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Murder by Phone

  • 1982
  • R
  • 1h 35m
IMDb RATING
5.4/10
861
YOUR RATING
Murder by Phone (1982)
HorrorThrillerMystery

A disgruntled phone company employee develops a device whereby those answering a phone can be murdered, and it's up to Nat Bridger to stop the killer.A disgruntled phone company employee develops a device whereby those answering a phone can be murdered, and it's up to Nat Bridger to stop the killer.A disgruntled phone company employee develops a device whereby those answering a phone can be murdered, and it's up to Nat Bridger to stop the killer.

  • Director
    • Michael Anderson
  • Writers
    • Michael Butler
    • Dennis Shryack
    • John Kent Harrison
  • Stars
    • Richard Chamberlain
    • John Houseman
    • Sara Botsford
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    5.4/10
    861
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Michael Anderson
    • Writers
      • Michael Butler
      • Dennis Shryack
      • John Kent Harrison
    • Stars
      • Richard Chamberlain
      • John Houseman
      • Sara Botsford
    • 18User reviews
    • 18Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos12

    Murder by Phone (1982)
    Murder by Phone (1982)
    Murder by Phone (1982)
    Murder by Phone (1982)
    Murder by Phone (1982)
    Murder by Phone (1982)
    Murder by Phone (1982)
    Murder by Phone (1982)
    Murder by Phone (1982)
    Murder by Phone (1982)
    Murder by Phone (1982)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Richard Chamberlain
    Richard Chamberlain
    • Nat Bridger
    John Houseman
    John Houseman
    • Stanley Markowitz
    Sara Botsford
    Sara Botsford
    • Ridley Taylor
    Robin Gammell
    Robin Gammell
    • Noah Clayton
    Gary Reineke
    Gary Reineke
    • Lt. Meara
    Barry Morse
    Barry Morse
    • Fred Waites
    Alan Scarfe
    Alan Scarfe
    • John Websole
    James B. Douglas
    • Jack Gilsdorf
    Ken Pogue
    Ken Pogue
    • Fil Thorner
    Neil Munro
    • Winters
    Jefferson Mappin
    Jefferson Mappin
    • Photographer
    Tom Butler
    Tom Butler
    • Detective Tamblyn
    Colin Fox
    Colin Fox
    • Dr. Alderman
    Luba Goy
    Luba Goy
    • Beth Freemantle
    Lenore Zann
    Lenore Zann
    • Connie Lawson
    Clare Coulter
    Clare Coulter
    • Bag Lady
    George R. Robertson
    George R. Robertson
    • George Lord
    Jo-Anne Hannah
    • Sandra Thorner
    • (as Joann Lang-Hannah)
    • Director
      • Michael Anderson
    • Writers
      • Michael Butler
      • Dennis Shryack
      • John Kent Harrison
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Known in the UK as "Bells".
    • Quotes

      [last lines]

      Nat Bridger: I'll call ya!

    • Crazy credits
      Pictures of telephones are displayed throughout the concluding credits, which finish with a telephone ringing.
    • Alternate versions
      Murder by Phone is the title of the truncated US release. The original version was entitled Bells, and runs an additional 20 minutes.
    • Connections
      Featured in The Horror of It All (1983)

    User reviews18

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    Hokey attempt at a thriller
    My review was written after a January 1983 screening on Times Square.

    Filmed in Toronto as "Bells", "Murder by Phone' is a sorry excuse for a horror/sci-fi programmer. Picked up for distribution by New World (and briefly flirting with an alternate moniker "The Calling"), it's due for a quick playoff.

    The picture's gimmick is a crazed killer baffling the local police by killing at a distance using a sophisticated apparatus which transmits through the telephone system, zapping victims through their phone receivers. New World's release title for the film unwittingly tips off the age of this hoary plot device, used as the basis for a stilted 1935 movie "Murder by Television".

    Richard Chamberlain, sporting a handsome beard and an unsteady country boy accent, toplines ats Nat Bridger, a science teacher investigating the mysterious death of one of his students. Tracking her death to a Toronto subway phone which was found melted, Bridger seeks aid in vain from his former professor Stanley Markowitz (John Houseman), now an environmental consultant for Inter-World Telephone Co.l In one of many preposterous script cogs, Bridger befriends artist Ridley Taylor (Sara Botsford), painting a huge technology mural in the phone company's lobby, who conveniently has access to all the lans and files in the supposedly high-security installation. Aided by local police detective Meara (Gary Reineke) they trace and trap the killer.

    British director (now a Canadian resident Michael Anderson fails to pump any excitement or suspense into the picture, preferring to immerse the viewer in telephone lore and load every scene with a different type of phone receiver. Cumulative effect is campy rather than scary, not surprising given the imprersona, definitely unhorrific reliance on "murer at a distance". Each killing consists of victim shaking, bleeding profusely and then, with hokey special effects, flying across the room in slow motion.

    With silly, cliched dialog (and time out for pompous militant speeches by Chamberlain concerning controlling our destiny and protecting the environment), cast plays by the numbers. Redhead Sara Botword is introduced here as an attractive heroine, subsequently having made wo moe horror films "Still of the Night" and "Night Eyes", while Barry Morse is quite predictably up to no good as the president of IWT. Tech credits are subpar, particularly the murky photography. For an effective and intentionally funny paranoia film about the phone company, one still has to turn to "The President's Analyst".
    helpful•1
    0
    • lor_
    • Jan 23, 2023

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 8, 1982 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • Canada
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Starkstrom
    • Filming locations
      • Kleinburg, Ontario, Canada(Studio)
    • Production companies
      • Canadian Film Development Corporation (CFDC)
      • Famous Players
      • Coco Films I
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    • Budget
      • CA$5,600,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • Runtime
      1 hour 35 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono

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