Robert Hammer

Robert Hammer was a one-shot film-maker whose one film has been well appreciated by fans for almost thirty years now. That film was the thriller "Don't Answer the Phone!", a story about a maniacal killer, played to the hilt by the late, great Nicholas Worth, being tracked by the police. The film was decried at the time by critics for its perceived misogyny, but fans liked what they saw and were even cheering on Worth as he pulled off each murder! Hammer spent his life before film-making plying his trade as both a photographer (like Worth's character in the film) and had a military background as well, having served with the Army Security Agency on various covert operations. He studied karate for 25 years with Ed Parker and ultimately became a documentary film-maker, spending time with rock acts such as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (going on the road with them for three years) and The Steve Miller Band (in this capacity, he met composer Byron Allred, who composed the music for his film). When the screenplay "Nightline" by Michael Curtis came along, he was interested and it was purchased for around $2500. However, it would have been too expensive to film as it was and a substantial re-write was needed. Hammer filmed it in about 18 days and found working with the low budget quite challenging; without official permission to shoot in locations, the film was largely shot guerrilla style. After the film had come out, Hammer went through four different development deals (for about two years) with Crown International, the studio that had made it. However, none of them came to fruition, and Hammer decided that a career change would be wise. He's spent the years since working as CFO (Chief Financial Officer) for various technical corporations, having found that he had an aptitude for money management. Gigs he has had in this capacity included being a VP of finance at C Net. Hammer has stated that he needed time to appreciate the film he had made, and that although he is happy doing what he is doing he would be only too happy to once again try his hand at film-making. But for now he's still left us with a prime exploitation thriller that still entertains almost thirty years later.