Don't open the Door

Don’t Open the Door (1975)

Amanda Post returns home to take care of her sick grandmother after receiving a mysterious phone call telling her she must return. It seems that everyone is after her grandmother’s home and possessions, including a good old boy judge and the strange little man that runs the local museum. Also we find out that Amanda hasn’t been home in more than thirteen years because her mother was murdered mysteriously. From almost the moment she returns home creepy obscene phone calls start. It appears that someone, perhaps the person that killed her mother is now stalking her as well! But who is it? Could it just be someone trying to play tricks on her so she will sell the house? And did the local doctor drug her grandmother so that they could take her estate over?

This movie tries really hard to be scary, but ends up being sort of boring. The story has potential with the creaky old house and the obscene phone calls. But the movie wastes any tension that it might have built up by revealing the identity of the killer way too early. Not only that we know why he is doing it and how he fits into her history way too soon. The movie also does a terrible job in handling the Amanda characters back-story. She seems to ignore the phone calls; just letting them slide off her back. It is almost as if she had forgotten her mother’s unsolved murder years earlier. But even when she connects the phone calls with the identity of the murder she doesn’t call the cops. Instead she creeps around the house and goes crazy. I just didn’t buy the story at all. It isn’t even as if she lives in the country, she has neighbors across the street. The movie also makes it seem like she was packing for a trip, but when she calls her boyfriend for help he is there almost immediately. Maybe I’m just being picky, but this stuff bothered me enough to prevent me from getting into the story.

The technical bits of the movie are all right, but not overwhelming. The movie is pretty well light and shot. They do have a couple of shots that use the shadows from the old house in pretty nifty ways, which was unexpected for a low budget flick like this. There really isn’t any thing to say about the special effects. The movie is fairly bloodless and what violence there is happens off screen. Other than a knife sticking out of a back and some corn syrup for blood there isn’t anything on screen.

This is one of those mediocre movies that does nothing good or bad to distinguish itself from the stacks of similar drive-in/grindhouse films. It is available on a double feature with Don’t Go in the Basement, which is a much better movie and a lot more fun. Go to http://www.vcientertainment.com/ for more information.

2 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer