic powers.
But all you got was a badly directed and acted film with a creepy villain trying to be a second rate Freddy Krueger (i.e. spouting off very bad one liners).A no good rascal (Spike) who lives with a strange woman and her nerdy kid is extremely bored.
This odd, incoherent, cheesy and ridicule late-80's horror feature represents the directorial debut of Robert 'Freddy Krueger' Englund.
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.
After being picked on one time too many, Hoax calls the number and soon seeks revenge on those who have tormented him.976-EVIL is best remembered for being directed by Robert Englund but I must say that I really didn't find too much of it to be impressive.
I was really shocked because there's not really anything that happens in the movie and once things finally start to pick up its too late as you've already checked out.The direction by Englund has a few clever touches including one sequence in a bathroom that has the camera above the toilets looking down.
The fact that this film is directed by Robert Englund in the late 1980's, it's well worth the watch since he brings the Nightmare on Elm Street cheese into his first film.
All this stems from the main character Hoax, played by Stephen Geoffreys, also known for his role in Fright Night.
If you're looking for a dark humored horror movie, this film delivers the goods.
Nerdy kid in town (Stephen Geoffrey of "Fright Night") gets revenge on everyone who ever wronged him when he hooks up with Satan, via horror hot-line "976-EVIL." Directed by Robert Englund of "A Nightmare on Elm Street" fame, the film is obviously very low budget but not completely without charm.
i just thought that it was hilarious too see a title called 976-evil , i remember hearing a lot about this movie when it came out, so i thought that i would give it a try, i was impressed by it, the idea of evil coming in over the phone lines, a teenage boy loses a bet in a poker game and has to give up the pink slip to his 48 harley, so he finds this ad on paper with the phone number to call in,, it's like a horoscope , anyway the kid follows the advice given and wins back the money to get his pink slip back,, enter the cousin, a little nerdy kid who gets bullied at school constantly, he winds up with the phone number and calls in , and low and behold he follows the advice given as well, pretty soon he ends up being in control of his life,, no longer being bullied, especially by his ratically religious mother, this is a neat little film that i liked very much..
Two cousins played by hunky Patrick O'Bryan and nerd Stephen Geoffreys get involved with a satanic phone line (the title).
I'm a huge horror fan and really wanted to like this (because of Robert Englund) but I couldn't.
The only thing that Hoax looks up to his good-hearted punk cousin Spike (Patrick O'Bryan), who lives next-door to him.
Now Hoax uses the power from the phone number he called giving him and he uses it for revenge.Directed by Robert Englund made an fairly entertaining horror/thriller with elements of fantasy.
A group of 80's 'tough-guys' meet their commupence when the nerd that they always pick on uses a 'horror-scope' phone-line to gain evil supernatural powers.
The worst was by far the spider out of the box of cereals death which was just not scary by a long-shot!I would have thought that the man who plays the scariest and most haunting character of all time, Freddy Krueger, would know how to scare his audiences and this film would have surely left a scare on his reputation.
One question, why???All in all, a bad horror movie which seemed more like Home Alone than a film directed by Freddy himself.
Robert Englund was Freddy Krueger when he directed this movie.
I am a huge fan of Robert Englund but this movie isn´t very good it is not very well acted and rather silly than scary.
The scant few teenagers who went to see "976-EVIL" in 1989 probably had no idea who Sandy Dennis was (just as the kids who first saw "Carrie" didn't know who Piper Laurie was), but the veteran actress manages to bring a few minutes of class to an otherwise lousy, fifth-rate screamer about a nerdy high school kid acquiring demonic powers from a satanic phone number.
Being the directorial debut of Robert 'Freddy Krueger' Englund, it comes as no surprise to find that 976-EVIL follows the same cheesy route as the numerous Nightmare on Elm Street sequels, with the villain of the piece, high school wimp turned demon Hoax (Stephen Geoffreys), cracking corny one-liners as he offs those who have made his life a misery.There's not much originality on display, the pace is a little slow, and the film is lacking in outrageous gore effects, but with decent performances from Geoffreys (whose film career would soon take a surprising turn), Patrick O'Bryan as Hoax's cool cousin Spike, and Lezlie Deane as school hottie Suzie (who provides the obligatory T&A), a memorable scene guaranteed to have arachnophobes squirming, plus a reasonably spectacular finale over the pits of Hell, it's not a total loss, and not nearly as bad Jim Wynorski's diabolical sequel..
I guess I have a soft spot, a very small one, for this forgotten film, which was directed by horror icon Robert Englund.
A typical late '80s horror film, which has an goodish premise (a direct phone line to Hell), but which loses things at the end.
While the film could have been a lot more thoughtful and interesting, it wastes the story and instead gives us lots of special effects and gore, in place of plot development.However it's not quite as bad as some of the trash turned out in the 1980s, and the story is just about diverting enough to pass the time.
Unfortunately, director Robert Englund, better known as Freddy Krueger in the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET series (and for his incessant cameos in many 90's horror films) gives us a rather poor film, this man is an actor, not a director for god's sake, so why did he even bother?
Englund's presence is even more obvious in the way that the demon makes stupid wisecracks and jokes at the end of the film, just like Freddy.The acting is pretty poor.
It's left to Stephen Geoffreys (FRIGHT NIGHT) to carry the main body of the film, and while he's quite funny as the nerdish, snivelling loser, he's not in the least bit effective at the end.
Much to Hoax's surprise it works a treat but thug Marcus & his gang show up & ruins things, after this somewhat embarrassing & humiliating experience Hoax continues to phone the number but receives advice on Satanic rituals & the more Hoax calls 976 Evil the gates of hell begin to open in Hoax's house & he becomes possessed by evil forces which turn him into a brutal Demonic killer...Directed by Robert Englund I personally thought 976-Evil was a decent time waster & a pretty watchable horror film.
The script by Brian Helgeland & Rhet Topham moves along at a fair pace although it does drag in a couple of places & it does take itself a little seriously at times although to it's credit it is something a bit different, I mean it doesn't always work brilliantly but at least I didn't sit there thinking I'd seen it all before already like so many horror films & I wasn't bored either.
The acting is also pretty good, except the terrible Sandy Dennis & her almost as terrible hair-dos.976-Evil isn't the greatest film ever made but it's a decent effort that I enjoyed watching, it won't be the best horror film you've ever watched but I doubt it'll be the worst either.
Spike and Hoax (Stephen Geoffreys from Fright Night) are cousins who live under the overly watchful eye of Hoax's super religious mother Lucy (Sandy Dennis, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, God Told Me To).
Hoax is a nerd that's afraid of everyone while Spike is a motorcycle riding bad boy with the girl of his cousin's dreams, Suzie (Lezlie Deane, Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare).Both boys start using the novelty phone number 976-EVIL, which reads them creepy-themed fortunes for a few dollars.
(Hoax kinda sorta looks like the Michael Jackson zombie in that "Thriller" video, toward the film's end, more than anything else!) All the better, to finally take vengeance on all the high school bullies who have long been harassing him.
This film is absolutely awful and a good example of what dire straits the horror genre was in around this time.
Made in the late eighties and directed by Robert Englund, I pretty much knew what to expect from '976 Evil' before it even began.
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.
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.
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.