''Don't Answer the Phone!'' is a 1980 American

psychological Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between t ...

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

co-written and directed by Robert Hammer. While not prosecuted for obscenity, the film was seized and confiscated in the UK under Section 3 of the

Obscene Publications Act 1959 The Obscene Publications Act 1959 (c. 66) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom Parliament that significantly reformed the law related to obscenity in England and Wales. Prior to the passage of the Act, the law on publishing obscene mater ...

during the

video nasty Video nasty is a colloquial term popularised by the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association (NVALA) in the United Kingdom to refer to a number of films, typically low-budget horror or exploitation films, distributed on video cassette that ...

panic.

Plot

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

vet, amateur bodybuilder, and talented porno-photographer Kirk Smith is a crazed killer who stalks the streets of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, picking up young women, strangling them in lurid fashion, and sexually abusing their dead bodies. The opening shot of the film splits the frame into two images: Kirk flexing his muscles in a pose, and a large

crucifix A crucifix (from Latin ''cruci fixus'' meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the ''corpus'' (Lati ...

. Between murders, he carries out twisted religious ceremonies, has imaginary conversations with his dead father, and weeps like a baby. He repeatedly contacts Dr. Lindsay Gale, a psychologist with a radio show as well as a private therapy practice. He calls her show, speaking with an assumed Spanish accent and complaining of chronic headaches and blackouts. He follows one of Dr. Gale's female patients home from her therapy session, and tortures the patient to death. He also murders a prostitute while on the phone to Dr. Gale's show, forcing Dr. Gale to listen to the victim's cries. Two goofy detectives named Hatcher and McCabe are charged with the task of tracking him down. When McCabe first questions Dr. Gale, his manner is brusque and unsympathetic. She develops a strong dislike for him. However, he later prevents one of her patients from committing

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

, after which Dr. Gale becomes fond of McCabe and they have a brief love affair. Hatcher and McCabe visit a whore-and-drug-house in search of a witness who has seen the strangler leaving the scene of one of his murders, but the witness (who is a pimp and a drug dealer) attacks them and they shoot him to death without being able to question him. Kirk Smith is interrupted at the scene of his next murder by the victim's landlady, and he leaves a portfolio of photographs behind as he flees the scene. Hatcher and McCabe show the photographs to the local pornography dealer (played by

Chuck Mitchell Charles Thomas "Chuck" Mitchell (November 28, 1927 – June 22, 1992) was an American actor, singer and entertainer. He is known for his role as "Porky" in the 1981 movie '' Porky's'' and its 1985 sequel '' Porky's Revenge!''. Career Mi ...

, who would later star in ''

Porky's ''Porky's'' is a 1981 sex comedy film written and directed by Bob Clark about the escapades of teenagers in 1954 at the fictional Angel Beach High School in Florida. The film influenced many writers in the teen film genre and spawned two sequels: ...

''); he identifies them as the work of Kirk Smith, who has provided him with high-quality pornographic pictures in the past. When the detectives search Smith's apartment, they find his pictures of Dr. Gale and realize that he has selected her to be his next victim. During this time, Smith invades Dr. Gale's home, ties her up, and terrorizes her for hours, ranting about his childhood, grabbing her breast and shouting "Shut up or I'll tear your tit off!" McCabe goes to Dr. Gale's home just in time to rescue her. At the end of a protracted struggle, McCabe shoots Smith many times, including several times in the back. Kirk stumbles towards a pool and expires as he plunges in. The film ends with a shot of Smith's bullet-ridden floating body as McCabe snarls: "Adios, creep!"

Cast

* James Westmoreland as Lt. Chris McCabe * Ben Frank as Sgt. Hatcher * Flo Lawrence as Dr. Lindsay Gale (credited as "Flo Gerrish") *

Nicholas Worth Nicholas Worth (September 4, 1937 – May 7, 2007) was an American character actor who appeared on film, on TV, and in video games. Early years Worth was born in St. Louis, Missouri on September 4, 1937. He served for three years in the a ...

as Kirk Smith *

Denise Galik Denise Galik-Furey (born December 4, 1950) is an American actress who has starred on television and in film. Career Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Galik has starred on television series and soap operas. Her first soap opera role was in the 1980s CB ...

as Lisa * Stan Haze as Adkins * Gary Allen as John Feldon * Michael D. Castle as Lab Man *

Pamela Jean Bryant Pamela Jean Bryant (February 8, 1959 - December 4, 2010) was an American model and actress. She was ''Playboy'' magazine's Playmate of the Month for its April 1978 issue. Her centerfold was photographed by Richard Fegley. Bryant first appeared ...

as Sue Ellen

Production

The film was shot in and around

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Censorship

When first released on DVD by Rhino Entertainment in 2001, an edited for television print was used, which had been subject to heavy edits—over 9 minutes were edited from the film. The uncensored, theatrical release version was released by BCI Eclipse on DVD in October 2006.Don't Answer the Phone - DVD Drive In
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Soundtrack

The score was composed by Byron Allred.

Release

Crown International Pictures Crown International Pictures (CIP) was an independent film studio and distribution company formed in 1959 by Newton P. Jacobs. History Jacobs was a branch head of RKO Pictures until 1947, when he formed Favorite Films, an organization which relea ...

released the film on February 29, 1980. By the end of that year the film had accrued

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

1,750,000 in distributors' domestic (U.S. and Canada) rentals, making it the year's 105th biggest earner.Gebert, Michael. ''The Encyclopedia of Movie Awards'' (listing of 'Box Office (Domestic Rentals)' for 1980, taken from ''Variety'' magazine), pg. 355, St. Martin's Paperbacks, 1996. . "Rentals" refers to the distributor/studio's share of the

box office A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicke ...

gross, which, according to Gebert, is roughly half of the money generated by ticket sales. The VHS was released in the United States on 28 February 1982 by

Media Home Entertainment Media Home Entertainment Inc. was a home video company headquartered in Culver City, California, originally established in 1978 by filmmaker Charles Band. Media Home Entertainment also distributed video product under three additional labels — ...

. The DVD was released in 2002 by

Rhino Home Video Rhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label and production company founded in 1978. It is currently the catalog division for Warner Music Group. Its current CEO is Mark Pinkus. History Founded in 1978, Rhino was originall ...

and re-released by BCI Eclipse on 10 October 2006. The film was restored and released on DVD and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

Vinegar Syndrome Cellulose acetate film, or safety film, is used in photography as a base material for photographic emulsions. It was introduced in the early 20th century by film manufacturers and intended as a safe film base replacement for unstable and highly ...

in January 2017.

Reception

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...

in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' felt the film was "a nasty, dimly executed exploitation movie about a psychopathic fellow who roams around Los Angeles strangling women with stockings and then mutilating their bodies. The performances are terrible, as are the writing and the direction…" Paul Taylor in '' Time Out'' magazine called it "a routinely mindless sickie".Taylor, Paul. Review from ''Time Out'' magazine reprinted in ''The Time Out Film Guide'', Second Edition, pg. 191, edited by

Tom Milne Tom Milne (2 April 1926 – 14 December 2005) was a British film critic. See also After war service, he studied English and French at Aberdeen University and later at the Sorbonne. Interested in the theatre too, he wrote for the magazine ' ...

, Penguin Books, 1991. Years after its initial release, the film's mainstream critical reputation continues to be abysmal. Michael Weldon, in ''

The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film ''Psychotronic Video'' was a film magazine founded by publisher/editor Michael J. Weldon in 1980 in New York City, covering what he dubbed "psychotronic movies", which he defined as "the ones traditionally ignored or ridiculed by mainstream critics ...

'', noted, "if you like ''really'' sick films, see this one...The ads made it look like another baby-sitter-in-distress movie, but it's in a class by itself".Weldon, Michael. The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film, pg. 199 - 200, Ballantine Books, 1983.

Phil Hardy Philip Hardy (born 9 April 1973) is an English-born former Ireland under-21 footballer who played as a left-back. With Welsh club Wrexham from 1990 to 2001, he played more than 450 games under manager Brian Flynn. He was named on the PFA ...

's ''

The Aurum Film Encyclopedia ''The Aurum Film Encyclopedia'' is a multi-volume reference work on cinema, published in the UK by Aurum Press and edited by Phil Hardy. The first volume, devoted to western films, appeared in 1983, with eight subsequent volumes announced at tha ...

: Horror'' described the film as "yet another woman-in-jeopardy movie...the covert suggestion that the female victims have 'asked for it' is particularly objectionable".Hardy, Phil (editor). ''The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror'', Aurum Press, 1984. Reprinted as ''The Overlook Film Encyclopedia: Horror'', Overlook Press, 1995, However, the review further observed that Nicholas Worth's performance as the lunatic killer was "so outrageously over-the-top, and so bizarrely eccentric as to be horribly fascinating and the final line of 'Adios, creep', delivered over a shot of Worth's corpse floating in a swimming pool, is curiously resonant".

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fil ...

gave the film a BOMB rating, stating that it was another psychopathic

veteran killer film, warning readers to not watch the film.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Don't Answer The Phone 1980 films 1980 horror films 1980 independent films 1980s mystery films 1980s psychological horror films 1980s slasher films American horror thriller films American independent films American mystery films American psychological horror films American serial killer films American slasher films Crown International Pictures films Films set in Los Angeles Films shot in Los Angeles Films about telephony Troma Entertainment films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films