Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

976-EVIL Blu-ray Movie Review

Today's lesson: call someone who cares, not someone who scares.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman September 21, 2017

For genre fans and those who are missing the good old days of Horror on home video, Sony has returned to its catalogue (a fairly rare trip down memory lane for the studio, at least considering recent history) and released Director Robert Englund's 976-EVIL, a film that mixes up Satan and touch-tone telephones to slow-burn satisfaction. It's a good bet that today's younger, hipper audiences aren't going to grasp the movie's (dial) tone, and the movie literally begins with the sound of a dial tone. It's certainly a creature from a different place and time, a film that today must be appreciated for its nostalgic trip backwards to simpler times both as it depicts life from the 1980s and as it makes a largely defunct bit of technology its centerpiece as a gateway to hell. Sony has also released the film in a standard Blu-ray case that has been made to replicate the look of a tattered VHS tape box from back in the day, a nice little touch that could have only been bested by including an actual VHS tape for good measure.

Ch-ch-ch-chang-es!

Hoax (Stephen Geoffreys) is a high school student who is always on the outside looking in. He's been raised in a strict household where his mother's (Sandy Dennis) rules are made to be enforced and religion comes first. He lives with his slightly older cousin Spike (Patrick O'Bryan) who lives life on the edge. He rides a motorcycle, sleeps with a beautiful girl, and spends his nights playing poker in a smoke-filled movie theater projection room. But things begin to change when Hoax finds an advertisement for a toll-based telephone number that promises to read him his horoscope. As he hears empowering words on the other end, he begins to gain confidence, even talking to Spike's girlfriend (Lezlie Deane). But with his newfound empowerment comes something else, something much more sinister that could put the devil inside him and the fear of God in everyone around him.

Robert Englund, best known, of course, for his portrayal of the monstrous and disfigured Freddy Krueger in the popular A Nightmare on Elm Street series, obviously knows his way around Horror. While those films grew away from the serious-side scares into more comic-micheif Horror films, his experience nevertheless allows him a unique opportunity at crafting his own genre picture and an understanding of what works and what doesn't. In 976-EVIL, he favors a slow-burn approach that takes its time painting the characters and the world around them. His lead characters gradually flip roles. The more brash and confident and earthly but inherently good of the cousins gradually becomes the inferior one as the desperate and awkward straight-cut one comes slowly, but surely, under Satan's influence, which gradually manifests physically, evolving from increased confidence to tangible evil and a willingness to be evil. The movie grows increasingly dark and depraved rather than try to scare and make the audience jump from the beginning, which only makes the hellishly violent final act, and the surprises and character moments it holds, all the more satisfying.

The devilish horoscopes play key to the movie, as does the telephone, which is ultimately just a means to an end but a clever device, particularly as a subplot involving a character looking into how it works plays out. It allows for a gradual progression that begins as unseen playfulness, a mystery as to who is on the other end, a fear as the predictions grow ever more specific, and terror as whatever is on one end begins to manifest on the other. Englund and Writers Rhet Topham and Brian Helgeland carefully construct characters that give Hoax an outlet for violence that the audience can, in a somewhat perverted way, root for. Their villains -- a gaggle of poker-playing bullies -- aren't the worst kids in the world, but neither are they angels; they take lunch money from more vulnerable kids, smoke in the school's bathroom, and urge Spike to get ever deeper in debt at the poker table. The violence against them isn't cathartic for the audience, but it's devilish fun for Hoax and his gory retribution makes for the film's most stunningly violent sequence. The end game satisfies as well, particularly as both Patrick O'Bryan and Stephen Geoffreys play it very well, leaving open a few possibilities until the film reveals its final direction in the ending moment. It's hardly grand cinema, but it's definitely a satisfying little throwback of a film that emphasizes character, mood, and a novelty, yet very tangible, gimmick propelling the narrative.

976-EVIL Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

976-EVIL arrives on Blu-ray with a robust and very enjoyable 1080p image. The picture boasts a consistent grain structure, attractively complimentary and establishing a quality filmic veneer. Details are robust beyond a few softer shots where faces are positively revealing. The diverse array of odds and ends around the projection booth come to life with movie posters and other nicknacks that are clear and revealing, and some key gore and creature effects are firmly defined as well. Colors aren't particularly vibrant, but the movie's natural state is one of, generally, dimmer shots and lower light. Red blood does satisfy as it's presented, particularly in one key scene in a bathroom stall, while natural greens and some other shades revealed in better lighting display positive saturation and punch. Black levels hold up well and skin tones don't stray too far from neutral. A few speckles are evident and light compression issues are sporadically visible, but overall this is a very nice image from Sony.

976-EVIL Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

976-EVIL calls into Blu-ray with a capable DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The presentation is hardly of the muscular, lifelike sorts that new track frequently deliver, but Sony's track certainly gets the job done with enough clarity and stage presence to please. Music plays with adequate definition and front-end width. Surround support is more sparse. Chilling strings offer pleasant high-end clarity while the low end offers a fair, though hardly robust, support. A few more aggressive effects, like ringing telephones and a handful of other chaotic elements, succumb to mild crunchiness and a lack of pure definition, but the core detail is evident and there's something of a charm to the slightly imprecise details, anyway. Environmental ambience delivers a fair sense of immersion, which can include light neighborhood sounds, gentle thunder, or a film projector's whirr heard off to the side near film's start. Dialogue propels much of the film, and it plays with satisfying front-center placement, good clarity, and consistent prioritization above surrounding elements.

976-EVIL Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

976-EVIL contains two extras. First is an Alternate Home Video Version of the film (480i, ~4x3, English DD 2.0, 1:44:39) which offers not only a cut that runs about 12 minutes more in length but also a really cool way to watch the movie as it might have been enjoyed back in the good old heyday of VHS. Also included is an audio commentary track with Director Robert Englund and Nancy Booth Englund. It opens with the participants discussing the concept, the film's structure and approach, characters, set design, special effects, plot details, the world as it was then, and much more. This is a very good track, insightful, well spoken, and impressively complimentary to the movie watching experience. A definite recommend. A UV digital copy code is included with purchase.

976-EVIL Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

976-EVIL plays in stark contrast to today's slicker and tired Horror films that often have no sense of character about them. Robert Englund's film is teeming with character, thrives on simplicity, and excels at processing the material slowly and evolving the characters gradually. It's a welcome watch from a time when Horror was more satisfying and substantial. Sony's Blu-ray is really fun. In fact, it would be nice to see a release packaged like 976-EVIL become something of a trendsetter for Sony if the studio chooses to continue to dig into its back catalogue for new Blu-ray material. The packaging presentation is simple but brings a smile to the face, and the included alternate version, which offers a watch much closer to VHS than Blu-ray, is a welcome supplement that kicks that nostalgic satisfaction into high gear. There's still value in watching a movie like that, and so long as it's alongside a quality Blu-ray like this one and not the only option, it would be very nice option to have for a movie of this sort. The film's new Blu-ray tech presentation is strong for a low-budget 80s Horror flick. Highly recommended.