‘Space creatures snatch girls to mysterious planet!’
The Night Caller is a British 1965 sci-fi horror film about mutant humanoids from outer space that kidnap young Earth females to interbreed and save their species from extinction. It has also been released as The Night Caller from Outer Space and Blood Beast from Outer Space.
Directed by John Gilling (The Gorgon, The Reptile, The Plague of the Zombies) from a screenplay by Jim O’Connolly (Tower of Evil), based on Frank Crisp’s novel The Night Callers.
The Armitage Films-Harris Associates-New Art Productions co-production stars John Saxon (Black Christmas, Tenebrae, A Nightmare on Elm Street), Maurice Denham (Paranoiac, Hysteria, Torture Garden), Patricia Haines (Virgin Witch), John Carson (The Plague of the Zombies, Taste the Blood of Dracula, Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter), Jack Watson (Tower of Evil, From Beyond the Grave, Schizo), Marianne Stone (Quatermass II, Witchcraft, Devils of Darkness) and Warren Mitchell (The Trollenberg Terror).
Plot:
American scientist Jack Costain (John Saxon) and his aides investigate a meteorite in the English countryside, discovering that it is an alien device from Ganymede, a moon of Jupiter. They capture a tall alien and take it to the lab, only to have it escape.
Shortly after that, young women begin disappearing after answering an advertisement in ‘Bikini Girl’ magazine for models. It turns out the aliens want Earth women for breeding purposes…
Reviews:
“To enjoy this atmospheric but low-budget film, you’ll have to forgive the obviously rubber claw that signifies the alien for most of the film, and also the cheesy make-up job for its disappointing unveiling. The story also runs out of steam at the climax, but it does end logically, and faithfully to the original novel, The Night Callers by Frank Crisp, first published in 1960. On the plus side are the moments of suspense…” Blog Critics
Buy Night Caller from Outer Space on DVD from Amazon.com
“Plenty of promise in this one but, the promise is only half fulfilled. The concepts are great: an egg that’s not just an egg, an alien that is more than he seems, a mystery that’s not quite resolved. The performances are strong and serious. The shadowy visuals – sometimes off-angled, sometimes out of focus – are often entrancing. The masked night caller is spooky. But things go wrong with emphasis and rhythm.” David Elroy Goldweber, Claws & Saucers
“Warren Mitchell and Marianne Stone (in a much bigger part than usual) are a hilarious double act as the drearily suburban parents of one of the missing girls in the film’s most entertaining scene. The moment where Mitchell sheepishly produces a copy of Bikini Girl from under his chair cushion for Hartley is especially priceless. Later, the reliably sleazy Aubrey Morris turns up as a gay Soho bookseller who flirts with the thoroughly unimpressed Hartley.” Jumble Sale Frenzy!
“Intelligent minor work, attractively photographed and tautly directed.” Alan Frank, The Science Fiction and Fantasy Film Handbook
Trailer:
Full film – free to watch online on YouTube:
Choice dialogue:
Medra: “A mind such as yours searches and destroys.”
Buy The Night Caller in colour on DVD from Amazon.co.uk
Cast and characters:
John Saxon … Doctor Jack Costain; Maurice Denham … Doctor Morley; Patricia Haines … Ann Barlow; Alfred Burke … Detective Superintendent Hartley; Warren Mitchell … Reg Lilburn; Stanley Meadows … Detective Tom Grant; Aubrey Morris … Thorburn; Ballard Berkeley … Commander Savage; Marianne Stone … Madge Lilburn; Geoffrey Lumsden … Colonel Davy; Barbara French … Joyce Malone; Tony Wager … Private Higgins; David Gregory … Private Jones; Douglas Livingstone … Second R/T Soldier; Tom Gill … Police Commissioner’s; Secretary; Vincent Harding … 1st R/T Soldier; Romo Gorrara … Lieutenant; Robert Crewdson … Medra; John Carson … Major; Jack Watson … Sergeant Hawkins
Filming locations:
Piccadilly Circus, London, England
Scotland Yard, London, England
Shepperton Studios, Studios Road, Shepperton, Surrey, England
Soho, London, England
Trafalgar Square, London, England
Technical specs:
1 hour 25 minutes
Black and white
Aspect ratio: 1.37: 1
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