La ligne du diable

Some moments work better than others and the film takes a trip to bizarro world towards the end and you stop caring, but for Robert Englund's directorial debut, 976-Evil has more style than expected and at least two great performances from Stephen Geoffreys and Sandy Dennis. Geoffreys is great as the put upon high school dork who gains his confidence due to demonic possession and Dennis swings from the rafters as his campy religious freak mother. Also worth seeing for some great effects even if it seems like this movie got the MPAA on a bad day. Even the so-called uncensored version feels like it was cut to ribbons.

The rebellious teenager Spike (Patrick O'Bryan) lives with his religious Aunt Lucy (Sandy Dennis), her cats and his annoying cousin Hoax (Stephen Geoffreys) in the house he inherited from his mother. Hoax is a teenager bullied by a gang of punks and Spike protects him whenever possible. Spike finds a flyer of a horoscope dialing 976-EVIL, but he does not give much attention to the voice from the other side. He dates the schoolmate Suzie (Lezlie Deane) and they go in his motorcycle to his room. Hoax sees them having sex from his room and when Spike and Suzie leave the room, Hoax steals the panty Suzie gave to Spike and finds the flyer of his cousin. He goes to the movie theater where Suzie and Spike had gone and is bullied by the punks and the disappointed Suzie learns that he had her panty. He decides to revenge them dialing 976-EVIL and following the instructions received from the voice. Meanwhile the snoopy reporter Marty (Jim Metzler) is looking for a scoop and decides to investigate the phone number with the support of Hoax's teacher Angela (María Rubell).

"976-EVIL" is an horror movie directed by Robert "Freddy Krueger" Englund and released in 1988 only on VHS in Brazil. The plot has flaws, the special effects are dated but the storyline entertains and is worthwhile watching it again. Another interesting point is to see the cast young thirty-three years ago. Unfortunately, it was not released on DVD in my country. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Força Demoníaca" ("Demoniac Force")

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. His goofs in his first attempt to scare his cousin's girl (former Cowboy's cheerleader Lezlie Deane) and kills her. If you have a thing about spiders, you may want to fast forward through this part.

He perfects his craft as he changes into a satanic beast. The makeup and special effects were really good. The only problem I had was the length of time that it took to get here. The movie was pretty boring up to this point. Maybe Englund will do better as he directs himself later this year.

Of course, there is a sequel where Spike returns to battle the evil.

Stephen Geoffreys is the type of actor that Bob Saget and Eminem wish they could be! Stephen takes a bland horror flick and transforms it into a surreal epic! Stephen is Hoax, a shut-in of a teenager who lives with his insane and controlling mother. Stephen rules, dude! He is one of the best actors that I can think of, and his performance in this film will make you, as the viewer, feel quite a variety of emotions all at once! Good stuff, man!

Much better than you may have heard, though it requires a great deal of patience. The first half is pretty slow, but not completely without merit because it showcases the comedic talents of the gifted Sandy Dennis who is a riot as the taunted teen's overprotective, religious fanatic mother. Dennis takes the Piper Laurie role in CARRIE even further, but this time plays the role for laughs, and she's absolutely magnificent every minute she's on the screen. She comes across in this film as an even more out-of-control Shelley Winters(another great actress). The second half however is what viewers will most likely remember about the film because it features some very wacky and crudely effective special effects. The FX are pretty good too for such a low-budget effort and all. Besides Dennis, the top acting honors go to Stephen Geoffreys who is just about perfect as the terrorized teen who turns the tables on his tormentors. Generally speaking, audiences and critics alike have been much too harsh on this nifty little flick. 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. I don't care what anyone says, good job Robert!!!!! Yes, CARRIE is a masterpiece of horror, but if you wan't to see a more humerous take on the same theme, then 976-EVIL is the way to go.