Robert Hammer's DON'T ANSWER THE PHONE (1980) from Scorpion 10/16

[bruce h]

Scorpion Releasing finally give Robert Hammer's DON'T ANSWER THE PHONE (1980) its much-needed reissue! Character actor Nicholas Worth delivers a knock-down, drag-out performance as 'Nam vet turned fashion photographer Kirk Smith, a man compelled to squeeze the life from beauty due to some major daddy issues. Along the way he becomes fixated on radio shrink Lindsay Gale, who soon graduates to Target #1. Can the police close in before the inevitable takes place?

A mean and gritty psycho outing inspired by a real-life West Coast strangling spree happening concurrently with production, the film usually gets lumped in with the standard slasher genre, but is much more akin to sleazy serial killer efforts like MANIAC and HENRY. Worth's total domination of his role really buoys this one; his sweaty, chest-pounding monologue scenes are alone worth the price of admission.

Scorpion's re-release promises a new HD transfer from the original negative; when we were working on the BCI Eclipse disc with Cliff MacMillan, the only uncut element Crown could turn up was a 35mm release print. The disc will also port over the interview featurette me and Nathaniel Thompson did with Nicholas Worth (his last before his death) and the commentary track with director Robert Hammer (moderated by Shane M. Dallmann), and the company has also secured a brand new audio interview with actor James Westmoreland. Should be a nice disc of a sicko classic.

Pre-order:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ag=cinema09-20

Trailer:
http://youtu.be/77uVyKW-x3Q

[russweiss]

Never seen this one so I'll be buying it.

[elDomenechHDG]

I got rid of the BCI disc in anticipation of this release. Although I did watch about 15 minutes of it (without having seen it previously) and didn't get into it, I think there's a chance I'll like the film this time, esp. with an improved transfer. Sometimes it can be a chore sitting through a film you're not liking too much if the PQ is crap.

[ronnie21]

shot in summer of 79......

[bruce h]

Cover art:



Supplements:

* Brand New never before seen 16x9 anamorphic (1:78) widescreen HD master from the original Negatives
* Watch this in "Katarina's Nightmare Theater" format with hostess Katarina Leigh Waters or play feature only.
* Audio commentary with Director Robert Hammer
* Audio interview with star James Westmoreland
* On camera interview with star Nicholas Worth
* Original Trailer

[Katatonia]

Originally Posted by bruce h

Cover art:



Supplements:

* Brand New never before seen 16x9 anamorphic (1:78) widescreen HD master from the original Negatives
* Watch this in "Katarina's Nightmare Theater" format with hostess Katarina Leigh Waters or play feature only.
* Audio commentary with Director Robert Hammer
* Audio interview with star James Westmoreland
* On camera interview with star Nicholas Worth
* Original Trailer

Cool, there's a new audio commentary then. And it sounds like all of the old DVD extras have been ported over from the old BCI release. There was a 9-minute easter egg with Nicholas Worth on the old DVD, so hopefully that'll be there too.

I expect the transfer will look improved also. It definitely sounds like a double-dip, and Scorpion rarely ever disappoints.

[Myron Breck]

Actually, aside from the interview with John Westmoreland, it looks like the same old stuff. Is there a Blu coming too or just DVD?

[bruce h]

The Westmoreland audio interview is the only new extra, though it's getting a brand new HD transfer from a better element, too. At this point it's a DVD-only release.

I gave them permission to use the supplements from the old DVD, but I'm unsure if they're putting the Easter Egg on there or not. It was never specifically referenced.

[Stige]

just a question, sitting here checking out the old BC disc ( w/ bonus etc) and the image looked ok to me. Can anyone recomend a purchace of the scorpion disc? Is it a night and day difference?

[rhett]

Cool. Worth checking out for the uninitiated. Definitely an interesting performance by the lead, one of the closest things the slasher genre ever got to a tour de force. It's still pretty cheap-looking and scuzzy, and not exactly uplifting, but really presents a nice time capsule of the urban jungle circa late seventies. Interested to see how big of an improvement the widescreen transfer will be.

[dave13]

this is on one of the BCI drive-in cult classics sets that i have, but i haven't watched it yet. i'll check it out eventually, and if its something i really like, then i could definitely see picking this up.

[bruce h]

Mondo Digital review:

http://www.mondo-digital.com/dontanswer.html

[bruce h]

Here's the ROCK!SHOCK!POP! review:
http://www.rockshockpop.com/forums/c...are-Theater%29

Glad to see the "Easter Egg" featurette got carried over, too.

[bruce h]

And for those wanting comparison pics (courtesy of Mondo Digital):

BCI Eclipse / Scorpion:



It's nice to see the film actually has some color!