Console
best movie i've ever seen.
StyleSk8r
At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.
Arianna Moses
Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.
Ezmae Chang
This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
Sci-FiHorrorFan
I Loved this movie and I don't understand why this movie isn't more well known.The movie was very well directed and i thought the writing was pretty solid too. The movie may have a crazy idea about a person who kills people through phones but I thought the idea was handled well.some mystery Madman has created some kind of device that allows him to shoot waves of electricity through The phone wires and kill whoever answers The phone on The other end.so The key to surviving is Never answer The phone.The movie never came across as ridiculous to me, it always seemed very serious to me and I never found it dumb like some people did and I never found it boring either.The movie held my attention all the way through because of its intriguing mystery and Dark moody atmosphere.i also enjoyed watching the attack scenes i thought they were very over the top and crazy. whenever someone answered the phone it looked like lightening was flying out of the phone and it would send whoever answered the phone flying across the room.Its a crazy idea but it's Fun to watch.This movie was different from most other Horror mystery movies and That's mainly because it did something totally different.I personally think the idea of killing people through a phone is pretty cool and highly original.I have never seen an idea like this done in any other movie before. This movie should be considered a Classic for its originality alone and I think it's miles better than those slumber party massacre movies.those movies are okay but they have None of the originality or creepiness that this movie has. I'm a horror fan and I've heard a lot of people praise the slumber party massacre movies yet hardly anyone ever praises this movie and I think More Horror fans should praise Murder by phone instead.The movie has a great performance by Richard Chamberlain and I thought he was very likable as the lead character. He was a very smart and interesting character and I pretty much liked him right away because he seemed like a blue collar guy and I tend to like horror movies about blue collar people that find themselves in crazy situations, those types of stories just seem to appeal to me more than your typical by the numbers Slasher movie.Murder by phone is similar to a slasher movie but it Isn't one in my opinion, it's more of a mystery horror movie with a bizarre story.the lead character investigates and tries to figure out what's going on and how all these people are dying.The police thinks all of the people that died died by heart attacks but one of the victims was only nineteen years old and the lead guy played by Richard Chamberlain finds it odd that someone could have a heart attack at such a young age and he does not believe that's what happened so he spends the entire movie investigating and trying to convince people that something more sinister is going on and his theories are met with scepticism which is understandable. however because the viewer knows how people are being murdered that makes us cheer for the main character to find and stop the bad guy and prove to everyone what is going on.I won't give away the ending but I will say this, I had a lot of Fun watching this movie and I Loved the Dark Moody atmosphere the movie had and I thought it was very interesting and suspenseful.This is definitely one of the better Horror mystery movies of the 80s and This classic should be on DVD and blu-ray.The movie is also a whodunit and trying to figure out who the killer is makes the movie Fun.Thanks for reading my review and I hope you watch the movie!.
Richard Chatten
On paper this sounds pretty uninspiring, but 'Bells' turns out to be an ingenious idea well-executed (a bit like Didier Grousset's 'Kamikaze' [1986] in reverse), that reunites the director and composer of 'The Quiller Memorandum'.The script vaguely recalls 'Quatermass 2', is lively, quite witty in places and generous to the supporting characters (Gary Reineke, in particular, is visibly enjoying himself as the police lieutenant, who gets to develop as the film progresses), the Toronto locations are well used, and it all builds up to a satisfyingly explosive climax. One can nit-pick - Richard Chamberlain gets a lot of lucky breaks looking for information - but it certainly makes you pay attention every time yet another 'phone rings; did every single phone in Toronto - even the Mickey Mouse ones - have exactly the same ring tone in 1980, by the way?
lost-in-limbo
Around this period slashers seemed to be in-craze, but coming out where some fairly oddball horror mysteries and the 1982 feature "Bells" just happened to be one of those gritty change of pace experiments. Also known as "Murder by Phone" under a re-edited version. The curiosity is waiting around for the killer's method of weapon. Ingenious, but laughable. Electrocution by phone. And boy do the victims get some air! While it might have that body count formula, instead of something rather primitive, it laced the plot with industrial conspiracies and scientific jargon as an environmentalist professor goes about investigating the deaths, despite no one really believing him when he thinks it's a phone killing people. It did come off being low-key and clever in spots (a cynical script), but this didn't stop it from being rather stilted (romance sub-plot) and at times silly. The problem lied in between the murders, as it wasn't as interesting or captivating like it should have been. Therefore the idea isn't really realised and uneven in its suspenseful build-ups. It was something you might read from a Michael Crichton novel, especially with his interest in technology getting out of control. Richard Chamberlain putting his game face on was sturdy in the lead role and was good support by a classy John Houseman. Sara Botsford feels secondary, but the cast also bestows Alan Scarfe, Barry Morse and a small part for Lenore Zann. Director Michael Anderson's durable handling is slow-grinding, letting the story unfold and atmosphere bubble with sweeping camera-work and John Barry's ominously edgy music score. Sterile, but resourcefully unique 80s horror mystery."If man is going to control his future. His got to learn to control his machinery."
William
Richard Chamberlin plays a college professor who is trying to find out who is the psychopath (more like a postal ex-phone company worker) who is killing victim with a Hi-frequency sound through the phone. It kind of runs like a TV film, if you cut out the Phone/blood violence. John Houseman also star in this Canadian film that was released a year earlier in Canada as BELLS, and released in U.S. as MURDER BY PHONE. The American print is edited to 78 minutes as the Canadian print runs 95 minutes. Roger Corman probably edited it to save money on the print stock when he picked it up for U.S. release. Canadian print is recommended. Originally sold overseas under the title THE CALLING.