{ "id": "epmhg46p0z", "slug": "976-evil", "title": "976-EVIL", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror", "label": "Horror films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror.religious-and-demonic-horror-films", "label": "Religious and demonic horror films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror.religious-and-demonic-horror-films" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror", "label": "United States · 1946 to 2000: Horror films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946", "label": "United States · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror", "label": "Horror films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror" } ] } ], "excerpt": "976-EVIL is a 1989 American horror film and Robert Englund's directorial debut, about bullied teen Hoax, who calls a 976 Horrorscope hotline, connects with a demonic force, and gains powers for revenge; produced by CineTel Films, grossed $2.9 million.", "snippet": "976-EVIL is a 1989 American horror film and Robert Englund's directorial debut, about bullied teen Hoax, who calls a 976 Horrorscope hotline, connects with a demonic force, and gains powers for revenge; produced by CineTel Films, grossed $2.9 million.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror.religious-and-demonic-horror-films", "markdown": "# 976-EVIL\n\n**976-EVIL** is a 1989 American horror film directed by [Robert Englund](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-englund), the actor best known for playing [Freddy Krueger](https://www.edgepedia.org/freddy-krueger) in the *A Nightmare on Elm Street* series, in his feature directorial debut. The plot follows a bullied high school student who calls a premium-rate telephone hotline for a daily horoscope and instead connects with a demonic force that grants him supernatural powers he uses against his tormentors.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58211-976-EVIL) • [2](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/976evil)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Release | Regional release 24 March 1989; rated R; 93 minutes[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58211-976-EVIL) |\n| Director | Robert Englund, his feature film directorial debut[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58211-976-EVIL) |\n| Writers | Rhet Topham and Brian Helgeland[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58211-976-EVIL) |\n| Principal cast | Stephen Geoffreys as Hoax, Patrick O'Bryan as Spike, Sandy Dennis as Aunt Lucy, Lezlie Deane as Suzie[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58211-976-EVIL) • [3](https://www.tvguide.com/movies/976-evil/cast/2030266774/) |\n| Production | CineTel Films; producer Lisa M. Hansen; distributor New Line Cinema[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58211-976-EVIL) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/976_evil) |\n| Box office | $2.9 million gross in the United States[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/976_evil) |\n| Critical score | 15% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 13 reviews; 28% audience score[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/976_evil) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nHigh school underdog Hoax Wilmoth ([Stephen Geoffreys](https://www.edgepedia.org/stephen-geoffreys)) fills his idle hours in his small hometown fending off leather-jacketed thugs, avoiding his overbearing, religious-fanatic mother ([Sandy Dennis](https://www.edgepedia.org/sandy-dennis)), and dreaming of a date with Suzie (Lezlie Deane). His cousin Spike introduces him to a new hobby, phoning in for his [Horoscope](https://www.edgepedia.org/horoscope). Instead of the astrological predictions he expects, Hoax is connected with a demonic force that slowly begins to overtake his life, and anyone who has crossed \"the neighborhood nerd\" pays for it.[2](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/976evil)\n\nThe AFI Catalog synopsis gives the setup in more detail: Spike (Leonard \"Spike\" Johnson, played by Patrick O'Bryan) loses his motorcycle in a poker game to Marcus and his gang in the projection booth of the Diablo Theater. A flyer for \"Horrorscope\" falls out of a magazine, and on a lark he calls the 976 telephone number, hearing a pre-recorded voice from the \"master\" who promises a financial prize if he is brave enough to claim it.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58211-976-EVIL) A contemporary Washington Post review summarized the arc as a repressed teenage boy who rings the number for his daily \"horror-scope,\" moves from fundamentalism to Satanism, grows long fingernails and scaly skin, wreaks vengeance on his tormentors, and is \"hung up on\" at the end.[5](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1989/03/25/976-evil-not-a-working-number/cc551b48-07b2-478a-be7e-2cb036c8fcaa)\n\n## Production and release\n\nAccording to a 15 March 1988 *Hollywood Reporter* news item, 976-EVIL was Robert Englund's directorial debut. The same item stated the film would be released in August 1988, but a 16 March 1989 news item reported a regional release on 24 March 1989, with Los Angeles and New York openings on that date.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58211-976-EVIL) The film was produced by CineTel Films, with Lisa M. Hansen as producer and Paul Hertzberg as executive producer, and was distributed by [New Line Cinema](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-line-cinema).[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58211-976-EVIL) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/976_evil)\n\n**Practical effects.** [One hundred](https://www.edgepedia.org/one-hundred) and fifty tarantulas were used for the scene in which Suzie is killed. The smoke used to give the scene atmosphere made the arachnids so lethargic that Englund and his crew had to blow air at them through straws to make them move.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58211-976-EVIL)\n\n**Tie-in hotline.** New Line Cinema promoted the film by setting up a telephone daily \"Horrorscope\" at the number (900) 909-Dare, according to a 16 March 1989 *Hollywood Reporter* news brief.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58211-976-EVIL)\n\n## The 976 hotline phenomenon\n\nThe film takes its premise from a real 1980s telephone service. In the years before the internet, callers could dial premium-rate numbers with the prefix 976 for select services, ranging from [Michael Jackson](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-jackson)'s tour schedule to adult chat lines advertised in the back of men's magazines.[6](https://www.framerated.co.uk/976-evil-1988/) A 1988 Los Angeles Times report described 976 entertainment as big business, with teenagers dialing dial-a-joke, dial-a-prayer, dial-a-horoscope, and dial-a-Santa lines, in two basic forms: interactive party and gab lines, and prerecorded messages. The same report noted horror stories about minors running up large phone bills, and a Washington, D.C. rule requiring 976 messages to state their cost at the beginning of the call so customers could hang up without being billed.[7](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-07-30-li-6719-story.html)\n\nAn Atlas Obscura history of horror hotlines describes 976-EVIL as the horror hotline's biggest moment, a sendoff that briefly made 900 numbers a movie star. The internet later made such pay-per-call numbers virtually obsolete, though hotlines had demonstrated consumer demand for instant, paid information at home.[8](https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/horror-hotlines-900-numbers)\n\n## Reception and legacy\n\nContemporary reviews were negative. Richard Harrington of *The Washington Post* called the film \"a sorry, wrong number,\" criticizing its slow pace and clichéd devices, while noting the premise of evil spirits communicating by phone had some interest.[5](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1989/03/25/976-evil-not-a-working-number/cc551b48-07b2-478a-be7e-2cb036c8fcaa) On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 15% Tomatometer from 13 reviews and a 28% audience score from more than 5,000 ratings; later critics have described it as more interesting as a curious oddity than as a well-crafted film.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/976_evil)\n\nThe film has been placed in the subgenre of horror stories in which bullied, low-status victims take revenge through supernatural means, alongside *Carrie* and *Evilspeak* (1981), with which it is often compared.[9](https://bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/3805358/35-years-later-robert-englunds-976-evil-dials-back-to-a-bygone-era/) • [6](https://www.framerated.co.uk/976-evil-1988/) 976-EVIL did not establish Englund as a director, and he returned to acting in the *Elm Street* series.[9](https://bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/3805358/35-years-later-robert-englunds-976-evil-dials-back-to-a-bygone-era/) A sequel, *976-Evil II*, followed, with Patrick O'Bryan returning as Spike, the hero of the first film.[10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/976_evil_2)\n\n## References\n\n1. [976-EVIL, AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58211-976-EVIL)\n2. [976-EVIL, Sony Pictures Entertainment](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/976evil)\n3. [976-EVIL – Full Cast & Crew, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/movies/976-evil/cast/2030266774/)\n4. [976-EVIL, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/976_evil)\n5. [Richard Harrington, \"'976-EVIL' Not a Working Number,\" The Washington Post, 25 March 1989](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1989/03/25/976-evil-not-a-working-number/cc551b48-07b2-478a-be7e-2cb036c8fcaa)\n6. [Jono Simpson, \"976-EVIL (1988),\" Frame Rated](https://www.framerated.co.uk/976-evil-1988/)\n7. [Mark Torok and Stuart Rhea, \"Dial-a-Dilemma: Youths Ring Up Sex, Money Issues With 976 Numbers,\" Los Angeles Times, 30 July 1988](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-07-30-li-6719-story.html)\n8. [Pat Cassels, \"The Heyday of Horror Hotlines and Why We Still Love to Fear the Phone,\" Atlas Obscura, 21 March 2025](https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/horror-hotlines-900-numbers)\n9. [Daniel Kurland, \"35 Years Later, Robert Englund's '976-Evil' Dials Back to a Bygone Era,\" Bloody Disgusting, 22 March 2024](https://bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/3805358/35-years-later-robert-englunds-976-evil-dials-back-to-a-bygone-era/)\n10. [976-Evil II, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/976_evil_2)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Horror films (individual works) › Religious and demonic horror films*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/976-evil", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/976-evil.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"976-EVIL\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/976-evil. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[976-EVIL](https://www.edgepedia.org/976-evil)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/976-evil](https://www.edgepedia.org/976-evil). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"976-EVIL\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/976-evil. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "976-EVIL is a 1989 American horror film and Robert Englund's directorial debut, about bullied teen Hoax, who calls a 976 Horrorscope hotline, connects with a demonic force, and gains powers for revenge; produced by CineTel Films, grossed $2.9 million." }