976-EVIL (1988)
My mehtulz Top 5 list will be posted towards the end of the week, so I thought I'd machinate a blood capsule in the meantime. Motherfucking 976-EVIL, motherfuckers. It's not just a sweet Deftones song. No, it's a supernatural slasher directed by Robert Englund in between Freddy engagements. I'm wishing that he jumped behind the camera more often. Not because I can't stand to look at the guy, but because this is a stylish little picture! I loved the lighting, and man-o-man, there are a handful of cool angles that kept my pupils diverted. Obviously, the film is about a demonic telephone line. How does it work? Um, evil! That's how!
Stephen Geoffreys (yes, Evil Ed and the gaping star of innumerable gay pornos, my favorite being Halfway House Hunks) is Hoax, an awkward teen who is bullied to shit. His performance is topflight, but I didn't quite understand Hoax's...mental constitution? He's depicted as slow early on, a bit "simple" even. And yet, he seems "normal" (untoward choice of words, my apologies) later in the narrative, and it's before he becomes possessed by The Bell South Demon. Rotary joke! Anyway, the first half of 976-EVIL is a rollicking wedge of 80's horror. The second half doesn't suck outright, but it isn't nearly as fulfilling. Certain characters are introduced that serve no purpose whatsoever. Screenwriters Brian Helgeland and Rhet Topham should have stuck with the dynamic leads who anchored the exposition.
Overall, this flick is worth a Saturday afternoon rental. I'd say Halfway House Hunks is a judgment call.
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