Peppered_Productions We start with a blonde coed being stalked from pool to shower room, through school, before finally being supernaturally killed in the theater. Pretty typical horror movie stuff.Over the credits, we find Spike, our hero & sole survivor from the first movie, motoring toward the college town. He stops at a café, with a look of determination, love for diner fries, and horrible hair. He picks up a ringing payphone, which self-dials 666 & recites his horoscope. Obviously having experience with this before, he tells them off and hangs up, not falling into the trap. He is rewarded with a sign from God. He continues on his way toward Slate River.The basic back story for this flick is that there is a phone number to Evil. Those who call it, become possessed, but, in a way, get their wishes & powers granted. The cost for this service is human sacrifice, and boils deforming the damned soul's body. Like most late 80s/early 90s horror, it has gore galore and bad puns from the villain. And, this killer learns astral projection to stalk his victims (they later break the rules they set for this feat, FYI). For the time it was made, the special effects are decent. Also, having worked on films, I have a new appreciation for movies that are well-lit w/good sound. This film has both.A teacher, Mr. Grubeck, is arrested for the coed's murder, after the school's drunk janitor identifies him. As he's led away, Robin, hot daughter of the police department's psychologist passes by. Poor Mr. Grubeck actually started this damning pact because of his obsession with her. He'll do anything he can to have her. There are some creative bits in this movie. One victim is thrust into a movie that crosses between "It's a Wonderful Life" & "Night of the Living Dead", after flicking between those two movies. There is a poster at the school's auditorium that advertises a performance of Faust directed by Joe Bob Briggs. This is a 'Faustian' tale, and Joe Bob has hosted horror movies for many years. There is also a fun, yet creepy special guest appearance by Brigitte Nielsen. So, Spike joins with Robin, who's somehow gained a psychic connection to Grubeck, to try to kill Grubeck's physical body while he's distracted astrally. Oh, and, let's not forget, he still has access to his one phone call. One guess what number he dials...There were two things that just distracted me far too much to give this a higher rating. The first - our hero's hair. It's just plain awful! Seriously, I think they spent more of the movie's budget on the stylist and products than special effects. He takes off his motorcycle helmet, and it floops 3 inches over his head. It's the one element I just can't suspend my disbelief on.The second distraction? Rabbits! Yes, the director either has an obsession or inside joke with the long-eared mammals. I had started to wonder if I was imagining this placement after the first two, then BAM! A third shows up. Then fourth, fifth, and sixth. I didn't get it & spent half of the movie looking for them, and the other half wondering why in the hell they were there, and vowing to watch the first movie again to see if they were present.Two ADD elements aside, it really was a decently made & directed horror movie - definitely worth a viewing!

Woodyanders Evil college professor Mr. Grubeck (smoothly essayed with creepy aplomb by Rene Assa) murders attractive young college students for kicks. Grubeck acquires the power of astral projection from a mysterious telephone service. It's up to leather-clad bad boy Spike (nicely played with scruffy charm to spare by Patrick O'Bryan) and the perky Robin (a solid and appealing portrayal by gorgeous blonde knockout Debbie James) to stop him. Director Jim Wynorski, working from a compact script by Erik Anjou, relates the entertaining story at a snappy pace, creates an engagingly playful spooky ooga-booga carnival funhouse sort of atmosphere, stages some explosive vehicular carnage with rip-roaring brio, further spices things up with an amusing sense of campy humor, and delivers a satisfying smattering of tacky gore, lovably rinky-dink (not so) special effects, and tasty gratuitous female nudity. The ubiquitous George "Buck" Flower has a sizable supporting part as drunken janitor Turrell, who meets a memorably messy end when he gets mowed down by a truck. Popping up in nifty minor roles are Monique Gabrielle as persistent prosecuting attorney Lawlor, Brigitte Nielsen as horny occult bookstore owner Agnes, and Karen Mayo-Chandler as foxy nubile coed Laurie (who gets bumped off by Grubeck after taking a shower -- natch!). This movie hits its delightfully loopy apex with an inspired off-the-wall sequence in which Robin's perky gal pal Paula (yummy brunette Leslie Ryan) finds herself being projected into a TV set showing "It's a Wonderful Life" that then turns horrific when the poor lass gets zapped into "Night of the Living Dead" instead (!). Vincent D'Onofrio contributes several cool bluesy rock tunes to the soundtrack, plus the immortal 60's garage rock gem "Pushin' Too Hard" by The Seeds blares away during a rousing set piece featuring an out-of-control car. Both Zoran Hochstatter's crisp cinematography and Chuck Cirino's spirited shuddery score are up to speed. Good silly fun.

Joseph P. Ulibas 976-Evil 2 (1991) is a far better film than the first movie. The film-makers didn't try to be serious with the subject matter and the players seem to be enjoying themselves. Shot on the cheap, the sequel follows Spike and his attempts to stop the evil behind that darn 976-EVIL. He's still tooling around on his motorcycle looking like a rebel without a clue. But this time around he has one. It's up to him to stop the madness. A little worse for wear (Spike's sporting a five o'clock shadow that comes and goes) but he's all clad in black leather and looking to kick some demonic butt! Like I said, a very entertaining movie. Unlike the first film the black humor works. The villain in this movie is real creepy and funny as well. The film's direction flows along at a reasonable pace (thanks to the ever reliable Jim Wynorski) and the blood flows. I'm glad they stopped after this one. I probably couldn't take another sequel. Recommended.Bx

slayrrr666 `976-Evil II: The Astral Factor' is the kind of movie that you see on late-night TV with your friends and get drunk watching it.**SPOILERS**A local killer, Mr. Grubeck (René Assa), murders a young woman (Karen Mayo-Chandler) on a college campus. The townspeople are shocked that he would such a thing, as Mr. Grubeck is one of the towns' more outstanding citizens. While the police are investigating the situation, Spike (Patrick O'Bryan) wanders into town. A police psychologist's daughter, Robin (Debbie James) stumbles upon the scene and blacks out after seeing Grubeck in handcuffs. While being interrogated by the police captain, (Rod McCary) Grubeck asks for a phone call and calls 976-Evil. The line tells him that he will be granted a favor for serving the dark side and recieves a special power that makes him transparent, yet solid and can walk through walls. That evening, Grubeck stalks Robin on a date with her friends, until Spike shows up. He spills the truth about the phone number to Robin, who semi-believes him. Grubeck appears in the hotel room of the witness to his murder, Turrell (George ‘Buck' Flower) and kills him. When Spike searches Grubeck's house for evidence, the house attacks him, and he barely makes it out alive. He shows Robin Grubeck's phone bill, which contains more than 100 calls to 976-Evil. Believing Spike, Robin breaks into Grubeck's office to find more information, but suffers another flash and faints. When the lawyer for the police (Monique Gabrielle) lives out her flash, Robin becomes even more worried. When no one believes her, Robin and Spike team up to defeat Grubeck themselves.The Good News: For a movie that shouldn't have been made, as the original was creative, but probably was made to never have a sequel, this one is actually quite interesting. It allows the viewer to become involved in the story, as it appears before their eyes. The storyline is the best part of the movie, as it is still similar to the original but different enough to never play like a true sequel, where the plot can be guessed 99% accurately within the first ten minutes or before. The film still gives a few shocks here and there, and the ending is still one of the best I have ever seen. It has a spooky quality to it that completely turns the point of the story around and looks like it took the longest to make, as it threw out the events of the movie and gave it a new direction. The last twenty minutes also gives the film a new twist, as it becomes a straightforward action film. The chase was really inventive and exciting, as it was undoubtedly the highlight. The part where the character became a member in the movie on TV was also interesting to watch, as it integrated flawlessly with the `reel' footage from the movie. The gore is top-notch, and never intrusive, only highlighting the killing scenes' scares. The Bad News: As the sequel to a film that never needed one, this film suffers a lot from bad cameras, bad dialogue, and pretty bad scenarios for most of the movie. Only the last twenty minutes are of real importance and interest, with the movie-within scene being of viewing interest before then. It was also influenced by the late-80's horror scene, so this movie contains love-struck teenagers in dopey situations, a ton of bad jokes, and typical stereotyped performances. Spike is routine as the bad boy biker, Robin the innocent virgin, and the police are useless as the teens fight off and kill the enemy. It also takes an incredible amount of time for police to believe the situation, which is getting more and more boring to watch. If Sam Loomis took over hour to convince Haddonfield Police that Michael Myers was back in the ton is shown in three movies during this time, another one to do that is simply unnecessary to watch. How about some more creativity in movies?The Final Verdict: despite the fact that this movie shouldn't have been made, it is still a good way to speed 90 minutes with friends. It should be a worthwhile effort to seek it out, as it does have tons of redeeming factor to it. Gore aficionados should find it more so than others should.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, and Nudity.