Sadly Over-hyped

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

"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.

Writer / producer / director Robert Hammer delivers the sleaze in a big way in this, his sole fictional feature credit. Inspired by the real-life Hillside Strangler murders, it stars James Westmoreland ("Stacey") and Ben Frank ("Death Wish II") as two police detectives searching for a maniacal rapist-murderer, played to the hilt by the late, great character actor Nicholas Worth. Worth plays Kirk Smith, a photographer by trade who in between his depraved killings likes to phone a radio psychologist named Lindsay Gale (Flo Gerrish). Filmed largely guerrilla style in approximately 18 days, "Don't Answer the Phone" gets off to a great start; we're introduced to Smith right away, and then witness him knocking off a young nurse. The cast features some exquisitely sexy young ladies, including Playboy Playmate Pamela Jean Bryant, Susanne Severeid ("Van Nuys Blvd."), actress / composer Gail Jensen (writer of the theme to 'The Fall Guy'), Paula Warner, and Dale Kalberg. Appreciably, Hammer makes sure these ladies are unclothed or partially unclothed at some point. Trash film fans will also note the films' rather mean-spirited tone. Still, this wouldn't be nearly as effective as it is were it not for Worth, who's absolutely priceless, improvising some amazing monologues and coming up with the whole "Ramon" routine on his own. Westmoreland is a self-assured, macho lead and Frank very affable as his sidekick. The supporting cast has other recognizable actors such as Denise Galik ("Humanoids from the Deep"), Stan Haze ("Alligator"), Gary Allen ("Alice Sweet Alice"), and Chris Wallace ("New Year's Evil"); co-writer Michael Castle has a funny comedy relief role as an obnoxious lab man, and be sure to look out for the appearances by Don Lake as the man in plastic and Chuck "Porky" Mitchell as a pornographer. With a hilarious electronic score by Byron Allred of the Steve Miller Band on the soundtrack, this may play out with an accent on the sick and the sordid, but it does take the time out for some humour, such as the commotion that erupts in the massage parlour. The finale is enjoyably brutal stuff and culminates in what is far and away the best line in the whole thing. Overall, it's pretty enjoyable. Eight out of 10.

I have to say "wow" because, this movie is something else. The acting is so over the top. The killer in the movie is so hilarious. At times he acts like a complete baby. He's definitely an easy crier. The way he acts when he is wounded is like he is puking. That was the funniest part!! His monologues when he is talking to himself in the mirror are priceless especially after he's done seeing a prostitute. He really wants to convince you that he's a psycho killer but it's so laughable! One of the characters that plays the good looking cop comes off as too much like an asshole and because he does sometimes it's hard to distinguish between him acting like an asshole and him being sarcastic. The actor just couldn't get it right. If it had more nudity it would have been better but it probably would have made me laugh a little bit more. If you're a fan of these type of movies than you'll like it but for me, sometimes I wish it could have been a little more serious and had some more nudity. You'll probably like it if you like the Grindhouse genre or low budget movies. If I had to, I'd sit through it again.

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.