31 Days of Hallowe'en Challenges : Day 8

It's Day 281 of the year and main project. That means we are on Day 8 of the 31 Days of Hallowe'en Challenge and the #31DayHorrorChallenge being hosted by Nightmare on Film Street.

The daily mini theme for my own 31 Days of Hallowe'en challenge is Must Have a Demon/Angel and the prompt for the 31 Days of Horror challenge being hosted by Nightmare on Film Street is Don't Answer The Phone. The movie I picked for today covers both. I picked 976-Evil.

Hoax is on the surface, your normal nerdy teenager, but after years of being bullied and abused, he desires revenge. He finds an ad for a 976 number and begins calling it. At first it seems to be a good luck charm for him, telling him how to get a date with his crush. But after she rejects him, he uses the advice the phone number gives him to perform a ritual and sacrifices her. Quickly he becomes more and more possessed by whatever or whomever is on the other side of the line.

There is a part of the movie that feels like it's missing a scene or two. The pacing for the first half of the movie is steady and it makes sense, then around the midway mark, after the lead character has only used the number twice, he's suddenly possessed. It just feels to me like his decent into madness was too quick. And this has nothing to do with the plot but with the editing.

I'm posting every day this month for the 31 Days challenges, so come back tomorrow and see what's on the slab. And if you want to follow along on my Letterboxd lists, you can here and here.