Don't Hang Up

I have a great affection for 70s rednexploitation/hicksploitation films, so my rating for this film may be a bit inflated in comparison to viewers who do not enjoy the likes of "Gator," "Walking Tall," or "Cockfighter." The story follows a young woman who moves into her grandmother's house only to find herself stalked by a madman. A madman with a creepy doll collection, which later figures into why he's stalking her. "Don't Open the Door" is an oddball low budget horror film that's best described an Italian Giallo crossed with "The Town That Dreaded Sundown." It has the low budget drive-in rural east Texas feel of a Charles B. Pierce film, but it also has some hints of Dario Argento and Mario Bava with colorful lighting schemes, inventive camera angles, and a whole lot of extreme close-ups. However, director S.F. Brownrigg is no Argento or Bava (or Pierce, for that matter) and this is certainly no "Bird with the Crystal Plumage." Still, the film does have some effectively creepy moments (including a creepy montage of dolls over the opening credits), but there's no escaping how amateurishly made the film is (and by amateurishly made, I mean badly made).

A young woman reluctantly returns to her home town to oversee her dying grandmother's final days. While staying in the house where she witnessed her mumsy's murder thirteen years earlier, she finds more than a few secrets from her past have come back to haunt her. I appreciate that this movie has such strange execution. It's structure is very different from the typical low-budget horrors of this era, completely eschewing things like mystery (the killer's identity is obvious from the get-go) and resolution. Plot-wise, it borrows from proto-slashers BLACK Christmas and SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT. While it's lesser than both of those films in terms of quality, I did find it undeniably charming, entertaining, and even creepy at times. While the acting in the movie is generally amateur, Susan Bracken is a hoot as the spunky lead who gets to spout some amusing dialogue. She quickly flips the switch from headstrong heroine to full-on basket case and there's not a moment she's on screen where my eyes weren't on her face. It's one of the most memorable horror performances I've watched lately. The movie's biggest downfall is the irritating soap opera-ish theme song in the opening credits that pops up way too often throughout the movie. The freaky dolls in the opening sequence (who also pop up at other points in the movie) sort of make up for it. DON'T OPEN THE DOOR doesn't make much sense and it isn't going to be for everyone, but I found it to be a bizarre and unique viewing experience.

The film is worth watching for the extremely unsettling phone calls the protagonist gets while in her grandmothers big house alone... That and a general creepy mood and giallo like filming makes this a nice old horror. There's some killing but it's not over the top.

Acting is also .. not bad actually, the girl is headstrong and the judge has a menacing persona fitting the film, the museum curators face has a plasticity that makes his real emotions eerily unpredictable, well done sir

Plot vise this dosent make much sense but I can't say much without spoiling things, I don't think that matters as much as you might think though, crazy people dont act rationally do they.

Not quite as good a low budget effort as Mr Brownrigg's earlier, 'Don't look In The Basement' but still well worth catching. This starts rather slow and predictably but soon develops into a real creepy affair with an excellent central performance from Susan Bracken as she spends the entire movie fending off the crazies. Whilst she may not be surrounded by folks quite as crazy as in the earlier film none of them are the sort you would wish to get too close to and as the film progresses a most unpleasant tone begins to permeate the picture. Bracken does plenty of wide eyed screaming, particularly as she really begins to lose it towards the end and with her red outfit and the dark shadows and is certainly a sight to be seen.

I admit it. I love this film. True, it has it's drawbacks...like how in many scenes you hear a lot of camera noise and see the boom mike popping up here and there. Also, this thing is real low-budget. However, the acting is retty good (especially from Susan Bracken) and there are some scenes that are really chilling. The plot deals with a curvaceous blonde named Amanda returning to her hometown to care for her sick grandmother. Years ago her mother was stabbed to death there by an unknown slasher. Once she is back at the house, a freaked out transvestite starts axing random folks and calling Amanda, seducing her and whispering perverse lines over the phone. The music is cheesy but good and there are some really creepy scenes involving dolls and a lot of twisted little touches. The gore is low and the ending is somewhat disappointing, but overall this movie is quite watchable.