Motif DA·M·0004
The threatening telephone
A voice enters the home even when the door is locked: domestic technology becomes a channel for threat.
The Bava case
In «Il telefono», the threat is human in the Italian release and supernatural in the American release● DocumentedCorroborated by multiple reliable and independent sources.Source: comparison of the versions. The same motif can therefore belong to two different genres, depending on the version.
Derivations
Anonymous phone calls became a horror convention in the 1970s. A direct link to Bava’s episode○ Unproven similarityAn apparent affinity without evidence of direct derivation. is undocumented and remains classified as a similarity.
Connections
4 direct connections · 27 further links. Dashed lines indicate weak or unproven links.
Films (1)
Black Sabbath
I tre volti della paura · Les Trois Visages de la peur
Motifs (2)
The sound that announces the supernatural
The sound that announces the supernatural
Glossary (1)
Dubbing
Versions (1)
I tre volti della paura vs Black Sabbath
- Mario Bava person · via Black Sabbath
- Boris Karloff person · via Black Sabbath
- American International Pictures person · via Black Sabbath
- La famiglia del Vurdalak source · via Black Sabbath
- A. K. Tolstoy person · via Black Sabbath
- Anton Chekhov person · via Black Sabbath
- Guy de Maupassant person · via Black Sabbath
- Vurdalak creature · via Black Sabbath
- Vampire creature · via Black Sabbath
- Revenant creature · via Black Sabbath
- The family vampire motif · via Black Sabbath
- The vampire child motif · via Black Sabbath
- Theft from the dead motif · via Black Sabbath
- The threshold and invitation belief or ritual · via Black Sabbath
- Italian Gothic collection · via Black Sabbath
- Censorship glossary · via Black Sabbath
- Alternate cut glossary · via Black Sabbath
- Literary adaptation glossary · via Black Sabbath
- The Vurdalak, from folklore to cinema bloodline · via Black Sabbath
- Eastern Europe place · via Black Sabbath
- Rome place · via Black Sabbath
- Black Sunday film · via Black Sabbath
- Night of the Devils film · via Black Sabbath
- Black Sabbath (band) person · via Black Sabbath
- The Chekhov credit: a source that cannot be found journal · via Black Sabbath
- Why Dread Atlas begins with I tre volti della paura journal · via Black Sabbath
- Films changed by dubbing collection · via Dubbing
Revision history
- First draft.— Editorial team
How to cite this page
Redazione Dread Atlas, «The threatening telephone», Dread Atlas, Entry DA·M·0004, updated 20 September 2026. https://macabralia.com/en/motifs/telefono-minaccioso/