Don't Talk to Strange Men

A rather eerie little drama that feels as if it began life as a radio play, and would certainly make a good one.

It begins like the ambush by the airplane in 'North by Northwest' on a roadside in broad daylight. (The voice at the other end of the line doesn't sound like a maniac, but what would a maniac sound like?) And there's a wonderful punchline right at the very end casually delivered by Janina Faye.

A young woman/older girl (played by the model Christina Gregg) is waiting for a bus in the countryside when the telephone rings at a call box next to the bus stop. She answers it and is instantly charmed by the male voice, unbeknown to her a child killer. I was very impressed with this little movie, Small cast, small budget but a highly effective thriller. Very tense and suspenseful, well acted, riveting (I found myself shouting at the girl not to be so stupid!), but also charming, giving us a glimpse into British life in the early 1960's. The killer was very creepy, helped by the fact that we barely see him.Good finale, highly recommended.

DON'T TALK TO STRANGE MEN is one of those intriguing, forgotten thrillers that's a great for fans of British cinema. It's about a lively and beautiful young girl who randomly answers a ringing public phone and soon finds herself entranced by the voice on the other end: the man sounds attractive and is willing to meet up with her. However, can he be trusted?

There were a few films with similar themes that came out around the same time (like Hammer's NEVER TAKE SWEETS FROM A STRANGER) and they do feel ahead of their time. The use of a telephone for sinister communication here brings to mind the later chills of BLACK Christmas and WHEN A STRANGER CALLS and of course the whole stalking-style plot line would eventually transform into the slasher genre of the 1980s.

DON'T TALK TO STRANGE MEN is quite a dated film, with a slow and sedate pace, and nothing much really happens until the very end. However, it's richly atmospheric and also quite realistic in the depiction of the average British family and their lives. It might not be the most entertaining film out there but it's a curio worth checking out nonetheless.

With a small cast of unknowns, black and white film when colour was becoming the normal, only a couple of sets, and really just the one exterior, the outside of a call box in a quite country lane, shot just out of London i would guess, and all probably filmed in a matter of a few days i should think? This is a film that shows what can be done with a good basic story, decent writing and sound acting. It is a kind of public notice almost a public service in it's clear warning, well most teenage girls even in 1962 would of known better, but then it is all about how cleaver, attractive, and plausible a Psychopath may be. Soundly entertaining throughout, if just a dash dated but in a very good way i found the film very entertaining, just a programme filler of it's day maybe, but it impresses and makes you long for those good old days when the B film might just be better than the A picture.

I have always liked this film and had the chance recently to see it again as a friend taped it. It is a tale about a young girl who falls for a man she has talked to only by telephone at a remote call box. Lots of period footage of the girl and her young sister with their parents at home in their middle-class English country home. When you view the "over the call box courtship" of the nice fellow who wants to meet the young Christina Gregg you can identify with what you hear in the media today, about the way certain people court youngsters in Internet chat rooms with youngsters of today. Very thought provoking and at times charming little movie.....

I wonder why they never broadcast these movies nowadays - it is still not available on DVD. I sometimes wonder what other little gems like this I am not aware of.