The Night Caller (1966)

A pretty nifty Sci-Fi flick from the United Kingdom featuring a token yank John Saxon. Inhabitants of Soho live in fear as a fast falling object falls from the sky. A glowing sphere is means of transportation for an alien assumed to be from Jupiter. The "night caller" is suspected of stalking young nubile women who read the magazine Bikini Girl. The creature's purpose is to replenish his dying race. All we see of the monster is a claw-like hand, otherwise the mystery visitor stays in the shadows. Taut suspense and decent special effects in Black & White. The cast also features: Patricia Haines, Maurice Denham, Alfred Burke, John Carson and Barbara Stevens.

Almost intelligent British sci-fi with a Mod theme. The black and white cinematography is stylish and some of the sets and clothes have a nice Mod feel, but it never turns into a full style fest. There is one quite odd scene with two distraught parents doing a sort of Stiller and Meara routine for the police and scientist. John Saxon is as hot as can be, but alas, never gets around to removing his shirt or even unbuttoning his collar. What a waste of his greatest talent. The one thing that makes this worth watching is the gay character. Aubrey Morris, best known as the long-suffering but sadistic quasi-pedophile caseworker from "A Clockwork Orange", plays Mr. Thorburn, a purveyor of used books, and, I suspect, naughty magazines, perhaps even male physique pictorials. When the police superintendent comes to question him, he gives the cop hell. The subtext makes it obvious that he has been harassed and probably jailed for his proclivities, but he doesn't let that stop him. Commenting on the unearthly green eyes of the alien, he says "I love men with fine eyes, don't you superintendent?" then blows him a kiss when he leaves. Four years before Stonewall, he's still getting busted, but he's very much in control of his interaction with the cop. The ending of the movie is utterly cheesy but what did you expect from a movie called Night Caller from Outer Space?

This is the kind of science fiction movie that Monty Python made fun of in that episode with the tennis-playing Scotsmen and the killer blancmange. John Saxon, who is too American to participate, literally disappears from the story about an hour in. I don't want to give away any plot twists but it really feels like they were making it up as they went along - when the alien's evil plan becomes clear you'll laugh your head off. Science Fiction by people who don't like science fiction. Having said that, the acting is pretty good if you have a long attention span and you like bad movies, this can be very entertaining. Think of it as a Quatermass movie without a central character.

The Night Caller is one of several low budget British sci-fi movies that were made around the mid-1960's and is one of the best. Others include Invasion and Unearthly Stranger. I found this one quite good.A strange sphere from outer space lands on some moorland and the Army recover it and take it to the local research station. During the night, it starts to glow and making a strange bleeping noise at the same time. Just after, a woman who works there sees a figure dressed in black and nobody believes her at first. They do when a strange footprint is found and a car makes off from the research station at high speed. Despite a lot of shooting, they fail to capture the driver, who is the alien. In London, women start to disappear, all after applying for a job advertised in the Bikina Girl magazine. The woman who works at the research station applies but she is killed. The police eventually close in on Medra (the alien) and we get to know he is from one of Jupiter's moons, Ganyemede and wants these women to take back with him, which he does. The sphere then takes off in a ball of fire. The alien the winner in this one.The Night Caller is very atmospheric at times and is shot well in black and white. One interesting point is how the alien knew how to drive when escaping from the research station.The cast includes American actor John Saxon (Planet of Blood, A Nightmare On Elm Street) and several well known British stars: Maurice Denham (Curse of the Demon, The Nanny), Warren Mitchell (The Crawling Eye, Till Death Us Do Part), Patricia Haines, Ballard Berkeley (Fawlty Towers), Alfred Burke (Children of the Damned) and Aubrey Morris.The Night Caller is worth checking out, especially for fans of 1950's/60's science fiction. Excellent.Rating: 3 stars out of 5.