Minaccia d'amore

My review was written in October 1989 after watching the film on Prism video cassette.

Despite its absurd premise, "Dial: Help" emerges as an above-average Italian horror thriller, imported direct to U. S. video stores.

Charlotte Lewis, the mega-voluptuous co-star of "Pirates" and "The Golden Child:, is cast against type as a vulnerable British heroine whose innocent dialing of a wrong number sets off a series of supernatural murders.

It seems (rather preposterously) that she's made contact with a long-gone phone romance service whose pent-up energy ("of love and hate", per psychic expert William Berger) finds a mystical outlet through the phone lines. She's plagued by weird voices; the phone kills her tropical fish and her friends are murdered by an invisible presence. Pic climaxes with Lewis retracing her steps and finding the secret room that unlocks the mystery.

Helmer Ruggero Deodatao again demonstrates he's nar the head of the class in making American-style films in Rome, with an excellent direct English soundtrack. Pic is something of a challenge for fidgety video fans, in that star Lewis doesn't really get down and boogie until the final reel; her prudish performance up until that point is definitely misleading.

Finale, however, is worth waiting for, as Deodato combines voyeurism and bondage motifs memorably in a kinky payoff for which Lewis takes on the idealized look of a John Willie adult cartoon character. Pic definitely is a showcase for the exotic star, whose physical attributes could well win her an extended Italian career parallel to current reigning local star Serena Grandi.

Unidentified supporting cast is good and all tech credits are solid.

I don't get the overwhelming negativity directed at this film. It's quite entertaining and has an unique supernatural premise, with lots of traditional giallo atmosphere thrown in. People die in very giallo like ways. And Charlotte Lewis' energetic performance in lingerie for the last half hour makes up for any disappointment you might feel about the lack of nude scenes.

Jenny Cooper (Charlotte Lewis), a beautiful English model living in Italy, dials a wrong number, connecting to a long-unmanned hotline for the lonely and suicidal; in doing so, she unleashes a reservoir of negative energy that follows her via the telephone and kills those around her.

As the above synopsis suggests, Dial: Help is a decidedly silly '80s Italian horror, full of ridiculous death scenes in which victims are choked by telephone cords (one woman is literally hanging on the telephone!), struck by coins ejected from a payphone, electrocuted by switchboard, and killed by exploding pacemaker. Even the fish in Jenny's aquarium aren't safe, the telephone in her apartment emitted a high pitched tone that sends them all floating to the surface.

Director Ruggero Deodato (of Cannibal Holocaust infamy) handles the craziness with style, using wind machines, lots of coloured light, an excess of smoke and plenty of neon (there is even one of those horrible '80s neon phones that tries to zap Jenny in the bath), but realising just how daft and consequently unscary the film's premise is, he resorts to getting Lewis into some sexy lingerie for the final act. Not that I'm complaining, of course: Lewis in black basque, stockings and suspenders just about makes up for her horrible wooden performance.

4.5 out of 10, which I might have rounded up to 5 if the character playing the jazz flute had died.

It is truly saddening to see a once-great director such as Deodato delivering such a second-rate giallo such as this. This movie was so terrible it effectively put an end to his movie career. The box lies, this is no "erotic thriller", hell during the film's 97 minute running time, Charlotte Lewis barely shows us one nipple! I thought it would pick up once William Burger showed up (in one of his last roles), but his character is killed off rather abruptly and lamely. This movie fails in pretty much every way. Claudio Simonetti's music is little more than noise, and the plot made very little sense at all. For some reason, Lewis is terrorized by ghosts which attack using phones. (?) By the end, the characters all seem to have forgotten the previous 90 minutes of hell they went through, and casually laugh as they sick the evil spirits on someone else, Lewis's ex-boyfriend. What?!? This movie did little for me besides anger me.... and bore me half to death. For genuine 80's Deodato fun, watch THE BARBARIANS or THE ATLANTIS INTERCEPTORS, let this one rot on the video store shelf. Argento could make a better giallo than this!

This film is embarassing. All the way through, I was waiting for the Deodato twist, or the cool disturbing symbolism, or even a hint of great Deodato camerawork, but, sadly, I was still waiting when the end-credits began to roll.

Definitely the lowest point in Ruggero's career. See House At the Edge of the Park instead, and steer clear of this cringe-making killer-telephone rubbish.