The Night Caller (1966)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Stubbornly boring from beginning to end, this seems to be a metaphorical science fiction film that expresses far too many themes for viewers to agree on. Scientifically talky and tediously boring, this is trying far too hard to be artsy while sticking to modern trends. It mixes the lust over beach party movies with a moral outrage that has so-called bikini beauties being attacked by a rather effete male creature who may be from outer space. Is this creature some modern Jack the Ripper with an eye for blondes he considers amoral or an alien with judgment issues acting as if he was God, brought down to earth to pass on a warning of some kind. Certain elements of this character makes him seem like a strong but prissy woman hater, and of course some might constrew that as an attack on the visibly rising gay population. Whatever it's theme is, it's dreary as all get out and badly acted and photographed. There's not one bit of comedy, and the only name going for it is John Saxon whose career wasn't finding any great shakes after a few early hits.

There are already quite a few good comments on this unusual film already. However a major difference is the utterly splendid opening instrumental score over the opening credits!The USA release has lounge type of male vocalist singing the films title!- it is dire indeed.Not so the British release, It is very memorable, and have only recently tracked it down though spent decades trying!A superb piece by Alan Haven called "Image" It seems to encompass everything; it is a mixture of spooky organ music set to a mod (ish) and moderate jazzy tone.Quite unnerving it seems to warn the viewers what lies ahead. The opening scenes have a tracking shot showing London by night, and perfectly fits the mid-sixties feel and period of the time. Medra was scary!!

Low-key but intriguing and generally effective variation on the alien invasion theme (though the script is far inferior to the Quatermass archetype); as a matter of fact, the police procedural tends to be more engaging than the high-falutin' scientific theorizing! Unfortunately, too, some of the dialogue is unintelligible due to the heavy British accents (but, then, the version I watched was accompanied by subtitles in Italian!).The cast features several familiar British faces (Maurice Denham, John Carson, Jack Watson, etc.); still, as with many low-budget horror films of its era, the lead role was given to an American actor: in this case, John Saxon - who's pretty adequate under the circumstances, with a blonde Patricia Haines (whom I recently saw in the awful VIRGIN WITCH [1972]) as his female co-star. Aubrey Morris, however, is memorable as the scurrilous editor of a 'girlie' magazine - which is used as bait for the alien's female victims (who, as is often the case, has descended to Earth because his own planet has reached saturation point). This element gives way to some typically dry British humor (especially the awkward interrogation of one of the missing girl's simple but cantankerous parents)...but Ballard Berkeley's belated introduction as the Commander steering the operations engaged in the alien's capture can't be taken seriously - in view of his regular appearance as the befuddled Major in the classic TV comedy series FAWLTY TOWERS (1975-79), devised by and starring Monty Python's John Cleese!! With the imposing figure of the alien generally shown lurking in the shadows or hidden behind heavy clothing and a mask (shades of the giallo subgenre?), its menace is evoked through the creature's adoption of a mellifluous yet sinister 'human' voice; that said, the make-up effects shown intermittently are surprisingly subtle. Even so, the best thing about the film is certainly Stephen Dade's chiaroscuro photography - utilizing some odd angles, particularly during the alien manhunt, obviously inspired by THE THIRD MAN (1949)! The rather uneventful cautionary finale, then, is reminiscent of THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951).

"The Night Caller (from outer space)" is another clever British Sci-Fi gem from the sixties that incomprehensibly got neglected over the years. What are you waiting for, horror fans? This puppy is up for an urgent re-discovery as it is a rather intelligent, atmospheric and involving film. The premise is silly, sure, and can be summarized in one phrase: Medra is an alien from Jupiter's 3rd moon, capable of transporting matter through space, and he comes to earth to abduct young girls in order to repopulate his planet. I realize the plot sounds like a textbook example of cheap and cheesy 60's trash, but it really is worth watching! The script is filled with minor but ingenious little aspects and there's this constant haze of mysteriousness that keeps you fascinated at all times. The movie opens with three scientists (Denham, Saxon and Patricia Haines) investigating a strange alien cocoon that landed on the earth but it abruptly turns into an action-packed detective story in which cool cop-characters (like Stanley Meadows) and the remaining scientists try to solve the disappearing of over twenty girls, unquestionably linked to the arrival of the outer space visitor... The editing is a little rough at times, but the dialogues are wit and imaginative. There's some nice B-movie flavored acting as well, especially coming from the great John Saxon. Especially his 60's and 70's movies are terrific since it looks like he was still figuring out himself which type of roles fit him best.