An ex-telephone worker with a serious chip on his shoulder is murdering people by playing deadly frequencies down the phone to anyone who answers. This results in them bleeding from their eyes, nose, mouth and ears and then being blasted backwards with such force that it kills them. But don’t worry- Richard Chamberlain is on the case.

Bells (1982) is also known as Murder By Phone. It’s a solid thriller that will forever have a special place in my heart, as it was one of the first videos I ever rented in the early days of home video here in the UK. In those days, there were loads of businesses that rented out videos as a sideline. I hired this film from a place called Clockmakers (strange name for a bookshop, but there you go. Just kidding), which specialised in loads of Guild Home Video titles like the Marvel cartoons from the ’60s, Scanners and When A Stranger Calls.

The effects of the phone calls are pretty cool and have aged nicely. There’s also a great score by John Barry, but with this not being orchestral but synth-led instead (rare for Barry).

All in all, this feels like a TV movie that was shown on a Sunday night here in the UK. And that’s no insult.

3 out of 5 stars