The Night Caller (1966)

Great Film overall

Good concept, poorly executed.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

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.

Very good mid-60's British-made sci-fi film. Scientists and the military recover a small beach-ball sized sphere that comes from "OUT THERE". Weird happenings occur at the facility where it's being examined, then the sphere disappears along with whatever came out of it. After a few weeks the cops call in the scientists because young women are disappearing under strange circumstances and it's believed that the sphere traveler is responsible. Turns out that the space creep is from Ganymede, one of Jupiter's giant moons. It seems that "Ganymede Needs Women". A long time back Ganymede had an atomic war and it is only now that the inhabitants are starting to recover. But it seems that they need fresh, pure female genes to clean up their physiology. Someone should tell them they would need clean male genes as well. We never see the Ganymedian, named Medra, until the end. He has a claw hand, one side of his face is classically handsome, the other side all messed up. Poor captive girls, having to wake up to that in the morning. I don't think these E.T.'s have learned their lesson yet. Medra is incredibly snooty, thinking his people are infinitely superior. Well they nearly wiped themselves out with nukes, so how are they better than us? Anyway Medra achieves his mission and escapes with his captive women. One of the better British sci-fi flicks, crisp black-and-white photography, and a non-camp story. The opening title song is good but doesn't seem to fit the genre. The Image Entertainment DVD is excellent quality and is the one to get, though it has very little in the way of extras. Hard to find now. Highly recommended.

****SPOILERS**** Right away you know your in for a rare treat in seeing the opening credits backed up by Mark Richardson crooning the theme song "The Night Caller" as we see this spot of light, or what later looked like a light up beach ball, descending to earth outside of London. It's up to scientists Jack Costain, John Saxon, and fellow astrologists Dr. Morley, Murice Denham, and Ann Barlow, Patricia "Pat" Haines, to find and figure out where this glowing and sub-freezing ball comes from and if its a danger to those of us on earth.As we soon find out the ball has somehow materialized, out of thin air, this six foot five inch alien called Medra, Robert Crewdson, who's on a mission of survival for his almost totally depleted, due to a low birth rate,race on the Jupiter moon of Ganymede. Medra plans to transport young woman back to his home planet to, by breeding with the few males left on it, repopulated the Ganymedean race. Medra does this through advertising in the London girlie magazine "Biini Girl" by offering them modeling jobs.****SPOILERS***** The film "Night Caller from Outer Space" has to be taken with a grain of salt in it really being a strange and far out combination alien from space and Frankie Avalon & Annette Funicello bikini beach ball movie despite the graphic, for 1965, violence in it. This Medra guy, who we see only in shadow until the last few minutes of the film, seems to walk through walls as well as making himself invisible and at the same time invincible to anything that the British military can throw at him. It's only at the end of the movie that the shadowy Medra finally reviles himself, he doesn't look as bad as you would have thought he would, and his secret mission on earth. And just when it looks like it's mission accomplished, with the British military unable to stop him, he just takes off, with the glowing beach ball, back home to Ganymede leaving the some 30 young and well developed women, whom he came to earth for in the first place, behind?

A strange orb is found in the outskirts of London. The orb is soon determined to be a matter transference device sent to Earth from one of Jupiter's moons. It seems this alien civilization is bent on sending one of their own to Earth, but for what purpose? When a string of 20+ young women goes missing, the orbs monstrous purpose becomes much clearer.Night Caller from Outer Space is a rather talky, but enjoyable little B&W sci-fi thriller. Highlights for me include the mystery elements of the story from the first ¾ of the film's runtime, seeing John Saxon in such a decidedly British production, the unknown creature lurking in the shadows, and some outstanding cinematography (in fact, the film looks far better than it has any right to given it's obviously modest budget). The biggest weakness, unfortunately, comes in the final moments of the movie. The ending of Night Caller from Outer Space is such a let-down and non-event that it really takes away from everything that came before. As the movie ended, I sat in amazement and said to myself, "That's it? You've got to be kidding." It's a very lame payoff. Night Caller from Outer Space deserved better than that.Finally, Night Caller from Outer Space includes some really cool period shots of London at night from the mid-60s. I always get a kick out of that sort of thing.