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Don't Answer the Phone

Play trailer Poster for Don't Answer the Phone R Released Feb 29, 1980 1h 34m Horror Play Trailer Watchlist
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Tomatometer 1 Reviews 17% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Vietnam War veteran and sometime photographer Kirk Smith (Nicholas Worth) is stalking women in their Hollywood, Calif., homes and strangling them to death. While Lt. Chris McCabe (James Westmoreland) begins a rather unsuccessful investigation, psychologist Lindsay Gale (Flo Gerrish) starts getting disturbing phone calls from Smith. Eventually, the psychotic Smith starts going after Gale's patients, killing them one by one. The stakes get even higher when Gale herself is kidnapped.

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Don't Answer the Phone

Critics Reviews

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Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews If you want my advice, skip this poorly made and acted mindless sickie pic. Rated: D May 20, 2010 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Ricky R I did not expect to enjoy this as much as I did. If you like serial killer character-portrait flicks check this one out. The 'detectives on the trail' aspect fits in nicely. The performance from Nicholas Worth is pretty impressive and the cinematography at times is quite good. The violence is at times upsetting and effective so it delivers on that aspect for sure. If it weren't for the brief racist language I would have little to complain about. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 12/07/23 Full Review steve d Don't bother........... Rated 1 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member DECENT 80'S SLASHER Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Audience Member Don't Answer the Phone! (1980) ?? Don't watch this movie! Rated 1 out of 5 stars 01/23/23 Full Review Audience Member The titles a little misleading as there's a few phone calls made, but it's not the crux of the plot. It's a psycho on the loose story and the investigation to hunt him down. It's low budget but stands up well within its genre. Some of the sound-mixing is poor quality though. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Audience Member Deranged photographer strangles a series of women, mostly tied to a radio psychiatrist. The sleaze factor runs high and is paired with some hard to watch violence making this one generally unenjoyable but it will have a small audience of fans. Actor Nicholas Worth is pretty believeable as the demented killer and won a Best Actor nod for this at the Sitges Catalonian Film Festival in 1980, preventing a film called Harlequin from cleaning up all of the important awards that year. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Don't Answer the Phone

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Cast & Crew

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Robert Hammer

Director

James Westmoreland

Lt. Chris McCabe

Flo Lawrence

Dr. Lindsay Gale

Nicholas Worth

Kirk Smith

Ben Frank

Sgt. Hatcher

Denise Galik

Lisa
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Don't Answer the Phone

Don't Answer the Phone (1980) Don't Answer the Phone (1980) Don't Answer the Phone (1980) Don't Answer the Phone (1980) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Vietnam War veteran and sometime photographer Kirk Smith (Nicholas Worth) is stalking women in their Hollywood, Calif., homes and strangling them to death. While Lt. Chris McCabe (James Westmoreland) begins a rather unsuccessful investigation, psychologist Lindsay Gale (Flo Gerrish) starts getting disturbing phone calls from Smith. Eventually, the psychotic Smith starts going after Gale's patients, killing them one by one. The stakes get even higher when Gale herself is kidnapped.
Director
Robert Hammer
Producer
Michael D. Castle, Robert Hammer
Screenwriter
Michael D. Castle, Robert Hammer
Distributor
Crown International Pictures
Rating
R
Genre
Horror
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Feb 29, 1980, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
May 17, 2017
Runtime
1h 34m
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