'Bells' (1982) Trivia Quiz

Answer: To speak at a symposium

Nat Bridger, played by Richard Chamberlain, is a college professor whose routine trip to Toronto to give a talk at an ecology symposium turns dark. While this sets the stage for his presence in the city, the real catalyst for the story is the mysterious death of a young woman. Her sudden and violent demise, initially dismissed as a heart attack, prompts him to investigate further.

What begins as a professional visit quickly spirals into a chilling mystery involving a deadly device that kills people when they use telephones. Nat's scientific mindset and curiosity drive him to uncover the truth, placing him at the centre of a mystery which involves corporate secrecy and technological horror.

Answer: Incident in a subway

Sandra Thorner's death is shocking and unusual because it involves a public telephone in a subway. On answering the phone, she begins to have convulsions and bleed internally, blood oozing from her eyes. Finally, she is thrown through the air and lands on an escalator. This makes the incident seem bizarre, horrifying and almost impossible. It appears to be far from a normal accident.

When told that Sandra had simply died from a cardiac arrest at 19 years old, Nat's curiosity drives him to investigate further. It also immediately sets the tone for the story, showing that danger can come from an ordinary, everyday object like a phone.

Answer: Pick up two suitcases

Nat volunteers to pick up two suitcases belonging to Sandra, the daughter of his friend Fil Thorner (Ken Pogue), which are being held at a police station. Sandra (Jo-Anne Hannah), a former pupil of his, died in mysterious circumstances when she used a public telephone in a Toronto subway station. This event later sets off the investigation into the deadly phone system. This simple task becomes the reason Nat gets drawn into the mystery.

At the police station, he meets Lt. Meara, played by Gary Reineke. The two of them don't see eye to eye at first, but later work together to solve the crime. Nat takes the suitcases and leaves. However, he is perturbed by Sandra's death, believing that there is something suspicious about it, so he decides to visit the subway where it took place.

Answer: The phone emitted lightning

A witness, a baglady (Clare Coulter) who was at the subway, claimed that Sandra didn't have a heart attack. She described the phone as if it had 'emitted lightning', which sounds unbelievable. Nat noticing that the phone receiver is brand new, decides to visit the phone company, and is met with a wall of silence from the representative he insists on seeing to enquire about it. While there, he meets Ridley Taylor (Sara Botsford), an artist who is painting a mural. They flirt, go out to dinner, then start a relationship.

He then returns to the subway and decides to damage one of the phones. When a repairman comes to sort it, Nat questions him about the previous damage which had been done to the phone Sandra had used and is told by him that it looked like it had melted. This moment is a turning point, and with the assistance of Sara and Lt. Meara, he launches an investigation into Sandra's death.

Answer: They appear to happen randomly

Nat begins to notice a chilling fact: people seem to die randomly, shortly after using telephones. Among them are Sandra Thorner, a bank clerk, and a woman who gets killed when answering the phone at home. Though the deaths appear unrelated, their connection to phone usage reveals a hidden threat. The randomness of the victims, spanning age, gender, and location, adds to the suspense and underscores the terrifying reach of the antagonist's device. It's indiscriminate technological murder.

This discovery is significant because, without it, the deaths might have been dismissed as freak accidents. The phone company, aware that people are dying after using their phones, continues to remain evasive and attempts to thwart Nat's investigation. However, Nat's, scientific instincts and personal ties drive him to investigate, transforming a series of tragedies into a mystery he is determined to solve.

Answer: Michael Anderson

'Bells' was directed by Michael Anderson, a British film director whose career spanned over five decades, marked by a remarkable versatility across genres. He gained international acclaim with 'Around the World in 80 Days' (1956), which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. His ability to navigate both epic narratives and intimate character-driven plots made him a reliable studio director during the golden age of cinema. His work often balanced spectacle with human drama.

In the 1970s and early '80s, he shifted toward science fiction and thriller territory, directing cult favourites like 'Logan's Run' (1976) and 'Murder by Phone' (1982). The latter, released in some regions as 'Bells', blended horror and a corporate cover-up. Though not as commercially successful as his earlier work, these films earned a following for their atmospheric tension and genre-bending ambition.

Answer: Lethal sonic pulses are transmitted through telephone wires

During his investigation, Nat uncovers that the deaths weren't accidents or natural causes. They were deliberately triggered by a deadly technology hidden inside telephones. The phones were rigged to send out powerful sonic signals through the wires. When someone answered a call, the signal would unleash a violent burst of energy, causing seizures, internal trauma, and even explosions.

Witnesses describe the effect as resembling lightning, and Nat's scientific analysis confirms that these signals were engineered to kill. It's not a malfunction. It's deliberate murder. His discovery raises the stakes dramatically, showing that the killer is using an everyday device as a lethal weapon. He realises he has to act fast to stop more deaths and expose the truth behind the cover-up.

Answer: Stanley Markowitz

When Nat arrives in Toronto to attend an environmental symposium, he reconnects with his former mentor, Professor Stanley Markowitz, played by John Houseman. The two share a long-standing academic bond, as Nat was once Markowitz's student, and their relationship is built on mutual respect and trust. Though Markowitz has since left academia, their intellectual connection remains intact, making him a natural point of contact for Bridger as he begins to investigate the mysterious death of Sandra Thorner.

Markowitz now works as an environmental consultant for the telephone company, whose phones are causing the deaths. This places him at the intersection of corporate interests and ecological oversight. He offers Bridger a place to stay during the symposium, which not only reinforces their personal connection but also gives Bridger direct access to someone inside the company.

Answer: He gets killed.

Stanley Markowitz is killed in his own home while answering a phone call rigged with the sonic weapon. Markowitz, who had been evasive but not overtly hostile, becomes a liability, because he knows too much and has been helping Bridger, however reluctantly.

When he answers the phone and talks to Noah Clayton, he's hit with the same high-frequency sonic pulse that killed earlier victims. He begins to convulse and bleed, then he's catapulted through the window of his high-rise. The scene is deliberately horrifying, reinforcing the idea that no one, even a respected former professor and company insider, is safe once they become inconvenient.

Answer: Killed by his own device

The killer is Noah Clayton (Robin Gammell). He is an embittered engineer who is employed by the phone company. Convinced that he was the true inventor of fibre optics, he harbours a deep resentment toward the company because he believes it stole his revolutionary idea.

Driven by both wounded pride and a warped sense of justice, he developed the deadly frequency capable of killing people through the company's telephone lines. His victims are not random; they are usually connected to the company or are people he believes have disrespected him, making his actions a form of twisted retribution.

Later, when Clayton phones Nat, they begin tracing his call. During the conversation, he admits his anger stems from the theft of his invention. Sandra Thorner was an exception, as she was simply a test subject for his lethal device. Nat, having figured out how the deadly frequency works, reverses the setup and sends the lethal signal back through the line, killing Clayton.