Looking into the mind of a strangler is very dark and disturbing. In the streets of Los Angeles, that would be a nightmare. In "Don't Answer The Phone", just say, "You have been warned!" Kirk Smith(Nicholas Worth,"Darkman,1990" 1937-2007) is a former Vietnam War veteran who also does pornographic photography is also a strangler. He would pick up young women, strangle them, then have his way with the corpse. His next victims are patients of a radio psychologist/private therapist(Flo Lawrence). He stalks them, terrifies them, strangles them, and perform religious acts. Now two cops form a task force to capture or stop this maniac. The big break comes when Kirk carelessly leaves behind the portfolio near the victim's body. After meeting with an employer of pornographic shop owner, they realized they got their man. It is pretty obvious that they got the creep, it's a very good movie, not for everyone, but perfect for the enthusiasts of thriller movies. I consider this a cult classic. 4 out of 5 stars

I got this movie on the X-Rated Kult label (German) as part of my "big box" collection (i.e. Continental Video, ThrillerVideo, Wizard Video, etc). The closest they have to those boxes in the disc-era come from Germany and Austria. It looks/sounds pretty good, but I haven't compared it to the (newer) US discs.I wasn't expecting much, but this turned out to be a GOOD movie. Not "good" in the sense that it is not stupid. Good in the sense that it keeps you entertained from the start to finish. All of the characters are idiots to some extent and that makes them a lot more fun to watch.It's not a "mystery" any more than your standard "Friday the 13th" sequel, so there's not much in the terms of spoilers I could think of in those terms. You know from the very beginning who the killer is. ...and Nicholas Worth makes one of the coolest "bad guys" you've ever seen. He'd definitely make the Top-10 if there was one. I would try to describe him, but cannot really find the words. This is as good as I could come up with: He is BIG (muscular), SCARY (crazy, crazy, crazy), MEAN (he IS a serial killer) and DUMB. The story mainly just follows the guy around killing women, always leaving a memento with their corpses. He is also obsessed with a female psychiatrist. He will call her radio show often and will seek out her patients as victims. She works with the police, knowing the killer will call again, in order to protect herself and her female patients. The cops and other officials are rather dimwitted, sexist and clueless too boot.A lot of those plot pieces sound like they'd be good in a giallo or some other mystery, only "we" know who the killer is the whole time... So the main thing you do with this movie is just watch the dumb-as-rocks cops and the slightly smarter lady psychiatrist try to figure out who the killer is and stop him. It takes longer than you'd expect, as anybody that catches so much as a glance at Worth knows that he is one screwed-up freak! And he gets out- and-about in the city, not lurking in some shadowy house most of the time or anything like that. I guess complete, creepy weirdos must have been common in LA back then.So you should watch it. It's got great late-1970's LA locations, sleaze, stupidity, trashiness, a little suspense and some cool music.

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.

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.