Elderly man bashed with hammer by crazed home invader

An elderly man has been attacked with a hammer after trying to fend off a crazed man at his Brisbane home. 

Allan Mason, 74, came outside after hearing a man screaming and kicking the front door of his St Pauls Terrace Unit complex around midnight.

The hammer wielding man then approached him and attacked him. 

"He had a hammer in his hand and he never demanded or said anything just started yelling madly and started taking swings at me," Mr Mason told 9NEWS.

He took off after him, chasing him out of the complex and into the street before the man struck him on the arm and back with the weapon.

"I thought he was going to hit me on the head," he said.

"It would have knocked me right out."

Mr Mason was taken to the Royal Brisbane hospital but has since been released.

The dog squad was called in to try to find the man but is yet to be located.

Mr Mason said he has lived at the complex since 1965 and when asked about a man his age being attack he said "it doesn't matter what age you are anymore".

Anyone with information is being urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.