Night Caller from Outer Space
| Night Caller from Outer Space | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Directed by | John Gilling |
| Produced by | Ronald Liles |
| Written by |
Frank Crisp (novel) Jim O'Connolly (screenplay) |
| Starring |
John Saxon Maurice Denham Patricia Haines Alfred Burke Warren Mitchell |
| Music by | John Gregory (composed and directed by) |
| Cinematography | Stephen Dade |
| Edited by | Philip Barnikel |
Production company |
Armitage Film Productions Ltd. |
| Distributed by | Butcher's Film Service (UK) |
Release date | 1965 |
Running time | 85 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Night Caller from Outer Space, also known as simply The Night Caller or Blood Beast from Outer Space, is a British 1965 science fiction film directed by John Gilling.[1] It is based on Frank Crisp's novel The Night Callers. A colourised version of the film was released in 2011.
Plot
Scientist Jack Costain (John Saxon) and his aides investigate a meteorite in the British countryside, discovering that it is an alien device from Ganymede, a moon of Jupiter. They capture a tall alien and take it to their lab, but it escapes. Shortly thereafter, teenage girls begin to go missing after answering an advertisement in 'Bikini Girl' magazine. It turns out the alien wants to use women from Earth for breeding purposes.[2][3]
Cast
- John Saxon as Dr. Jack Costain
- Maurice Denham as Dr. Morley
- Patricia Haines as Ann Barlow
- Alfred Burke as Detective Supt. Hartley
- John Carson as the Major
- Warren Mitchell as Reg Lilburn
- Marianne Stone as Madge Lilburn
- Stanley Meadows as Det. Tom Grant
- Aubrey Morris as Thorburn
- Ballard Berkeley as Cmdr. Savage
- Geoffrey Lumsden as Colonel Davy
- Tom Gill as Police Commissioner's secretary
- Jack Watson as Sergeant Hawkins
Reception
In a contemporary review, "Byro." of Variety declared that "it is simply too well-made for its own commercial good." and that it was "far above average of its kind, but it eschews a standard action-adventure climax in favor of of a "philosophical" one."[4] "Byro." noted that audiences at a 42nd street screening showed their displeasure to the film "quite volubly".[4]
Leonard Maltin called it a "well-done sci-fi thriller" and gave it two-and-a-half stars out of four.[5]
Notes
UK prints of the film feature Alan Haven's version of the hit instrumental "Image" as its theme.
References
- ↑ "The Night Caller | BFI | BFI". Explore.bfi.org.uk. Retrieved 2014-04-11.
- ↑ Puchalski, Steven (2002). Slimetime: a guide to sleazy, mindless movies (2nd ed.). Headpress/Critical Vision. p. 207. ISBN 1-900486-21-0.
- ↑ Deming, Mark. "Blood Beast From Outer Space (1966)". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-09-19.
- 1 2 Variety's Film Reviews 1964-1967. 11. R. R. Bowker. 1983. There are no page numbers in this book. This entry is found under the header "November 8, 1967". ISBN 0-8352-2790-1.
- ↑ Maltin, Leonard (2008). Leonard Maltin's 2009 Movie Guide. Penguin Group. p. 980. ISBN 0-452-28978-5.