''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 Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, interstellar ...

directed by

John Gilling John Gilling (29 May 1912 – 22 November 1984) was an English film director and screenwriter, born in London. He was known for his horror film, horror movies, especially those he made for Hammer Films, for whom he directed ''The Shadow of the ...

. It is based on Frank Crisp's novel ''The Night Callers''. A

colourised Film colorization (American English; or colourisation [British English], or colourization [ Canadian English and Oxford English]) is any process that adds color to black-and-white, sepia, or other monochrome moving-picture image ...

version of the film was released in 2011.

Plot

Scientist Dr Morley and his American associate Jack Costain (John Saxon) detect a meteorite heading to Earth. After determining where the meteorite has crashed, they and their aides investigate a meteorite in the British countryside, discovering that it is an alien device from Ganymede, a moon of

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but ...

. The device is in the shape of a small sphere. While working nights at the lab, secretary Ann Barlow (Patricia Haines) sees something moving in the lab. Dr Morley attempts to communicate with the creature, but he is killed. The creature escapes the lab. Costain begins to track the creature. 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.

Cast

John Saxon John Saxon (born Carmine Orrico; August 5, 1936 – July 25, 2020) was an American actor who worked on more than 200 film and television projects during a span of 60 years. He was known for his work in Western (genre), Westerns and horror film ...

as Dr. Jack Costain *

Maurice Denham William Maurice Denham OBE (23 December 1909 – 24 July 2002) was an English character actor who appeared in over 100 films and television programmes in his long career. Family Denham was born on 23 December 1909 in Beckenham, Kent, the son ...

as Dr. Morley *

Patricia Haines Patricia Haines (3 February 1932 – 25 February 1977) was an English actress, best known for her television work. She was married to Michael Caine from 1955 to 1962. Biography Born in Sheffield, outh Yorkshire Haines is best known for her ...

as Ann Barlow *

Alfred Burke Alfred Burke (28 February 1918 – 16 February 2011) was an English actor, perhaps best known for his portrayal of Frank Marker in the drama series '' Public Eye'', which ran on television for ten years. Early life Born in London's south-east ...

as Detective Supt. Hartley * John Carson as the Major *

Warren Mitchell Warren Mitchell (born Warren Misell; 14 January 1926 – 14 November 2015) was a British actor. He was a BAFTA TV Award winner and twice a Laurence Olivier Award winner. In the 1950s, Mitchell appeared on the radio programmes ''Educatin ...

as Reg Lilburn *

Marianne Stone Marianne Stone (23 August 1922 – 21 December 2009) was an English character actress. She performed in films from the early 1940s to the late 1980s, typically playing working class parts such as barmaids, secretaries and landladies. Stone appe ...

as Madge Lilburn *

Stanley Meadows Stanley Meadows (born 14 July 1931 in Stepney, London, England) is a British film and television actor. He graduated from RADA in 1955. Meadows made frequent appearances in British films and became something of a stalwart of British television ser ...

as Det. Tom Grant *

Aubrey Morris Aubrey Morris (born Aubrey Steinberg; 1 June 1926 – 15 July 2015) was a British actor known for his appearances in the films '' A Clockwork Orange'' and ''The Wicker Man''. Early life and career Morris was one of nine children born to Becky ...

as Thorburn *

Ballard Berkeley Ballard Blascheck (6 August 1904 – 16 January 1988), known professionally as Ballard Berkeley, was an English actor of stage and screen. He is best remembered for playing Major Gowen in the British television sitcom ''Fawlty Towers''. Life an ...

as Cmdr. Savage *

Geoffrey Lumsden Geoffrey Forbes Lumsden (26 December 1914 – 4 March 1984) was a British character actor who had a lengthy career on television. Lumsden was born in London in 1914 and attended Repton School, where he was a contemporary of Denton Welch. By ...

as Colonel Davy * Tom Gill as Police Commissioner's secretary * Jack Watson as Sergeant Hawkins *

Barbara French Barbara may refer to: People * Barbara (given name) * Barbara (painter) (1915–2002), pseudonym of Olga Biglieri, Italian futurist painter * Barbara (singer) (1930–1997), French singer * Barbara Popović (born 2000), also known mononymously ...

as Joyce Malone

Production

It was the first science fiction film from John Saxon. Directed by John Gilling. UK prints of the film feature

Alan Haven Alan Haven (1 April 1935 – 7 January 2016), born in Prestwich, Lancashire, United Kingdom, was an English jazz organist. His original name was Alan Halpern and he was Jewish. He lived off Kings Road and attended Kings Road School, Prestwich. H ...

's version of the hit instrumental "''Image''" as the theme played over the opening credits. Export prints feature a lounge number titled "''The Night Caller''" written by Albert Hague and sung by Mark Richardson.

Reception

In a contemporary review, "Byro." of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' 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 a "philosophical" one." "Byro." noted that audiences at a 42nd street screening showed their displeasure with the film "quite volubly".

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fil ...

called it a "well-done sci-fi thriller" and gave it two-and-a-half stars out of four. Moira found the first of half of the movie to be well done, but that the film fails in the second half. Creature Feature gave the movie 2 out of 5 stars, liking the direction.

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

gave the movie 2 out of five stars, finding both the script and production values worthwhile.

Home release

Released on DVD in 22 December. 2011

References

External links

* {{John Gilling 1965 films British science fiction films British black-and-white films 1960s science fiction films Films set in England Films directed by John Gilling Films based on British novels 1960s English-language films 1960s British films