Freddy Krueger Made A Supernatural Horror Movie Crazier Than Nightmare On Elm Street

976-EVIL is a tale of two teenage cousins, Spike and Hoax, who live with Hoax’s devoutly religious mother. Though the cousins were raised together, the two couldn’t be more opposite. Spike was the handsome bad boy who always seemed to get the girl, while nerdy and timid Hoax lived an isolated existence that was fueled largely by his mother’s constant emasculation of her son.

Spike and Hoax stumble across a phone line that gives the film its namesake, 976-EVIL. For a small fee, you could call the number and hear a spooky voice emote predictions about the future or unconventional life advice. Though both cousins call the line, Spike gets turned off by it and goes about his life.

Hoax, however, becomes infatuated with calling 976-EVIL. As you can imagine, the voice on the other end of the phone wasn’t just some pre-recorded message. Satan set up the hotline as a way to trick susceptible people into committing horrific acts.

Hoax slowly becomes the embodiment of evil that the phone line was aiming for. A possessed Hoax enacts brutal and violent revenge on those who he believes wronged him, getting his orders directly from the Devil himself. 976 EVIL takes the two cousins from a caring familial relationship to one that is adversarial, setting up a series of innovative kill scenes and making Spike race against the clock to save his cousin’s soul.

976-EVIL features Fright Night’s Stephen Geoffreys as Hoax, Patrick O’Brien as his cousin Spike, and Academy Award-winning actress Sandy Dennis as Hoax’s overbearing mother. The film serves as not only the directorial debut for Englund but represents the first of three times the A Nightmare on Elm Street villain called the shots in a production.

976-EVIL’s storyline follows the old trope of a weakling getting superpowers, albeit the powers Hoax receives are demonic in nature. This makes for a fairly predictable film whose saving grace is the innovative deaths Hoax inflicts on his enemies. Geoffrey himself stands out from the rest of the cast, playing the part of the henpecked teen to perfection.

REVIEW SCORE

The film’s special effects and creature makeup, compared to many of the bigger-budget horror movies of the decade, work well to paint a terrifying sheen on the final product. Make no mistake about it: 976-EVIL isn’t on par with the A-level screenwriting of The Exorcist or The Omen and is acted to the same standards as most low-budget horror productions. But it’s a film that still packs in some great scares corny one-liners, is worthy of a late-night watch, and earns every bit of its 3.0-5.0 stars.

You can stream 976-EVIL for free on Tubi right now to check out Robert Englund’s cult horror directorial debut for yourself.