Don't Hang Up! (1974)

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

best movie i've ever seen.

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Over the years, various indie horror filmmakers have cult followings, sometimes for the low quality of the films (Ed Wood and Andy Milligan spring to mind). Probably because of the high profiles of these schlockmeisters, low budget horror films from the 1970s seem, almost without exception, to be synonymous with bad movie making. The movies of S.F. Brownrigg are not part of that group.Yeah, it's all opinion, but come on, look at his work. Or more specifically, THIS work, lensed in Jefferson TX and utilizing one of the most beautiful Victorian houses I've ever seen. I won't spend much time talking about the story because others have already covered that. A young woman returns to her childhood home (where her mother was murdered 13 years before) to care for her ailing grandmother. She's menaced by an obscene phone caller. That's it.Wait a minute. That's really just a springboard for something deeper. The plot hardly has any twists (or twists you don't see coming), but look at the various aspects of the production. Brownrigg had a dedicated stock company of actors, who gamely took on whatever role he gave them. The acting runs from competent to excellent--there's nary a bad performance in this, or any other Brownrigg movie. He had a penchance for casting gorgeous female leads, and Susan Bracken is no exception. Looking like a BABY DOLL-era Carroll Baker, Bracken is not only lovely, but feisty as well. You can't take your eyes off her. Larry O'Dwyer may have only appeared in this movie, but he turned in a performance that ranks up there as one of the creepiest in all of Brownrigg's oeuvre. It's both icky and believable; anyone who's lived in a small town knows somebody who fits this profile. Despite being filmed in Texas, there's a deep South vibe to this flick, one that lends itself to a suffocating, insane atmosphere. You can almost feel the humidity and deep, dark secrets festering in the shadows of tradition and heritage. And the house . . . Brownrigg utilized The House of the Seasons, an ornate Victorian confection that, as of this writing, is open as a B & B in Jefferson. The house boasts a cupola decorated by a stained glass dome, a setting that plays prominently in one action sequence. Don't think this film is competently made? Check out the tracking sequence that follows Bracken's character as she moves up the stairwell into the cupola. That's not the kind of thing you see in low-budget 1970s horror, and it's not the kind of shot attempted by a no-talent hack. Brownrigg didn't let budgetary contraints put the kibosh on a creative filmmaking.And those dolls . . . is there anything creepier? A real historical society museum and doll museum were used as filming locales, and Brownrigg was savvy enough to use some of the dolls in his title sequence. Accompanied by a harpsichord-heavy score, the sequence, a series of pans across the doll's faces on a black background, is suitable unnerving. I was reminded of Tobe Hooper's opening sequence for THE FUNHOUSE (which of course was filmed nearly 10 years later), in which the creepy automatons emerge from sliding panels. Atmosphere is as thick as the air on a mid-summer's Texas day. Good acting, creative camera angles, ingenious use of locals, a looming sense of dread--what more can I say? Way to go, Brownie!

"Don't Hang Up" AKA "Don't Open The Door" The first hour of this film felt like two hours or more worth of watching... it dragged and dragged. By the time there was 1/2 hour left I really didn't care who lived or died - I wished they would all just die. I wished a big meteorite fell on top of the house with all of them in it and it was over with... but it didn't happen that way so I fast-forwarded the film to see this "great ending" (please note the sarcasm).Most of the film is just about this Amanda Post girl that hardly ever checks on her sick grandma - the supposed reason for going to the house to begin with. At one point, the doctor came and asked how long has the grandma been asleep and airheaded Amanda says "Oh since I've been here... about 12 hours" then she realized she really hasn't checked on her grandma in all that time - she's been too busy enjoying the house, answering the phone and talking to people that keep running in and out of the home.Really just a stupid movie with an airhead as the so-called star of the show - she's cute but a real airhead.1/10

If you're willing to forgive admittedly sluggish pacing and have a high tolerance for the natural goofiness of minuscule budget film-making like this, Don't Open The Door has a lot more going for it than its relatively obscure status would suggest.The film follows the descent of Amanda Post, an unassuming gal in her mid-20's who returns to the house where her mom was murdered 13 years earlier to take care of her ailing grandmother. Once she settles into the home, she starts being plagued by a series of disturbing phone calls from a demented stalker, who she slowly comes to realize is responsible for her mother's death and has now transferred his psychotic fixation on her.Other figures in this caper include the shady doctor whose "treatment" of the grandmother is gradually pushing her toward her demise, a greedy lawyer who wants nothing more than for granny to die so he can have the house for himself, Amanda's ineffectual and estranged physician boyfriend, and the odd curator of a local museum which preserves artifacts from the estate's deadly past. Most of these unsavory characters are clearly on hand merely to provide the movie with its body count, and the film's major weakness is how much effort is spent following their ultimately meaningless subplots for the first two-thirds of the run-time.One curious complaint I've read about Don't Open The Door is that the homicidal caller is shown in too much detail early on, so it becomes blatantly obvious who the culprit is before the film even moves beyond the first act. I understand the sentiment, and there certainly isn't any mystery on that front after the second phone call takes place, but investigation of the film's supplemental materials reveals that the identity of the murderer is actually plainly given away in the trailer. Though it's easy to gather why audiences for a thriller like this may assume they're in for a textbook whodunnit slasher, a device which the movie fails miserably at, I wasn't bothered by the missed opportunity. For me, the meat of the yarn is actually the effect the caller's psychological torment and the macabre scenario itself has on Amanda, and the last half-hour, which deals heavily with the killer's mounting menace and the disintegration of her sanity, is by far the most engrossing portion of the film.The campaign of mental abuse Amanda's stalker wages against her is rendered a tad corny by the way it's presented, but some aspects of his systematic attack are still undeniably twisted. The murders themselves are largely bloodless and ho-hum, so fans looking for a straight splatter outing in the vein of the mid-'70s Giallo offerings which were situational kinfolk to Don't Open The Door will probably want to pass here. But as the supporting players meet their ends one by one, we're gradually led down the rabbit hole until Amanda is left alone with the amorous psychopath, at which point the film concludes on a bleak and chilling final note that defies all of the expectations that seem to be suggested by the girl-vs.-killer premise.There are plenty of artful images on display here which demonstrate that the film-makers employed some definite imagination while they were crafting this piece. The use of dizzying camera work and psychedelic lighting creates some truly surreal and effective sequences, and the creepy doll images that run through the opening credits are fitting portents for the utter darkness that overtakes the film by its conclusion. The location is also used for maximum impact, and the house that was chosen for the film, which features unique architecture, spiral staircases, and stained glass windows, is a marvelous setting for a horror excursion; it's a real shame no one thought to shoot a ghost story there.Most of the untested actors deliver about what you'd expect, and our raving maniac isn't nearly as fearsome as one would hope, but the lead turn by Susan Bracken is fantastic. Amanda is obviously the centerpiece of this tale, and while Bracken does an admirable job of bringing her to life and getting us on board with her as a heroine, she's even more impressive during the film's third act, when she's called upon to essay a subtle, gradual, and wholly believable devolving into madness.Clearly, Don't Open The Door is far from a classic, but in its own modest way the film has numerous strengths that elevate it enough to make it worthy viewing for those who have the patience for it. In the end, I'm not sorry I ignored the titular warning, and while I can't wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone, I will suggest that if you're in the mood to be open-minded you could do a lot worse than this.

A young blonde woman named Amanda goes to look after her aging grandmother in her home but finds herself being menaced by a obscene caller,who enjoys collecting dolls and talking to his mannequins."Don't Open the Door!" is a low-budget horror movie made in Texas by S.F Brownrigg.The scene of psycho talking to his mannequin predates the behavior of Joe Spinell's character Frank Zito in "Maniac".The action is slow and there are some dull spots,but the film certainly delivers suspenseful atmosphere.Most of the creep factor comes from Larry O'Dwyer as the breathy,giggling and sleazy psycho in the walls.The characters are bizarre and utterly dysfunctional,the direction is competent and there is a bit of unsettling violence.I loved "Keep My Grave Open" and enjoyed "Don't Open the Door!" as well.8 out of 10.