Day 21 - 976 Evil 2 (1992)

 Day 21 - 976 Evil 2 (1992)

PLOT - A seemingly harmless telephone service endows an evil teacher with powers from beyond the grave 

LOWDOWN - I enjoyed the original 976 Evil. Directed by Robert Englund aka Freddy himself, it was released at the height of the Nightmare On Elm Street mania in 1988. With the oddball outcast of Hoax played by Stephen Geoffreys who won everyone over a few years earlier with playing Evil Ed in Fright Night, the movie was a complete and utter guilty pleasure thrill ride. Was it the best movie ever? No. Did it have lots of flaws? Yes. Is it still a movie I enjoy and saw the passion behind it, of course. I feel Englund did a fine job with his freshman effort, but sadly audiences didn't see it that way. Over the years the movie has gained a cult following, and a few years after being released in the early 90's it even got the sequel treatment. This time around Englund bowed out of the director's chair and Chopping Mall director Jim Wynorski decided to fill the seat. Best known for his B movies, I feel this was a perfect choice on who could take over this very strange story.

Sadly with Hoax dead in Hell, his cousin Spike returns a few years later after being out on the open road only to wander to a small West Coast town where a series of young students have been murdered by a devil worshiping creep of a teacher who's been using the same phone line from the original to gain power. Now arrested for his crimes, and locked behind bars, the teacher uses the evil power to be able to transport his soul and be in two places at once, slowly stalking the students he didn't get a chance to have his hands on. Sounds like a strange movie. You bet! This movie is still able to have charm dispite it's many flaws, and trust me there are many! With some really creative deaths, and an interesting way to further the hotline story, we follow Spike as he teams up with a young girl trying to prove that this teacher is behind these new crimes. With some clever cameos of George 'Buck' Flower and Brigitte Nielsen, this movie is B movie gold at it's best.

One of my favorite scenes in the entire movie is the It's A Wonderful Life and Night Of The Living Dead scene. Very well made, and very clever.

So if you're looking for a fun sequel to a B horror movie, 976 Evil II is you're movie!

2 stars!