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!.

kapelusznik18 ***SPOILERS*** Richard Chamberlain looking like a Chuck Norris clone is ecologically minded Teronto collage professor Nat Bridger who's out to solve the murder of one of his students Connie Lawson, Lenore Zann,who was killed by answering a public telephone at the Toronto Museum subway station. What happened was that Connie had her brains blown out after answering the phone that exploded like a hand grenade. Nat soon finds out that a number of other people died the same way who had no connection to each other! And is determined to find out if this is some kind of insane plot by the phone company to get people to pay their phone bills or just some psycho getting his kicks or rocks off by terrorizing the people for his own sick entertainment.With the help of artist Ridley Taylor,Sara Botsford, whom he met at an local art exhibit Nat tries to track down the phone killer who by then has murdered-by phone-some half dozen people. That included Art's mentor and good friend Prof. Stanley Markowitz, John Houseman, whom we later find out knew a lot more then he let on to who was behind the "Phone Murders". ****SPOILERS*** Much like the 1977 Charles Bronson thriller "Telefon" where the phone was used to activate those who answered it to commit mass murder the movie "Bells" or "Murder by Phone" uses the everyday land line telephone, cell phones were not that readily available back then in 1982, as the murder weapon itself. And it's victims are anyone who's unlucky enough to answer the killer phone! The big surprise is that the killer was an ex-phone company employee who felt that phones were taking over his life and, by ringing all day and night, keeping him form among other things getting a good night's sleep. It's his very invention that ended up killing a number of innocent people that in the end did him in with the help of Nat-Who also turned out to be an electronic expert- hooking his phone up to the device and getting him to answer it.

PeterMitchell-506-564364 Alternatively known as Bells, here's an entertaining chiller with two gooder actors for a film that's still a good solid drama/thriller. Certainly something different here, we have a disgruntled nut who used to work for the phone company, taking people out at random, some he personally knows, by upping the voltage so high, their body melts, their ears explode, and are sent flying backwards whether on subways, or from high rise buildings. Richard Chamberlain, of all people, is a professor, who investigates the killings, when one of his best students, is a victim (the first one on the subway). While bedding architect (Sara Botsford- Rats) he teams up with a cop who he first bangs heads with, on the account of his no caring attitude, they try to flush out the killer, who's doing his business from a small electricity house, which is also his abode. John Houseman, an old lecturer and close friend of Chamberlain, has something to hide here, too, which I thought was a good shock point (pardon the expression). I did like the cop in this film, a Frederick Forest type guy, I found a hoot, if the whole film. The death scenes are classics, and we do question if we could really kill someone by upping the amps so high. How they set the killer up, is classic, as is the last call Richard Chamberlain takes, that he shouldn't of. On the whole, Bells is fun viewing for the horror/thriller viewer, though I don't think it will turn you off answering your next call.

mm-39 Well this Canadian stinker done by the Canadian film development corporation had a great concept. I remember watching this film, after I finished grade 11, with my dad, and I thought what a great concept. I think of all the movies I've forgotten over the years, and this film is burnt into my memory. Electrocute annoying people by the phone, this would be great for thoes annoying telemarketers who usually phone during dinner. Well, that's besides the point, like most of the Canadian Film development movies of that era this film has an ok concept, but lacks in budget or effects. I like the opening scene with the kids running in the subway, its a good mood setter. It has a great concept like Scaners, and it looks like it too could have been filmed in Monteral.