DVD Review | 976-EVIL
Written by: Kage Alan

Film Rating: C-
DVD Special Features: N/A

The 80s were a pretty cool time for the horror genre.  Even though the MPAA
started cracking down on what could be shown and what couldn't as far as the
violence went, everything was still in flux and the studios seemed to enjoy
taking risks putting out some of the schlock that they did.  It seems that
somebody got the bright idea that if they took a known horror icon like
Robert Englund ("A Nightmare On Elm Street") and let him direct his own
horror film that it would become an instant classic.  It's a good theory,
only I think they forgot that it helps the director to have a decent script. 
Oops.

As the film opens, some obviously distraught man is unable to escape ringing
telephones until one finally electrocutes him.  Well, death is an escape,
right?  Anyway, what could that be all about?  Before we can find out, the
scene changes to an all-night horror theatre where we're introduced to Spike
(Patrick O'Bryan, "976-EVIL 2: The Astral Factor") and his friends as he's on
a losing streak playing cards with them.  Okay, then we jump to Spike's
cousin Hoax (Stephen Geoffreys, "Fright Night"), the typical naïve and dorky
teenager living with his overbearing and terminally religious mother (Sandy
Dennis, "God Told Me To").  It's no wonder poor Geoffreys turned to
performing in adult movies after all the meek and mild roles he'd been
offered.

Where Spike is respected by his peers as a badass, Hoax usually gets beat up
by the bullies and doesn't stand a chance ever getting the girl.  All of this
starts to change, though, when he gets a hold of a telephone number that
gives him his horrorscope.  As the calls to the number become more frequent,
so do the number of deaths that start to occur as well as the changes going
on with Hoax's body and it's not long before it's obvious the boy is
possessed.  Throw in a couple of other supposedly related deaths to people we haven't seen before and never see again, a reporter hot on the trail of the
horrorscope story and a damsel in distress and you've definitely got your
standard horror film going on.

Unfortunately, it takes forever for "976-EVIL" to figure out what it wants to
do or what it wants to be and heat up.  It's past the 40 minute mark before
we know what direction this is even going.  Talk about your bad pacing. 
Director Robert Englund tries his best to get decent performances out of his
cast as well as provide some interesting visuals, but it can't make up for
what is obviously a real turkey of a script.  Worse yet, the version of the
film here isn't the unrated one that was released on VHS with additional
footage previously cut out.

For whatever reason, Sony has released "976-EVIL" in the dreaded Full Screen transfer.  The picture quality is fairly good, only there are specs present
throughout as well as some grain.  Then too, this was a fairly low budget
effort, so it probably didn't look that great in the first place.  The audio
quality is decent, so no complaints in that department.  As for extras, there
are two trailers (neither of which are for this film) and that's it.  You
don't get much bang for your buck here, not even the entire picture, so this
will probably appeal to hardcore fans only.

I'm all for letting someone like Robert Englund have a shot at directing a
film in the genre he has come to love and flourish in, especially because I
respect the man and his work, but the poor guy deserved better than this. 
It's also difficult to see Stephen Geoffreys playing the poor picked on nerd
and then imagining him down on four partaking in some sweet lovin'.  Life
takes some pretty interesting turns, huh?  Speaking of unexpected, there's
even a sequel to this film, only I don't believe it ever received a
theatrical release and from what I've heard, I can understand why.  Watch at
your own risk.