OK I thought, was hoping, this film was more in the vein of "When A Stranger Calls (1979)" but it's nothing like that. This one is just a boring slasher film - nothing more.The killer is laughable - the way he grunts why lifting weights is just too funny and annoying at the same time. The characters are flat & unappealing. This is one of those films you just want everyone to die very quickly to get the film over with - yes it's that bad.There is plenty of blood, nudity and sexual content so if you are looking for a slasher film that contains those elements then you might like this one. Otherwise pass this film by. 1/10

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.

This was obviously meant to be a standard late-70s total-waste-of-time movie, an excuse to show topless women squirming and thrashing while being strangled, but Nicholas Worth turns it into a must-see. Actors-in-training and stage-vocalists, especially, can learn from his vocal prowess and from the way he uses his size. He is a huge, hulking basso with the ability to near-totally relax his inhibitions, and he uses his entire range, from resonant, snarling low tones, through a thundering midrange up to a piercing, blubbering whimper at the very top which has to be heard to be believed. He should have been an opera-singer. He could have sung Wagner.The women dress beautifully in late 1970s casual summer-wear, and they get undressed equally beautifully by Worth's character, after (sometimes before) he strangles them to death. (One of them is future PLAYBOY-centerfold Pamela Jean Bryant.) As the other reviewer said, James Westmoreland (Detective McCabe) and Flo Gerrish (Doctor Lindsay Gale) act extremely badly; however, Ben Frank (Detective Hatcher) delivers some very funny lines with excellent cheesy deadpan. Like when McCabe tells him that the strangler has stolen some of the victim's clothes, and he replies: "That's great! Now we got him on petty theft, as well as murder!" Also, Chuck Mitchell, one of the few actors even bulkier than Nicholas Worth, plays a small part as a porno publisher. (If Mitchell looks familiar, it's because he played the Warden in PENITENTIARY and the title character in PORKY'S.) These folks have created a masterpiece in spite of all their best efforts to the contrary.

I watched DON'T ANSWER THE PHONE as part of BCI Eclipse' Drive-in Cult Classics (featuring Crown International Pictures releases) on DVD. As I work my way through the multiple DVD sets, I am growing to love many of Crown International's movies -- especially, the creepy, erotic, psychological thrillers! There is something about DON'T ANSWER THE PHONE … it is my kind of horror movie! Writer / producer / director Robert Hammer builds no suspense, since we know who the killer is.He shows virtually no gore, as so much of the violence is off-screen.Yet he still manages to deliver a powerful, creepy, sleazy and disturbing movie.Nicholas Worth makes this movie as the depraved Vietnam veteran / "The Strangler."' Every scene with him is incredible to watch as he runs the emotional gamut. Physically, Worth could not have been better cast, as his physique helps persuade us that he is a bulky, menacing figure. Nevertheless, it also works when he shows us his "soft side" as a seemingly trustworthy Kurt Smith, photographer.The electronic music is spot-on, for the times (remember, this is the late 70s early 80s); and, the pacing and tempo is perfect for moving the story forward.Others may offer their vote for "Worst Performance" to James Westmoreland; but the fight scene at the end is brilliant; and, believable. Whatever else may be lacking in his portrayal of Detective McCabe, he and Worth do a credible job of showing us an "actual fight." Not the over-blown, steroid-injected fights of today's movies, with heroes and villains being thrown across the room. But a real, grunting, grinding, sweaty, struggle between two men bent on fulfilling their mission. That fight scene redeems his performance completely.DON'T ANSWER THE PHONE typifies the exploitation / grind house genre.