Nonureva Really Surprised!

LouHomey From my favorite movies..

Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Lucia Ayala It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Mr_Ectoplasma "Don't Answer the Phone!" follows an unhinged Los Angeles war vet-turned photographer who spends his days scouting local talent, only to strangle his models and engage in necrophilia with their bodies. Meanwhile, psychologist Lindsay Gale receives phone calls from him under a fake accent, and works to help detectives catch the criminal.With a hokey exploitation title like "Don't Answer the Phone!," which has essentially nothing to do with the film, expectations of what this movie could offer are barred to a certain level. Some films of this rank are able to transcend, but this isn't one of them. First and only-time director Robert Hammer crafts the film with astute attention to the murder scenes, which is obvious— we have topless girl after topless girl being assaulted and choked to death at the hands of the villain, and some of the scenes are admittedly disturbing and realistic. The opening scene of the film is in fact maybe the standout, as the camera provides a point-of-view shot from the killer as he eyes a woman in her kitchen on the telephone before pouncing at the end of the call; the scene, which is ostensibly where the title was derived, is especially well-crafted, and the casual play of the title credits over it is intriguing.Unfortunately, the majority of the film is frankly just uninteresting. The psychologist's role in the film is never really fully realized or substantiated, and the repetitiveness of the murder scenes begin to wear on the viewer after the second one occurs, leaving the majority of the film's opportunities for suspense to fall flat. The performances are all across the board here, with Flo Lawrence playing the psychologist well, and Nicholas Worth is in such character mode that it's difficult to figure out whether his performance is disturbing or funny— it may be both. The commentary on PTSD is subtextual and never really drawn out for the audience, which is a nice nuance, and the movie at times is reminiscent of "The Toolbox Murders," which shared the Los Angeles set pieces and general vibe. The film's conclusion is probably the most violent scene of all, and is generally well done, though the dated synth score which pervades a vast majority of the film is one that is a bit distracting.Overall, "Don't Answer the Phone!" is a mixture of good and bad. In the realm of exploitation films, it's decent, though certainly not a landmark. The film's greatest strength is that it is able to craft some disturbing psychosexual murder scenes, though the gimmick wears on as the film progresses, and there is little suspense evoked in both the murders and the presence of the villain himself. I'd suggest "The Toolbox Murders" and "Nightmare" as related viewing, although I think both of those films are considerably better. 4/10.

thesar-2 Okay, I'm going to assume that since there were so many Halloween rip-offs in the few years following 1978 due that slasher film's success, just as there were a lot of "Don't" movies, because, um, I guess people were scared to listen to…advice?1980's Don't Answer the Phone! certainly had tons of phone calls. In practically every scene, someone was answering a call – and this was the pre-cell explosion, but never once was there a reason to NOT answer the phone. Sure, "The Killer" (as hilariously labeled in the opening credits, but later referred to as "The Strangler") calls one of his targets a few times, but then, she ran a call-in psychology radio program. I guess there was one time he was planning on killing, er, strangling, a woman and he had her telephone the on-air doctor, but that was her job: to answer the phone.Other than the odd and no-reason for film's title, The Strangler kinda wanders aimlessly around town looking for his next female victim – even though he claimed to had done "a lot of research (on his victims.)" All the while, two cops run around, also randomly, to catch this bad man, but in the process they mouth off the most hideously bad and intentional jokes. I'm guessing in 1980, it was okay to make light of and joke about a man who rapes and kills women – sometimes the other way around.Now, if I didn't have such a odd thing for the mostly shirtless "the Killer/Stranger" actor, Nicholas Worth and the surprisingly good acting and depth from the obvious final victim, Flo Lawrence's Dr. Gale, this movie would be a solid 1/5 Stars.Okay, beyond my attraction, this horrible throwaway movie shan't be seen by anyone for it has no real redeeming qualities. That is, if anyone were to even find a copy like I stumbled upon.* * * Final thoughts: Do answer the phone, just not by the agent responsible for putting you in such crap.

peterpants66 So i was up last night at some ungodly hour and this flick comes on straight out of 1980 about a big, huge guy who strangles the life out of sexy woman in L.A. It's called "Don't answer the Phone" and it stands out at being violent, sexy, and scary. This film caught my eye for two reasons, first off the killer is wearing an Airborne/paratrooper jacket in the movie, which seems to fit extremely well with a "Ed Parker" Kempo Karate patch on the right shoulder. Second, the flesh. Every five minutes some Extreme hottie gets squeezed to dirt, its a ninety minute flesh parade of death and desire dealt out in a lethal, one-sided manner. There's almost no blood to be seen, just lots of strangulation and domination. It's slightly reminiscent of "Maniac" the classic that catapulted Joe Spinell to fame for his role as the bloodthirsty woman butcher. There both excellent pieces of cinema that pushed the genre into cold, tension filled depths, AND they both came out the same year. I'm starting to love Hollywood b-genre, bit actors. Nicholas Worth, Brion Johnson, Joe Spinell and Robert Z'dar round out some of my favorites in this weird, forgotten genre. Ten stars.

lovecraft231 Some of the old Grindhouse movies leave you wanting to take a shower after it's all said and done. Many of the films of this nature ("Maniac", "The Toolbox Murders", "Don't Go in the House") are just ugly beasts. They are vicious, questionable, possibly misogynistic, and all around scuzzy, like a man trying to pick a fight with you. Yet, several of these movies have an undeniable edge to them, thanks to strong performances, a pervasive, dread filled ambiance and a look and professional feel to them. One of the movies of this era that almost joins the ranks of these movies is Robert Hammer's nasty but all around flawed 1980 film "Don't Answer the Phone!" A deeply disturbed Vietnam veteran named Kirk Smith (Nicholas Worth) has taken a shining to strangling scantily clad women in Los Angeles, all while taunting a young psychologist named Lindsey Gale (Flo Lawrence) on the radio. Can Lt. Chris McCabe (James Westmoreland) stop this deranged lunatic? From the get go, "Don't Answer the Phone" is a rough little movie. It's not the goriest movie, but the murder scenes are queasy, voyeuristic and all around sadistic, making the viewer feel very uncomfortable, which is clearly the intent. That out of the way, Worth does a great job as the psychopath. A veteran character actor, he really bites into the role, creating the portrait of a man you wouldn't want to run into for many reasons. Byron Allred contributes a great old school electronic score which complements the sleazy proceedings quite well.Sadly, that's were the good aspects end. The movie ends up suffering from several flaws, such as the misplaced comic relief. For a movie that wants to provoke and offend sensibilities so much, it almost feels like it's afraid it will go too far, and ends up using poorly timed comic relief to pad things out. It also doesn't help that the other performances are pretty weak, and don't really offer anything as far as characters are concerned. Gail in particular is a weak character-a stereotypical, weak liberal type who doesn't stand a chance without the help of the more conservative cop characters. Even the direction feels lackluster. While other movies of this nature were pretty questionable, they at least felt like they were under capable hands. This just feels like a jumbled mess from a director whose unsure of himself.In the end, "Don't Answer the Phone" is a movie caught between two worlds: it wants to be a grim psychological study, but it doesn't seem very sure of itself. It's an ultimately uneven viewing experience that might be of interest to those curious of what kind of movies played in the likes of 42nd Street back in the day, but if you already know what kind of exploitation fair was shown back in the day, then you probably don't need to see this, as there are better examples.