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1982 American film
Murder by Phone
(also known as
Bells
and
The Calling
)
[2]
is a 1982
science fiction
slasher film
directed by
Michael Anderson
. Its plot follows a series of murders committed by a disgruntled phone company employee who designs a device that kills victims when they answer their telephones.
Cast
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Novel
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The movie was preceded by a novel called
Phone Call
written by the screenwriters Michael Butler and Dennis Shryack under the pseudonym Jon Messman. It was published in 1979, three years before the film version. It is never credited in the film's credits. The link was mentioned on the cover in later editions of the book.
[3]
Production
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Murder by Phone
was filmed in 1980 in
Toronto
, Ontario, Canada.
It was known as
Bells
and was picked up for distribution by Roger Corman's New World Pictures.
[5]
The score by John Barry is electronic, played entirely with synthesisers. This was a rarity for Barry. Whilst he composed and conducted the score, it was performed by
Jonathan Elias
and John Petersen. Elias later went on to work with Barry on the scores for
Jagged Edge
and
A View to a Kill
.
Release
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Murder by Phone
was released in the United States on October 8, 1982.
[a]
Critical response
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Leonard Maltin
noted the film's cast and direction as being legitimately "talented," but deemed the film a "hoary horror exercise."
Home media
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Murder by Phone
was released on
VHS
by
Warner Home Video
in 1984.
[8]
The VHS was reissued in 1998.
[9]
Notes
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]
- ^
The earliest newspaper sources displaying showtimes for the film are dated for the weekend of October 8?10, 1982.
[6]
References
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Works cited
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External links
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