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Dial Help

Original title: Minaccia d'amore
  • 19881988
  • RR
  • 1h 34m
IMDb RATING
4.6/10
520
YOUR RATING
Dial Help (1988)
HorrorMystery
A psychic finds herself tapping into the "energy" of a deceased phone operator. She also finds that her friends soon begin dying mysteriously. An investigator determines to track down the ca... Read allA psychic finds herself tapping into the "energy" of a deceased phone operator. She also finds that her friends soon begin dying mysteriously. An investigator determines to track down the cause.A psychic finds herself tapping into the "energy" of a deceased phone operator. She also finds that her friends soon begin dying mysteriously. An investigator determines to track down the cause.
IMDb RATING
4.6/10
520
YOUR RATING
    • Ruggero Deodato
  • Writers
    • Joseph Cavara
    • Mary Cavara
    • Ruggero Deodato
  • Stars
    • Charlotte Lewis
    • Marcello Modugno
    • Mattia Sbragia
    • Ruggero Deodato
  • Writers
    • Joseph Cavara
    • Mary Cavara
    • Ruggero Deodato
  • Stars
    • Charlotte Lewis
    • Marcello Modugno
    • Mattia Sbragia
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 17User reviews
    • 22Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos10

    Charlotte Lewis in Dial Help (1988)
    Dial Help (1988)
    Charlotte Lewis in Dial Help (1988)
    Dial Help (1988)
    Dial Help (1988)
    Dial Help (1988)
    Dial Help (1988)
    Dial Help (1988)
    Dial Help (1988)

    Top cast

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    Charlotte Lewis
    Charlotte Lewis
    • Jenny Cooper
    Marcello Modugno
    • Riccardo
    Mattia Sbragia
    Mattia Sbragia
    • Mole
    Carola Stagnaro
    • Carmen
    Victor Cavallo
    Carlo Monni
    Carlo Monni
    • Fireman
    William Berger
    William Berger
    • Prof. Irving Klein
    Giorgio Tirabassi
    Jole Silvani
    • Cleaning woman
    Cesare Di Vito
    Antonietta Di Vizia
    Emanuela Fuin
    Cyrus Elias
    • Bar owner
    Fausto Lombardi
    Fausto Lombardi
    • Cafe bartender
    Monica Dorigatti
    • One of Caps' women
    Anne Maj Montonen
    Alessandra Izzo
    • Hat check-in woman at nightclub
    Ruggero Deodato
    Ruggero Deodato
    • Man in phone booth
    • (uncredited)
      • Ruggero Deodato
    • Writers
      • Joseph Cavara
      • Mary Cavara
      • Ruggero Deodato
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Ruggero Deodato: Man in phone booth.
    • Goofs
      When Jenny tries to explain her situation to the police officer, she says "two of my best friends are dead" even though only one of her friends has died. The only other death she's aware of at that point is that of a man who tried to violently rape her.
    • Alternate versions
      The USA English dubbed Prism VHS release is cut by 3 minutes. The Japanese VHS of the film has the full uncut 97 minute version.
    • Connections
      Featured in Deodato Holocaust (2019)
    • Soundtracks
      Baby Don't Answer
      (A. Focolari - C. Simonetti)

      Published by BMG Ariola / Drums Ed. Mus.

    User reviews17

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    2/10
    DIAL: HELP (Ruggero Deodato, 1988) *1/2
    This is only the fourth effort I’ve watched from this director (whom I met and found quite genial at the 2004 Venice Film Festival Italian B-movie retrospective) and also, possibly, the worst. As was the case with THE BRONX EXECUTIONER (1989), which preceded it, this is a prime example from the tail end of the Euro-Cult era – prime because it shows the depths to which the previously invigorating style had fallen by this time!

    Here, in fact, we get a plot revolving around – I’m not kidding, folks – a killer phone! Pretty but bland Charlotte Lewis – in her third film after PIRATES (1986) and THE GOLDEN CHILD (1986) – is a model who, apparently, has just ended an affair; she keeps expecting her architect lover to call her back but, every time the phone rings, all she gets is static accompanied by voices from the beyond (or some such crap). She befriends a new tenant at her apartment block who, conveniently, knows of an authority on paranormal activity (William Berger) – who, hilariously, explains that the negative energy which is unleashed, say, during family arguments can manifest itself via home appliances into a deadly force (I swear I ain’t making this up)!

    Among the highlights...er...lowpoints of the film are: the grumpy bartender from whose dingy place the heroine calls a couple of times (it seems that the chain-of-events can only be broken by having Lewis go through her paces again, EXTERMINATING ANGEL (1962)-style!), the sheer variety of preposterous-looking phones on display, the apparatus of the heroine’s photographer friend sneaking up on her before the kill, the sarcastic cop who greets Lewis on reporting the strange occurrences (“And what’s the toaster up to, I wonder?”), the would-be rapist killed by a barrage of coins shooting out from a telephone booth, and Berger’s own bloody demise (with the phone affecting the pacemaker he’s fitted with and causing the doctor’s heart to explode)!

    The film’s climax is rather confusing and, apparently, finally sees all the ‘lost souls’ inhabiting a flock of doves and flying out the window of the ‘possessed’ office (a lonelyhearts service!). For what it’s worth, the score – by ex-Goblin Claudio Simonetti no less – is effective enough, despite the inclusion of dated heavy-metal numbers on the soundtrack.
    helpful•5
    2
    • Bunuel1976
    • Jan 12, 2008

    Details

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    • Release date
      • November 10, 1988 (Italy)
      • Italy
      • Italian
    • Also known as
      • Rome, Lazio, Italy
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 1 hour 34 minutes
      • Color
      • Mono

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