"Some talk. Some listen. Some die," on the PARTY LINE, an 1980s thriller making its Blu-ray debut courtesy of Vinegar Syndrome.

The son and daughter of a Hollywood actress who committed suicide and a lecherous producer who died mysteriously, Seth (Leif Garrett, CHEERLEADER CAMP) has an Oedipal complex and big sis Angelina (Greta Blackburn, 48 HRS.) has deadly daddy issues that they act out by luring married men to their doom via a local party line with the help of daddy's straight razor. District attorney Henry (James O'Sullivan, INVASION U.S.A.) and his love interest ADA Stacey (Shawn Weatherley, SHADOWZONE) are at a loss to connect the victims. When two victims pop up at a nightclub where hot-headed vice cop Dan (Richard Hatch, HEATED VENGEANCE) is busting a drug dealer, exasperated Captain Barnes (Richard Roundtree, Q: THE WINGED SERPENT) him with Stacey on the case. There is no love lost between Dan and the District Attorney's office for failing to prosecute some of his most dangerous arrests out of concerns for protocol and police brutality. Just as the partnership starts to make some headway into the case, however, Dan is suspended for punching out Henry at a news conference and Stacey is pulled off the case when Henry finds out that she is working with Dan on the side. After Dan's on-again-off-again CHP cop girlfriend "Butch" (Marty Dudek, DELTA FEVER) is murdered, he is more determined than ever to catch the killers, but the only way to ferret them out may be teenage babysitter Jennifer (Patricia Patts) who uses the party line for thrills and may be setting herself up as a target.

Quite distinct from the late 1980s and 1990s softcore thrillers the post art and concept so resemble, PARTY LINE does in some ways feel more like a nineties Roger Corman/Concorde direct-to-video thriller. The high concept is novel since the idea of hooking up on a party line seems even riskier than internet chatrooms and social media but shows just how recklessly people with compulsive personalities might behave. The execution, on the other hand, is uneven. Garrett with a razor wearing his mother's wedding dress is as dull as he is in any other of his adult roles. Blackburn, on the other hand, is quite entertaining as the gleefully sadistic and damaged but dominant half of the dysfunctional sibling relationship who is nevertheless unsettled by her brother's increasing instability. The investigation aspect is very by-the-numbers with the screaming bosses, clashing personalities, and a hint of attraction. Much more entertaining is the subplot involving babysitter Jennifer whose initiative in helping the police includes some improvisations on the phone while trying to draw out the killer (especially amusing since the actress voiced Peppermint Patty in a could CHARLIE BROWN TV specials).