Party Line

Leif Garrett stars as a crazed serial killer who kills men that his sister lures back to there home through a party line. Sometimes entertaining mystery/horror film with an intriguing premise, is ruined because of slack direction and a sleazy script not to mention a bad ending. The cast tries its best. Rated R; Violence, Sexual Situations, Nudity, and Profanity.

People call a 976 "party line" to talk dirty to strangers, and perhaps meet up for a sexual liason. A deranged, somewhat incestuous sister and occasional transvestite brother use the line to find people to kill, usually married men, but they don't discriminate! A pair of sixteen year old girls also call the line for fun, pretending to be older, of course. One of them works as a babysitter for a married man who's hot for her (or anyone).

Meanwhile, a vice cop is borrowed by homicide when he's the first to discover one of the siblings' victims. He's teamed with a female assistant of the District Attorney.

Nothing too special here. Richard Roundtree has little more than a cameo as the police chief. One of the dirty-talking sixteen year olds is played by an actress who also voiced Peanuts character Peppermint Patty! According to the IMDb, the other died quite young, just several years after this movie: sad.

This film was made by the same people who made a film called The Banker. The makers who did these films seem to want to make a different kind of slasher film. A bit of a more high brow killer on the loose, in The Banker it was a psychopath and in this one it is a brother and sister duo who went through some trauma and now they hunt through the party line. It was entertaining for what it was, nothing great, but an enjoyable time nonetheless.

The story has the aforementioned brother/sister hunting adulterers by talking to them on a party line and luring them to their posh estate. It is up to a investigator who has a problem with the DA to solve the case..along with a plucky 16 year old.

It stars Richard Hatch of Battlestar Galactica fame as the detective. Lief Garrett is the brother who is way more disturbed than the sister. You never hear his stuff on the radio ever. Roundtree is in this one too in pretty much the same role he was in The Banker.

So it was not that good, but it was entertaining because it did have some interesting stuff in it. I thought Hatch was pretty good in this, but Forster was better in the Banker in essentially the same role. They could have done more to spice this up, but you can do much, much worse.

I watched this movie this past week. I picked it out of a line up of "old horror/ thriller movies." I wanted a good laugh, so I picked this up, along with "Fade to Black" and "The Slumber Party Massacre Number 2." Boy was I in for a surprise. The plot was too extreme to even be believable. (Why would a brother even want to take part in sexual escapades with his biological sister?)

I have to admit that some of the scenes were pretty funny in slow motion, i.e. when the babysitter's employer dropped the babysitter off, and the babysitter slapped the employer in the face- the face he made, was too funny for words. A must see. Leif Garrett must have been desperate for work. However, the film makers were even more desperate to have this film released. And I mean, "film makers." If you want to call them that.

Rating by TaxiDr: 2 1/2 for laughter, and 1 for taking a chance in the movie industry.

'Party Line' is a camp 80's slasher flick that features a dated yet fun premise that involves the adult telephone line, a concept that will be completely lost on the younger generation, but here its used quite effectively as part of the storyline. The movie is pretty standard yet fun at the same time and competently shot with a tight pace and enough entertainment value to keep you interested throughout.

The plot = A pair of rich siblings Seth (Leif Garrett) & Angelina (Greta Blackburn) are crazed killers who use the party line to lure married men to their deaths. While at the same time a detective Dan (Richard Hatch) is assigned to the case with a new partner Stacy (Shawn Weatherly), can they catch the killers in time.

The performances in this are really strong with Leif Garrett stealing the show as the disturbed cross-dressing Seth, he's easily the most entertaining aspect of the movie. The sister played by Greta Blackburn also gives an entertaining performance and the pair have great chemistry together and every time the movie is revolving around these its hell of a good time. Richard Hatch and Shawn Weatherly are fine in their roles, but their characters aren't quite as engaging as the siblings. Richard Roundtree is always a joy to watch and brings a certain spark to the cast of characters.

The only thing that lets things down a bit are the scenes involving the police which can be a bit dull at times, but the party line scenes offer enough fun and nostalgic moments that are very contrived especially with the ridiculous and corny dialogue. There's enough sleaze and nudity to hold your attention most of the time, but the movie could have done with a bit more suspense and more bloody kills. However the movie is still a fun time, despite a few flaws.