This is a great movie. It has great acting. It also has a great story line. The first movie of 976 evil is better. But still this a good movie. See it. It is very scary. It is one the best horror movies from the 90's

Evil college professor Mr. Grubeck (smoothly essayed with creepy aplomb by Rene Assa) murders attractive young college students for kicks. Grubeck acquires the power of astral projection from a mysterious telephone service. It's up to leather-clad bad boy Spike (nicely played with scruffy charm to spare by Patrick O'Bryan) and the perky Robin (a solid and appealing portrayal by gorgeous blonde knockout Debbie James) to stop him. Director Jim Wynorski, working from a compact script by Erik Anjou, relates the entertaining story at a snappy pace, creates an engagingly playful spooky ooga-booga carnival funhouse sort of atmosphere, stages some explosive vehicular carnage with rip-roaring brio, further spices things up with an amusing sense of campy humor, and delivers a satisfying smattering of tacky gore, lovably rinky-dink (not so) special effects, and tasty gratuitous female nudity. The ubiquitous George "Buck" Flower has a sizable supporting part as drunken janitor Turrell, who meets a memorably messy end when he gets mowed down by a truck. Popping up in nifty minor roles are Monique Gabrielle as persistent prosecuting attorney Lawlor, Brigitte Nielsen as horny occult bookstore owner Agnes, and Karen Mayo-Chandler as foxy nubile coed Laurie (who gets bumped off by Grubeck after taking a shower -- natch!). This movie hits its delightfully loopy apex with an inspired off-the-wall sequence in which Robin's perky gal pal Paula (yummy brunette Leslie Ryan) finds herself being projected into a TV set showing "It's a Wonderful Life" that then turns horrific when the poor lass gets zapped into "Night of the Living Dead" instead (!). Vincent D'Onofrio contributes several cool bluesy rock tunes to the soundtrack, plus the immortal 60's garage rock gem "Pushin' Too Hard" by The Seeds blares away during a rousing set piece featuring an out-of-control car. Both Zoran Hochstatter's crisp cinematography and Chuck Cirino's spirited shuddery score are up to speed. Good silly fun.

Either I've never seen the first 976-Evil or it's been so long that I've forgotten all about it, but this matters not, for Part 2 is directed by Jim Wynorski whose preferred film-making route is to prioritise gratuitous tits and ass over plot progression. It might not be all that sophisticated, but hot women being chased around in their panties is never boring in my book and, sure enough, within minutes, a busty blonde gets her kit off to take a shower and is attacked by a serial killer who offs her in a manner that doesn't use up too much of the budget. Things look set for some seriously trashy entertainment.Sadly, from thereon in, Wynorski unwisely changes tack, with shoddy effects and terrible storytelling taking precedence over bare female flesh, any subsequent busty women keeping their clothes on.The rest of the film is packed full of the kind of random weirdness that proliferated many a cheapo horror of the late 80s/early 90s: there's a kitchen full of malevolent appliances; the bad guy practises astral projection (an art taught to him by Brigitte Nielsen); the hero pulls a fully loaded machine gun from a wall to shoot-up a talking stuffed pig's head (!?!); and the heroine's best friend Paula (Leslie Ryan) is sucked into her TV, where she is attacked by zombies from Christmas classic It's A Wonderful Life (I kid you not!). While this might sound like a lot of crazy fun, the crap acting, Wynorski's uninspired direction, and the sheer inanity of the script (if indeed there was a script) make it a painful experience.2.5 out of 10, very generously rounded up to 3 for IMDb.

976-EVIL 2: The Astral Factor starts at Slate River college where the dean Mr. Grubeck (Rene Assa) has just murdered pretty blonde teenager Lori Glazier (Karen-Mayo Chandler) which brings his murder count to five girls, this time however a drunk bum named Turrell (George 'Buck' Flower) is witness to his crime & Grubeck is arrested. Grubeck is given his statutory one phone call which he uses to phone 976-EVIL a direct line to hell, Grubeck is given powers which enable him to astrally project himself while asleep & is also given the name of the drunk who meets a very sticky end that night. Meanwhile pretty blonde teenager (notice a pattern here?) Robin (Debbie James) is contacted by 976-EVIL survivor Spike (Patrick O'Bryan reprising his role from the original) who knows that Grubeck is using the Satanic hot-line to murder & generally be antisocial, by a strange coincidence Robin used to work for Grubeck who developed a crush on her & he still has it...Directed by Jim Wynorski, whose very name when attached to a film sends shivers down my spine, 976-EVIL 2: The Astral Factor is a terrible sequel to a fairly decent original. The script by Erik Anjou plays the concept far more like a standard teen slasher (as if we didn't already have enough) rather than trying to develop the demonic phone-line to hell idea as in the first, instead they take the 976-EVIL premise & simply use it to give some supernatural powers to a homicidal maniac who wants to kill lots of dumb & annoying teenagers, yawn. The whole things a bit of an embarrassment really, it's predictable, the character's really are stupid & gullible, the exploitation elements are lacking & as a film it provides little in the way of entertainment. The opening scene features a naked blonde in a shower for no reason other than show off her breasts, she is chased by Grubeck & then just lies there & waits for him to kill her which he does by pulling a rope which releases a fake stalactite to impale her! It doesn't get much better either apart from a couple of decent car chase scenes & one or two nice kills, overall there is very little to recommend here I'm afraid.Director Wynorski still had the nerve to use his real name on the credits when he made this back in '91 instead of hiding under his usual Jay Andrews pseudonym, the film is reasonably well made but it doesn't have any style or the visual look of the first film. It's pretty bland & forgettable stuff while the gore is also disappointing, someone is impaled, someone has a garden trowel stuck in them in a direct rip-off, sorry homage to Night of the Living Dead (1968), a few after the fact slit throats, & in the films best moment a guy is hit by a speeding truck & he just explodes everywhere, excellent. 976-EVIL is also one of those films where it's fun to try & spot all the continuity errors as there's plenty of them.Technically the film is OK, although I'm sure that truck at the end changes between a tanker trailer & box trailer... Now on to the best aspect of 976-EVIL, Miss USA finalist Debbie James. Frankly she is one pretty hot looking young lady & makes the film a lot easier to sit through that's for sure, she can't act but she sure looks good & nobody's perfect are they? As for everyone else the acting sucks including original cast returnee O'Bryan.976-EVIL: The Astral Factor is an awful film from the ever awful Jim Wynorski, it didn't do anything for me & I think the original 976-EVIL (1987) is a far superior film that tried to do something with the concept whereas this doesn't.