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).
30 Reviews
Creepy and overlooked
Flixer195717 August 2002
Warning: Spoilers
**Possible Spoilers Ahead**
Young heroine Mandy (Susan Bracken) gets the message that her grandmother is about to kick the bucket. She moves into Grandma's house to take charge of things and the terror begins. Murky sub-plots involve various dirty old men, the murder of Mandy's mother, obscene phone calls and a scheme by one villain to acquire the family heirlooms for a museum. The ending is way too abrupt but the movie offers good camera work, eerie atmosphere, and a typically strange score by Brownrigg's resident composer Robert Farrar. Onscreen members of Brownie's film-making family include Rhea MacAdams, Anne MacAdams, Hugh Feagin and the incomparable Gene Ross. Adding to the weirdness are some grotesque dolls, so ugly that they make Cabbage Patch Kids look almost human. This is easily the most obscure of Brownrigg's features, a film so elusive that even some of its own actors haven't seen it.
Young heroine Mandy (Susan Bracken) gets the message that her grandmother is about to kick the bucket. She moves into Grandma's house to take charge of things and the terror begins. Murky sub-plots involve various dirty old men, the murder of Mandy's mother, obscene phone calls and a scheme by one villain to acquire the family heirlooms for a museum. The ending is way too abrupt but the movie offers good camera work, eerie atmosphere, and a typically strange score by Brownrigg's resident composer Robert Farrar. Onscreen members of Brownie's film-making family include Rhea MacAdams, Anne MacAdams, Hugh Feagin and the incomparable Gene Ross. Adding to the weirdness are some grotesque dolls, so ugly that they make Cabbage Patch Kids look almost human. This is easily the most obscure of Brownrigg's features, a film so elusive that even some of its own actors haven't seen it.
Low Budget Regional Horror with Bite
franklineley14 May 2022
An eerie low budget shocker that features a lot of the horror/thriller standbys such as creepy phone calls, a young woman returning to a scary childhood home, and lots of frightening mannequins. Performances are stagey and pitched a little too high but it all adds to the charm.
Pretty good; twisted and spooky
ehoshaw13 September 2000
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.
Don't Do This, Don't Do That ... Don't Get Your Hopes Up!
Coventry6 May 2008
Warning: Spoilers
There certainly were a lot of "Don't
" horror movies made during the 70's and early 80's. If you obey all these titular commands, you're really not allowed to do a lot of things. Don't be afraid of the dark, don't turn out the light, don't look in the basement, don't look now, don't open the door
Another famous one is "Don't Answer the Phone" but, strangely enough, that's an early 80's movie and this gem is a mid-70's one, so the title wasn't taken yet. If I would have been in writer/director S.F. Brownrigg's shoes, I would have named my screenplay "Don't Answer the Phone" because there are lot of ringing phones and practically no doors that need opening. Anyway, that concludes my totally irrelevant rant as I'm sure you couldn't care less what the movie is called and why.
Based on my pleasant viewing experience of Brownrigg's other obscure 70's shocker "Don't Look in the Basement" I had fairly high expectations for this one too, but sadly it isn't half as refreshingly original and morbidly engaging as the first. One could righteously claim that "Don't Open the Door" is an influential predecessor of stalk-thrillers like "Scream", but the plot itself is already a shameless variation on the quintessential 70's psycho-stalker classic "Black Christmas" and let's face it the subject matter is really too limited to revolve a whole movie on. The opening credits raise the (regretfully) false impression this will become a creepy movie with old and broken dolls, but they quickly turn out to be irrelevant scenery in a story focusing on a young woman returning to her town of birth after 13 years. Amanda receives an anonymous call to inform that her grandmother is dying, but when she arrives in the parental mansion she doesn't exactly get a warm welcoming. Two eminent town members, a judge and a doctor, almost refuse to talk to her and another one, the local museum's curator, just behaves plain awkward. Shortly after, Amanda receives creepy phone calls that gradually increase in length as well as in level of perversity. The voice on the other end of the line even claims responsibility for the death of Amanda's mother; a crime that never got solved.
"Don't Open the Door" is overall very atmospheric and occasionally even downright frightening. This is largely the courtesy of simple and cheap, yet effective exploitation tricks, like primitive photography and truly moody set-pieces. The phone conversations are long and quite often tedious, but I can't deny the hoarse voice and the slow talking rhythm sounded memorably haunting. Susan Bracken gives away a likable performance as the dame in distress but as nearly all the other reviewers already pointed out would it have hurt her to show a little bit of naked flesh? It's just not natural to take a bath in an empty house and keep the towel tight around your waist until the very last second you kneel down in the tub. Personally I much preferred "Don't Look in the Basement" (though admittedly I'm a sucker for horror set in mental asylums) but "Don't Open the Door" is definitely worth seeking out as well in case you're into unexplored 70's cinema. It comes particularly recommended to transvestites, terminally ill grandmothers, paranoid single women, bored museum curators and collectors of mannequin dolls.
Based on my pleasant viewing experience of Brownrigg's other obscure 70's shocker "Don't Look in the Basement" I had fairly high expectations for this one too, but sadly it isn't half as refreshingly original and morbidly engaging as the first. One could righteously claim that "Don't Open the Door" is an influential predecessor of stalk-thrillers like "Scream", but the plot itself is already a shameless variation on the quintessential 70's psycho-stalker classic "Black Christmas" and let's face it the subject matter is really too limited to revolve a whole movie on. The opening credits raise the (regretfully) false impression this will become a creepy movie with old and broken dolls, but they quickly turn out to be irrelevant scenery in a story focusing on a young woman returning to her town of birth after 13 years. Amanda receives an anonymous call to inform that her grandmother is dying, but when she arrives in the parental mansion she doesn't exactly get a warm welcoming. Two eminent town members, a judge and a doctor, almost refuse to talk to her and another one, the local museum's curator, just behaves plain awkward. Shortly after, Amanda receives creepy phone calls that gradually increase in length as well as in level of perversity. The voice on the other end of the line even claims responsibility for the death of Amanda's mother; a crime that never got solved.
"Don't Open the Door" is overall very atmospheric and occasionally even downright frightening. This is largely the courtesy of simple and cheap, yet effective exploitation tricks, like primitive photography and truly moody set-pieces. The phone conversations are long and quite often tedious, but I can't deny the hoarse voice and the slow talking rhythm sounded memorably haunting. Susan Bracken gives away a likable performance as the dame in distress but as nearly all the other reviewers already pointed out would it have hurt her to show a little bit of naked flesh? It's just not natural to take a bath in an empty house and keep the towel tight around your waist until the very last second you kneel down in the tub. Personally I much preferred "Don't Look in the Basement" (though admittedly I'm a sucker for horror set in mental asylums) but "Don't Open the Door" is definitely worth seeking out as well in case you're into unexplored 70's cinema. It comes particularly recommended to transvestites, terminally ill grandmothers, paranoid single women, bored museum curators and collectors of mannequin dolls.
It's not for me it's for posterity
kapelusznik1814 August 2015
Warning: Spoilers
****SPOILERS*** Mindless and ridicules horror flick with the young lady in red, her favorite color, the plucky Amanda Post, Susan Brackman, being trapped in her grandma's, Rhea MacAdams, creepy house who seems to be on her deathbed and about to check out, of life, at any moment. Were told that Amanda witnessed her moms murder in the same house 12 years ago and is now spooked in being there again. But there she is, looking after grandma, and confronted by these two weirdos the person or curator running the place Claude Kerns, Larry O'Dwyer, or what seems to be grandma's power of attorney Judge Stemple, Glen Ross, who for reasons known only to themselves don't want Amanda around.
For the remainder of the movie we have, and it's no secret to those of us watching ,this crazy nut Kerns calling Amanda for phone sex and threatening to murder her grandma who's as good as dead anyway, if she doesn't comply to his sick demands. Judge Stemple who has other reasons in wanting Amanda out of the house is later a victim of Kerns in wanting him out of his way, like Amanda, so he can end up having the house all to himself.
****SPOILERS*** With all this happening to her Amanda loses it and in the end joins her grandma' in becoming a zombie on steroids as well as murderess. And the person whom she ends up murdering, by bashing his skull in, is her concerned but not too bright, in not realizing what she's going through, boyfriend Nick played by Hugh Feagin who seemed to be the only sane person in the entire movie! Were shown at the end the person-we think- who actually murdered Amanda's mom 12 years ago and by also stealing and mutilating her favorite doll that eventually caused her to go completely nuts but by then, after what we went or suffered thorough watching the movie, couldn't care less whoever he was or what he did.
For the remainder of the movie we have, and it's no secret to those of us watching ,this crazy nut Kerns calling Amanda for phone sex and threatening to murder her grandma who's as good as dead anyway, if she doesn't comply to his sick demands. Judge Stemple who has other reasons in wanting Amanda out of the house is later a victim of Kerns in wanting him out of his way, like Amanda, so he can end up having the house all to himself.
****SPOILERS*** With all this happening to her Amanda loses it and in the end joins her grandma' in becoming a zombie on steroids as well as murderess. And the person whom she ends up murdering, by bashing his skull in, is her concerned but not too bright, in not realizing what she's going through, boyfriend Nick played by Hugh Feagin who seemed to be the only sane person in the entire movie! Were shown at the end the person-we think- who actually murdered Amanda's mom 12 years ago and by also stealing and mutilating her favorite doll that eventually caused her to go completely nuts but by then, after what we went or suffered thorough watching the movie, couldn't care less whoever he was or what he did.
generally pretty poor whispering-dirty phone-calling transvestite killer flick
FieCrier23 December 2004
Warning: Spoilers
The title doesn't make much sense to me. I'm not sure what door in the movie shouldn't have been opened.
The movie starts uneventfully, with a conversation between a man and a woman in a room that looks like a richly furnished train car, complete with the sound of the train traveling. In fact, the man's house is a train car, and he has a cassette of train sounds. The woman leaves, and calls a young woman. The young woman tells her boyfriend, a doctor, that she's been told her grandmother is ill, and she needs to return to her home town. She hasn't been there in thirteen years.
Flash back to thirteen years ago. A shadowy figure enters a house. He caresses a sleeping young girl, then goes into another room and stabs the girl's mother. The girl wakes up and enters her mother's room and finds her dead with a knife in her. She screams, and an arm comes out of nowhere and claps a hand over her mouth. She looks up in fear. That early scene in the movie of the killer muffling her scream, and the girl's look is one of the few effective shots in the movie.
It doesn't have much going for it in the visuals department. Occasionally there's some strange use of sound, and there's some weird lighting in an attic scene where many of the panes of glass are red and blue.
Back to the present day. The young woman arrives in her grandmother's house. An old doctor is there, who she doesn't trust, along with the man from the opening scene "Judge" and Kearn, the town's museum operator. She doesn't trust any of them, and it's true they don't inspire any trust. She's rather crabby throughout the whole movie. She wants to check her grandmother into a hospital. The men in the town want her house, and the museum operator wants the things in it (his museum is already filled with many of the grandmother's things). Inexplicably, the woman wants to keep the house.
The young woman starts getting phone calls from a man speaking in a sinister whisper. He makes various threats, and wants her to do things to arouse him. Such scenes recur often. Unfortunately, there are so few characters in the movie, that the possibilities of who it could be are limited. Worse still, we see right from the beginning who is making the phone calls. So, while the young woman doesn't know (even though the caller occasionally drops into his normal voice), the audience always knows: no suspense. Each call rattles her more and more.
The ending was unexpected for me, so maybe gets points for not going with the obvious, but I'm not sure I cared for it.
The movie starts uneventfully, with a conversation between a man and a woman in a room that looks like a richly furnished train car, complete with the sound of the train traveling. In fact, the man's house is a train car, and he has a cassette of train sounds. The woman leaves, and calls a young woman. The young woman tells her boyfriend, a doctor, that she's been told her grandmother is ill, and she needs to return to her home town. She hasn't been there in thirteen years.
Flash back to thirteen years ago. A shadowy figure enters a house. He caresses a sleeping young girl, then goes into another room and stabs the girl's mother. The girl wakes up and enters her mother's room and finds her dead with a knife in her. She screams, and an arm comes out of nowhere and claps a hand over her mouth. She looks up in fear. That early scene in the movie of the killer muffling her scream, and the girl's look is one of the few effective shots in the movie.
It doesn't have much going for it in the visuals department. Occasionally there's some strange use of sound, and there's some weird lighting in an attic scene where many of the panes of glass are red and blue.
Back to the present day. The young woman arrives in her grandmother's house. An old doctor is there, who she doesn't trust, along with the man from the opening scene "Judge" and Kearn, the town's museum operator. She doesn't trust any of them, and it's true they don't inspire any trust. She's rather crabby throughout the whole movie. She wants to check her grandmother into a hospital. The men in the town want her house, and the museum operator wants the things in it (his museum is already filled with many of the grandmother's things). Inexplicably, the woman wants to keep the house.
The young woman starts getting phone calls from a man speaking in a sinister whisper. He makes various threats, and wants her to do things to arouse him. Such scenes recur often. Unfortunately, there are so few characters in the movie, that the possibilities of who it could be are limited. Worse still, we see right from the beginning who is making the phone calls. So, while the young woman doesn't know (even though the caller occasionally drops into his normal voice), the audience always knows: no suspense. Each call rattles her more and more.
The ending was unexpected for me, so maybe gets points for not going with the obvious, but I'm not sure I cared for it.
Bizarre Low Budget Chiller
tildagravette15 April 2019
Don't Open The Door comes from S.F. Brownrigg who made the equally bizarre Don't Look in the Basement which has become a drive-in/grindhouse/cheapie VHS and DVD staple for years. While this film doesn't have exactly the same kind of manic, low budget energy that film has, it has enough charms of its own to make it worth a watch.
Don't Open the Door follows a young woman who returns home to the house where her mother was murdered and begins receiving strange, obscene phone calls from a psycho who wants her dead.
The acting, much like Basement, is enthusiastic but amateur hour. No one is really awful, but no one is exactly brilliant either. You get the feeling that you're watching the area's most competent community theatre actors having a good time. The concept is solid, but the suspense and scares seem to be put on the backburner until towards the end of the film, which gives us a lot of time to watch the leading lady take a bath or go exploring the house, which isn't terribly exciting.
Where Don't Open the Door excels is with the creepy phone calls and the mood. The phone calls are perhaps some of the genre's creepiest and most unsettling. It also manages to produce a fairly haunting ending.
With a little more effort put into the script, pacing, and scares, this one could have been a contender, but as is, it's an interesting regional time capsule. It's worth seeing once.
Don't Open the Door follows a young woman who returns home to the house where her mother was murdered and begins receiving strange, obscene phone calls from a psycho who wants her dead.
The acting, much like Basement, is enthusiastic but amateur hour. No one is really awful, but no one is exactly brilliant either. You get the feeling that you're watching the area's most competent community theatre actors having a good time. The concept is solid, but the suspense and scares seem to be put on the backburner until towards the end of the film, which gives us a lot of time to watch the leading lady take a bath or go exploring the house, which isn't terribly exciting.
Where Don't Open the Door excels is with the creepy phone calls and the mood. The phone calls are perhaps some of the genre's creepiest and most unsettling. It also manages to produce a fairly haunting ending.
With a little more effort put into the script, pacing, and scares, this one could have been a contender, but as is, it's an interesting regional time capsule. It's worth seeing once.
Beautiful Weird Film That Just Made Me Angry
thalassafischer8 January 2024
Warning: Spoilers
Don't Hang Up (aka Don't Open the Door) is actually genuinely creepy, filled with dolls and mannequins and some incredibly beautiful scenes. I wish I could give it a higher rating, I even loved the main character Amanda for a significant chunk of the film - for a woman from the 1970s she took no bull from any man around her.
Unfortunately once we figure out who the antagonist is, we're subjected to really long, uncomfortable scenes where we have to see close ups of his creepy, dorky face and listen to him say gross and scary things into the phone. It definitely works to make someone angry, I can attest to that. If the director wanted a reaction, they got it.
However, I don't like movies like this, that rely on visceral disgust rather than foreboding or true fear. Having to be vicariously sexually harassed by the insane and ugly middle aged man who runs the antique store doesn't frighten me, it just makes me mad.
It's similar to directors who rely on gross scenes of disgusting physical or body horror, I think it's cheap and exploitative, and not in a good way.
Unfortunately once we figure out who the antagonist is, we're subjected to really long, uncomfortable scenes where we have to see close ups of his creepy, dorky face and listen to him say gross and scary things into the phone. It definitely works to make someone angry, I can attest to that. If the director wanted a reaction, they got it.
However, I don't like movies like this, that rely on visceral disgust rather than foreboding or true fear. Having to be vicariously sexually harassed by the insane and ugly middle aged man who runs the antique store doesn't frighten me, it just makes me mad.
It's similar to directors who rely on gross scenes of disgusting physical or body horror, I think it's cheap and exploitative, and not in a good way.
My Favorite S.F. Brownrigg Movie!
thomandybish-1511428 January 2018
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!
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!
Not Bad 70's Horror Flick
gwnightscream4 December 2020
Warning: Spoilers
This 1974 horror film tells about a young woman, Amanda Post (Susan Bracken) who returns to her childhood home 13 years after her mother's murder to tend to her ill grandmother. Soon, she gets phone calls from the killer who is obsessed with her. This isn't a bad flick that obviously inspired "Scream" & "When A Stranger Calls" with some suspenseful and somewhat disturbing moments, a sexy female lead and a decent score. If you're into psychological horror or thrillers, you might want to give this a try.
Creepy gem with dolls and mannequins.
HumanoidOfFlesh26 April 2010
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.
Strange, quirky, and colorful low-budget horror film
ThrownMuse28 April 2008
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.
Great!
BandSAboutMovies30 May 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Don't Open the Door! was originally released regionally in Texas under the title Don't Hang Up in May 1974. It was then acquired by Capital Films Corporation, who re-released it in 1979.
Director S.F. Brownrigg made this movie with producer Martin Jurow (Breakfast at Tiffany's), using a cast mainly made up of actors from Dallas-based actors.
The story is simple: young girl returns home to care for her sick grandmother and encounters weirdness at every turn. It's Brownrigg's skill that makes this movie unique.
Despite the lurid feel of this movie, it still has a PG rating. Life was cheaper in 1974.
Susan Bracken plays Amanda Post, who begins the film assured and cocky before returning to Allerton, the Texas town where she watched her mother get killed as a child. This would be the only theatrical film Bracken would do and it's a shame because she's great in this.
We live in a world of caller ID that renders so much of this movie a moot point, such as the reveal that the calls are coming from within the house. While that trope replays itself in so many 70's horror films, I always find it so delightful.
Larry O'Dwyer, who plays the sinister Claude, was done with acting after this movie too. Again, a shame.
If you were born later than me, you may find this movie slow moving and not as filled with terror as you hope, particularly with the sinister VHS cover image that I attached to this review. Not all movies need to have a killing every two minutes and have geysers of gore. This movie does so much more with less.
Director S.F. Brownrigg made this movie with producer Martin Jurow (Breakfast at Tiffany's), using a cast mainly made up of actors from Dallas-based actors.
The story is simple: young girl returns home to care for her sick grandmother and encounters weirdness at every turn. It's Brownrigg's skill that makes this movie unique.
Despite the lurid feel of this movie, it still has a PG rating. Life was cheaper in 1974.
Susan Bracken plays Amanda Post, who begins the film assured and cocky before returning to Allerton, the Texas town where she watched her mother get killed as a child. This would be the only theatrical film Bracken would do and it's a shame because she's great in this.
We live in a world of caller ID that renders so much of this movie a moot point, such as the reveal that the calls are coming from within the house. While that trope replays itself in so many 70's horror films, I always find it so delightful.
Larry O'Dwyer, who plays the sinister Claude, was done with acting after this movie too. Again, a shame.
If you were born later than me, you may find this movie slow moving and not as filled with terror as you hope, particularly with the sinister VHS cover image that I attached to this review. Not all movies need to have a killing every two minutes and have geysers of gore. This movie does so much more with less.
Even more long, shadowy staircases and cackling weirdoes than Don't Look in the Basement!
BillyBC30 April 2003
Warning: Spoilers
(**1/2 out of *****)
Possible Spoilers
This follow-up (of sorts) to Brownrigg's earlier "Don't Look in the Basement" probably should have been called "Don't Answer the Phone," because that's where most of the tension lies. Otherwise, you get more of the same: grainy camera work and dark lighting with lots of shadows, an old spooky house with a long staircase, and a lot of closeups of characters who are either a little on the eccentric side or totally bonkers. This time, a woman (Susan Bracken) goes back to her childhood home (where she witnessed her mother's murder) to care for her sick grandmother. She's not even there a full day before she starts receiving threatening phone calls from a psycho hiding inside the house and people start getting stabbed and bludgeoned when they should most expect it (ideas lifted from the much-superior "Black Christmas," which came out the previous year). Like Brownrigg's "Don't ... Basement," this one is flawed, and it moves kind of slow, but there's something compellingly gothic and atmospherically creepy about the whole thing (particularly as it spirals further into insanity toward the climax) that keeps it from being a total bomb. I did, however, get real sick of seeing that guy's goofy face and hearing his exaggerated, whispering voice on the telephone every five minutes. Gene Ross plays another questionable judge (like he did in "Don't ... Basement"), and some other people from that movie pop up in this one as well (including Annabelle Weenick in a smaller role and Rhea MacAdams, who, as the dying grandmother, has no dialogue and gets to lie in bed for just a couple of scenes and look deathly ill).
HIGHLIGHT: Even though I was expecting it, it was still kinda creepy when that mannequin turned out to be the museum director in drag. Holy cross-dressing psychopaths, Batman!
Possible Spoilers
This follow-up (of sorts) to Brownrigg's earlier "Don't Look in the Basement" probably should have been called "Don't Answer the Phone," because that's where most of the tension lies. Otherwise, you get more of the same: grainy camera work and dark lighting with lots of shadows, an old spooky house with a long staircase, and a lot of closeups of characters who are either a little on the eccentric side or totally bonkers. This time, a woman (Susan Bracken) goes back to her childhood home (where she witnessed her mother's murder) to care for her sick grandmother. She's not even there a full day before she starts receiving threatening phone calls from a psycho hiding inside the house and people start getting stabbed and bludgeoned when they should most expect it (ideas lifted from the much-superior "Black Christmas," which came out the previous year). Like Brownrigg's "Don't ... Basement," this one is flawed, and it moves kind of slow, but there's something compellingly gothic and atmospherically creepy about the whole thing (particularly as it spirals further into insanity toward the climax) that keeps it from being a total bomb. I did, however, get real sick of seeing that guy's goofy face and hearing his exaggerated, whispering voice on the telephone every five minutes. Gene Ross plays another questionable judge (like he did in "Don't ... Basement"), and some other people from that movie pop up in this one as well (including Annabelle Weenick in a smaller role and Rhea MacAdams, who, as the dying grandmother, has no dialogue and gets to lie in bed for just a couple of scenes and look deathly ill).
HIGHLIGHT: Even though I was expecting it, it was still kinda creepy when that mannequin turned out to be the museum director in drag. Holy cross-dressing psychopaths, Batman!
Too Slow moving to hold interest
acidburn-1010 April 2023
'Don't Hang Up' also known as 'Don't Open the Door' is an eerie yet very weird low budget horror flick from the 1970's with a simple meandering plot and a quirky oddball nature. This movie is somewhat watchable and had some potential to be a fun trashy cult classic, but the lack of suspense and sluggish pace really bogs things down and doesn't manage to sustain interest throughout its runtime.
The plot = Amanda Post (Susan Bracken) returns to her grandmother's home in Texas to take care of her for the first time in 13 years since the brutal murder of her mother. Once there Amanda finds herself being stalked by a homicidal maniac.
There are some positive aspects of this film such as the production which looks quite stylish for such a low budget feature with some beautiful colourful shots and the house itself is effectively creepy and does give off an unnerving atmosphere. The acting performances here are also decent with some interesting characters such as Susan Bracken who does a decent job as the female lead and Gene Ross also gives a memorable performance. Some of the killer POV shots are quite creepy as well, but despite the interesting build up, everything falls flat as there's too many scenes of boring dialogue and not enough thrills or tension. The last act does at least attempt to spice things up by adding more of the slasher elements into the flick, but even these scenes lack any sort of entertainment as they seem very awkward and poorly handled.
Overall 'Don't Hang Up' is bizarre and sometimes creepy, but there's just simply not enough here to keep the viewer interested as it struggles to hold any sort of momentum.
The plot = Amanda Post (Susan Bracken) returns to her grandmother's home in Texas to take care of her for the first time in 13 years since the brutal murder of her mother. Once there Amanda finds herself being stalked by a homicidal maniac.
There are some positive aspects of this film such as the production which looks quite stylish for such a low budget feature with some beautiful colourful shots and the house itself is effectively creepy and does give off an unnerving atmosphere. The acting performances here are also decent with some interesting characters such as Susan Bracken who does a decent job as the female lead and Gene Ross also gives a memorable performance. Some of the killer POV shots are quite creepy as well, but despite the interesting build up, everything falls flat as there's too many scenes of boring dialogue and not enough thrills or tension. The last act does at least attempt to spice things up by adding more of the slasher elements into the flick, but even these scenes lack any sort of entertainment as they seem very awkward and poorly handled.
Overall 'Don't Hang Up' is bizarre and sometimes creepy, but there's just simply not enough here to keep the viewer interested as it struggles to hold any sort of momentum.
Irritating Movie
Rainey-Dawn5 December 2016
"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
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
A Something Weird Video?
saint_brett10 September 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Don't Open The Door, Don't Hang Up or Don't Answer the Phone - which is it?
Movie starts out with Kevin Arnold's mom, Norma, meeting some mean slob on a rickety house train. They argue over Cindy Crawford, or something?
Not making any sense, the move ambles along as hideous Barbie dolls from hell are introduced to the opening credits. (I'm rewinding this to get a second opinion of these "Tom West Rejects" opening credit dolls.)
Don't open the door, or, I bet you're sorry you opened these toys?
The first one's your basic Barbie doll with crazed goat eyes. The second one looks like the Red Dragon with a cleft lip. The third one could be Caesars illegitimate offspring up for quick-sale adoption. The fourth one looks like Kuato over-sweating, or is it the baby from Creepozoids? Fifth one looks like it just vomited amniotic fluid and regurgitated its own tonsils, heads been burnt with a lava lamp, too. The sixth one looks like the Tourist Trap DVD cover. The seventh one, um, Boy Wonder or Astroboy with his ass and shoulderblades sewed on backwards? The exorcist herself, Reagan, appears in doll-form next with vomit-colored eyes. Then the ugliest of them all appears as a widescreen pig. There's too many of them, I can't hold them off, they just keep coming.
Oh, so it's Carpenter's Halloween, is it? You wanna play that card, do you? Haven't enough movies ripped off the '78 classic? (Yeah, I'm looking at you Offerings and Sorority House Massacre.) Some lady from Three Billboards of Ebbing tucks one of The Brady Bunch kids into bed and other than the unlimited variety of voodoo dolls at the start credits I don't know what this movie's platform is?
What's this, Michael Myers heading up the stairs to stab his sister?
So, Michael Myers stabs someone, then the curious Brady sister, with the vomit-eyed Creepozoid doll, investigates and it cuts to 13-years later written in pumpkin-orange italics.
I'm seeing a lot of other similarities to Halloween here. (The shrub hedge and front door "You're not supposed to go in there," scene.)
Check out grandma, who's half dead and looks like a bloke in a wig with a moustache.
This bloated up goof ball, with the puffer fish lips, looks like the guy from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Yeah, the one who got his palm burnt. "Hello fraulein."
Is that Nicole Eggert or Priscilla Presley? Or is it that snooty Melissa from Friday the 13th 7?
Ghostface makes harassing phone calls; dying grandma's an inconvenience blocking Nicole's fun, one of Billy Idol's songs plays to a flashback death scene, Melissa then reads a porno magazine in a bubble bath as the sweaty Kuato doll looks on through a crack. Ghostface keeps ringing Priscilla, and I'm guessing this'll be like When a Stranger Calls, "Get out of the house! Ma'am, the calls are coming from inside the house!" How fitting that the burnt hand guy's name is Claude. So Claude does his best Hannibal Lecter impression when killing the super. Turns out Claude's a femcel who dresses as a kewpie doll who wears rouge and all.
This is a pervert movie for disturbed creepy men.
P. S. Hang on a minute.... this was filmed before Carpenter's Halloween! Hey John sir, are you reading this? Was this movie your inspiration for Halloween? Very strange indeed.
Movie starts out with Kevin Arnold's mom, Norma, meeting some mean slob on a rickety house train. They argue over Cindy Crawford, or something?
Not making any sense, the move ambles along as hideous Barbie dolls from hell are introduced to the opening credits. (I'm rewinding this to get a second opinion of these "Tom West Rejects" opening credit dolls.)
Don't open the door, or, I bet you're sorry you opened these toys?
The first one's your basic Barbie doll with crazed goat eyes. The second one looks like the Red Dragon with a cleft lip. The third one could be Caesars illegitimate offspring up for quick-sale adoption. The fourth one looks like Kuato over-sweating, or is it the baby from Creepozoids? Fifth one looks like it just vomited amniotic fluid and regurgitated its own tonsils, heads been burnt with a lava lamp, too. The sixth one looks like the Tourist Trap DVD cover. The seventh one, um, Boy Wonder or Astroboy with his ass and shoulderblades sewed on backwards? The exorcist herself, Reagan, appears in doll-form next with vomit-colored eyes. Then the ugliest of them all appears as a widescreen pig. There's too many of them, I can't hold them off, they just keep coming.
Oh, so it's Carpenter's Halloween, is it? You wanna play that card, do you? Haven't enough movies ripped off the '78 classic? (Yeah, I'm looking at you Offerings and Sorority House Massacre.) Some lady from Three Billboards of Ebbing tucks one of The Brady Bunch kids into bed and other than the unlimited variety of voodoo dolls at the start credits I don't know what this movie's platform is?
What's this, Michael Myers heading up the stairs to stab his sister?
So, Michael Myers stabs someone, then the curious Brady sister, with the vomit-eyed Creepozoid doll, investigates and it cuts to 13-years later written in pumpkin-orange italics.
I'm seeing a lot of other similarities to Halloween here. (The shrub hedge and front door "You're not supposed to go in there," scene.)
Check out grandma, who's half dead and looks like a bloke in a wig with a moustache.
This bloated up goof ball, with the puffer fish lips, looks like the guy from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Yeah, the one who got his palm burnt. "Hello fraulein."
Is that Nicole Eggert or Priscilla Presley? Or is it that snooty Melissa from Friday the 13th 7?
Ghostface makes harassing phone calls; dying grandma's an inconvenience blocking Nicole's fun, one of Billy Idol's songs plays to a flashback death scene, Melissa then reads a porno magazine in a bubble bath as the sweaty Kuato doll looks on through a crack. Ghostface keeps ringing Priscilla, and I'm guessing this'll be like When a Stranger Calls, "Get out of the house! Ma'am, the calls are coming from inside the house!" How fitting that the burnt hand guy's name is Claude. So Claude does his best Hannibal Lecter impression when killing the super. Turns out Claude's a femcel who dresses as a kewpie doll who wears rouge and all.
This is a pervert movie for disturbed creepy men.
P. S. Hang on a minute.... this was filmed before Carpenter's Halloween! Hey John sir, are you reading this? Was this movie your inspiration for Halloween? Very strange indeed.
a real creepy affair
christopher-underwood23 October 2008
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.
Giallo does it better and not much of a mystery
jordondave-2808514 April 2023
(1974) Don't Open The Door/ Don't Hang Up
HORROR
Amanda Post (Susan Bracken) responds upon an anonymous phone call for her to come back to the small town 13 years later, involving the death of her mom, and had not yet been caught. And upon her arrival, she would first see her dying grandmother informed by her ex-boyfriend, who happens to be a doctor to send her up at the hospital. It is during then, she inherits harassing phone calls from mannequin museum director Claude Kearn (Larry O'Dwyer). Viewers are oblivious the reason why that is but I suspect it must be something to do with her past.
Amanda Post (Susan Bracken) responds upon an anonymous phone call for her to come back to the small town 13 years later, involving the death of her mom, and had not yet been caught. And upon her arrival, she would first see her dying grandmother informed by her ex-boyfriend, who happens to be a doctor to send her up at the hospital. It is during then, she inherits harassing phone calls from mannequin museum director Claude Kearn (Larry O'Dwyer). Viewers are oblivious the reason why that is but I suspect it must be something to do with her past.
Effective shoestring slasher
drownsoda9021 January 2020
"Don't Open the Door!" follows Amanda Post, a young woman who returns to her hometown thirteen years after the murder of her mother; she arrives because her grandmother is apparently on her deathbed, but soon finds several locals vying for her family's historic home, and is tormented by threatening phone calls that grow increasingly disturbed.
This followup to S. F. Brownrigg's "Don't Look in the Basement" (another shoestring regional horror flick) is a far better film that it deserves to be, and is possibly even better-made than "Basement." The plot here is straightforward, and the film shows its cards around the midway point, spoiling the potential "twist," but even still, there is plenty of offbeat fun to be had here.
Stylistically, "Don't Open the Door!" is quite colorful and lush, at times recalling Mario Bava's "Blood and Black Lace," especially with the use of mannequins as a plot device. The locations are well-shot, and there is a claustrophobic terror to the proceedings as Amanda finds herself subject to disturbed phone calls that grow increasingly violent and sexual in nature. Historically speaking, "Don't Open the Door!" may be a more important film than most realize; it was originally released in 1974, even predating Bob Clark's "Black Christmas," which has a similar setup involving a sorority tormented by a demented anonymous caller. The breathy, bizarre phone calls featured in "Don't Open the Door!" could have equally served as inspiration for those that appeared in the subsequent 1980 slasher "Prom Night," as they are similar in tone.
Susan Bracken, daughter of comedian Eddie Bracken, plays the lead here quite effectively. Her character is headstrong, sassy, and assertive--she is no damsel in distress, which is a bit refreshing to see for a film of this ilk. Even at her most terrified, she takes matters into her own hands, and holds her own against the various locals attempting to intimidate her into handing over her family's home. The film's final act is a bit disjointed and it does seem to grow clunky as it scrambles to provide us with a clean-cut conclusion (which I'm not sure is entirely achieved), but no less, I found myself pleasantly surprised by this film. For a low-budget, regionally-made horror film, "Don't Open the Door!" is inventive and stylish. Well worth a watch, especially given that it seems to have pre-empted the "killer caller" slasher as we know it. 7/10.
This followup to S. F. Brownrigg's "Don't Look in the Basement" (another shoestring regional horror flick) is a far better film that it deserves to be, and is possibly even better-made than "Basement." The plot here is straightforward, and the film shows its cards around the midway point, spoiling the potential "twist," but even still, there is plenty of offbeat fun to be had here.
Stylistically, "Don't Open the Door!" is quite colorful and lush, at times recalling Mario Bava's "Blood and Black Lace," especially with the use of mannequins as a plot device. The locations are well-shot, and there is a claustrophobic terror to the proceedings as Amanda finds herself subject to disturbed phone calls that grow increasingly violent and sexual in nature. Historically speaking, "Don't Open the Door!" may be a more important film than most realize; it was originally released in 1974, even predating Bob Clark's "Black Christmas," which has a similar setup involving a sorority tormented by a demented anonymous caller. The breathy, bizarre phone calls featured in "Don't Open the Door!" could have equally served as inspiration for those that appeared in the subsequent 1980 slasher "Prom Night," as they are similar in tone.
Susan Bracken, daughter of comedian Eddie Bracken, plays the lead here quite effectively. Her character is headstrong, sassy, and assertive--she is no damsel in distress, which is a bit refreshing to see for a film of this ilk. Even at her most terrified, she takes matters into her own hands, and holds her own against the various locals attempting to intimidate her into handing over her family's home. The film's final act is a bit disjointed and it does seem to grow clunky as it scrambles to provide us with a clean-cut conclusion (which I'm not sure is entirely achieved), but no less, I found myself pleasantly surprised by this film. For a low-budget, regionally-made horror film, "Don't Open the Door!" is inventive and stylish. Well worth a watch, especially given that it seems to have pre-empted the "killer caller" slasher as we know it. 7/10.
Obscure and bizarre
loralynnlove12 February 2022
This is definitely for diehard genre fans. The story itself is pretty weak, but it's still a fun watch. My boyfriend brough home a copy of it and we gave it a watch. Quality wise it is a bit crude and dated but I think that adds to the charm. There are a few good scares and creepy moments. If you love old indie horror you'll like this movie.
PRETTY GOOD PERVERSE STALKER MOVIE
SlasherReviewer6 September 2004
Warning: Spoilers
I enjoyed this movie and you have to give it credit as well as it was made in the mid 70's. Black Christmas is a way better movie but that was from a movie genius Bob Clark. SPOILERS AHEAD...This movie revolves around a stalker who has hid himself in a house and makes obscene phone calls from inside the house. One obscene call I liked was "I wish those breasts were pushed up against me". No it's doesn't have the harsh language that Black Christmas did like "Little pink pus%@". If it wasn't for this movie Scream and the Ghostface killer in the late 90's would of never been thought of. Slasher reviewer gives this one a thumbs up and says if you a true slasher fan you will check this original flick out. Some minor gore as well to satisfy gorehounds but tame. Worthwhile 70's slash and hack!!!
No, Really! Just Hang Up!...
azathothpwiggins26 October 2020
In Director S.F. Brownrigg's DON'T HANG UP, Amanda Post (Susan Bracken) returns to her ailing grandmother's house, 13 years after her mother was murdered there. Amanda finds her grandmother near death, and a group of unsavory townsfolk seemingly up to no good.
It's not long before she starts receiving some disturbing phone calls, while someone lurks about the place, watching her through cracks and holes in the walls. Murder abounds as the killer's identity and motives are slowly revealed.
While not the best horror movie ever made, it's enjoyable enough, and has an unusual / unexpected twist at the end. It's also fun to watch for actors from other Brownrigg movies, such as DON'T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT...
It's not long before she starts receiving some disturbing phone calls, while someone lurks about the place, watching her through cracks and holes in the walls. Murder abounds as the killer's identity and motives are slowly revealed.
While not the best horror movie ever made, it's enjoyable enough, and has an unusual / unexpected twist at the end. It's also fun to watch for actors from other Brownrigg movies, such as DON'T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT...
This one won't give you what you're expecting, but the unexpected is not without its charms in this case
happyendingrocks4 October 2012
Warning: Spoilers
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.
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.
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