By Geno McGahee
In the 1970s, we saw a lot of horror films where the killer was hiding in the house and calling the targeted subject. In DON’T OPEN THE DOOR, we see this playing out again as Amanda (Susan Bracken) returns to her childhood home to tend to her ailing grandmother, but two men are trying to stop her. Judge Stemple (Gene Ross) has no problem giving a woman five across the eyes and abusing his authority and is looking to turn a big buck with the house and the eccentric museum owner, Claude (Larry O’Dwyer) is collecting things from the home and wants it all for his museum. He looks like he just walked off of the show TO CATCH A PREDATOR.
I was hoping for a whodunit, but this wasn’t that at all. The killer is revealed rather early and the movie begins to drag along with a lot of repetition. There are some cool scenes. At one point, Claude dresses up like Amanda’s dead mother and anytime a guy is in drag in a horror film, it gets an extra point. It may not be PC but I am amused by men in drag carrying weapons. You men, reading this while in women’s clothing, that have an issue with my last statement, I apologize. You have every right to wear what you want, unless it’s crotchless panties.
The calls become more frequent and Amanda becomes crazier. She attacks her boyfriend and kills him, mistaking him for the killer and when the killer rings her immediately after, she goes completely insane. She sits in a rocking chair and laughs maniacally. It was hilarious.
This film is shot incredibly well and creatively. I loved a lot of the shots that they did and the direction of the film was very good. At points, it was hilarious. The film had the right elements to do well, but in the end, the story was just too simple and the pace wasn’t very good. It’s hard to stick with and it didn’t pack the punch that most 1970’s horror films did in the climax.
DON’T OPEN THE DOOR is a film that you can take or leave. I guess it’s worth a watch, but it’s nothing special.
Rating: 4.5/10
