Madra... il terrore di Londra

I don't know why they had to have John Saxon play the leading role in this movie; the Production Team could have chosen one of several dozen British actors who would have done a better job and better fitted the role. But then perhaps the film had American backers and they were calling the tune. Speaking of tune, the introductory song/music on the DVD version of the film is pathetic and totally incomparable to the original brilliant 60s pop instrumental "Image" with its Telstar-type organ backing. All that aside the movie is one that joins many other British SF films in the ranks of fame and is not totally unfaithful to Frank Crisp's 1963 novel "The Night Callers" on which it was based. It has moments which are slightly unnerving, particularly when the proposed candidates for shipping back to Ganymede are being interviewed by the man (monster) behind the shadows. Generally speaking there were very few dull moments and the pace of the plot was just right. Perhaps the ending could have been extended and more seen of the hideous alien with the claw-like appendages. Denham shines out above anyone else in the male cast leaving Saxon looking on from the sidelines as if he were a last minute, and not totally comfortable sub. A must see gem of a movie and despite the absence of the original introductory music the DVD will make a good addition to any SF Movie Buff's collection.

THE NIGHT CALLER is a very uneven movie in that it's sometimes excellent and sometimes awful . For the most part it's very atmospheric and downbeat sci-fi film noir where most of the scenes are filmed during night and resembles the classic QUATERMASS BBC serials of the 1950s where scientists team up with the military and Scotland Yard to deal with an extraterrestrial menace

Unfortunately it becomes clear that the script wasn't written by someone as intellectually or dramatically gifted as the legendary Nigel Kneale and it's the plot and dialogue that's the problem with audience being subjected to some quite laughable techno babble that anyone with any type of basic scientific knowledge will roll their eyes at . Once the alien masterplan is revealed people will be falling out of their seats asking " Is that it ? " and let's not mention some very ludicrous plot holes like how does an alien from another planet learn to drive a car or acquire money to rent an office

This is a movie containing a strange mixture of good and bad aspects and it's by no means an ordeal to sit through especially like me you're a fan of QUATERMASS , the original series of THE OUTER LIMITS and early 1970s DOCTOR WHO but it's a movie that should have been a lot better and shows like 28 DAYS LATER that if a film is good it's down to the director and if it's bad it's down to the screenwriter

Whether you refer to it as "The Night Caller From Outer Space" or by its alternate title, "Blood Beast From Outer Space" (OR, as it simply appears on this great-looking Image DVD under its original British appellation, "The Night Caller"), this sci-fi film from 1965 is an intelligent, restrained, moody and highly effective winner. In it, scientist John Saxon, working at England's Falsley Park research station, grapples with a mysterious sphere that has touched down on the moors, direct from the Jovian moon Ganymede. The film cleaves fairly evenly into two discrete sections. In the first, Saxon and his Falsley coworkers (including blond, no-nonsense Ann Barlow, played by the excellent Patricia Haines) conduct tests on the sphere and endeavor to puzzle out its mysteries. In the latter half, Saxon assists Scotland Yard in its investigation of the disappearances of several dozen young women, all of whom had answered an ad for a modeling job in "Bikini Magazine." Whereas the film's first segment suggests nothing less than a British variant of the classic TV program "The Outer Limits," the second half turns quite noirish as director John Gilling (who, the following year, would helm, for Hammer Studios, the psychotronic greats "The Plague of the Zombies" and "The Reptile") utilizes moody nighttime photography, deep shadows and disorienting camera angles; call this film sci-fi Brit noir. "The Night Caller" is fairly reminiscent of another Shepperton Studios film that I recently saw, 1964's "The Earth Dies Screaming." Both are modestly budgeted but well-done films featuring stunning B&W photography and helmed by directors more often associated with Hammer (Terence Fisher, in "Screaming"'s case). With the exception of "Night Caller"'s very odd opening theme song--a tune sung by Mark Richardson, and more suitable for a Western or romance movie--and a somewhat weak ending, the picture is a surprisingly gripping entertainment throughout.

Low-key but intriguing and generally effective variation on the alien invasion theme (though the script is far inferior to the Quatermass archetype); as a matter of fact, the police procedural tends to be more engaging than the high-falutin' scientific theorizing! Unfortunately, too, some of the dialogue is unintelligible due to the heavy British accents (but, then, the version I watched was accompanied by subtitles in Italian!).

The cast features several familiar British faces (Maurice Denham, John Carson, Jack Watson, etc.); still, as with many low-budget horror films of its era, the lead role was given to an American actor: in this case, John Saxon - who's pretty adequate under the circumstances, with a blonde Patricia Haines (whom I recently saw in the awful VIRGIN WITCH [1972]) as his female co-star. Aubrey Morris, however, is memorable as the scurrilous editor of a 'girlie' magazine - which is used as bait for the alien's female victims (who, as is often the case, has descended to Earth because his own planet has reached saturation point). This element gives way to some typically dry British humor (especially the awkward interrogation of one of the missing girl's simple but cantankerous parents)...but Ballard Berkeley's belated introduction as the Commander steering the operations engaged in the alien's capture can't be taken seriously - in view of his regular appearance as the befuddled Major in the classic TV comedy series FAWLTY TOWERS (1975-79), devised by and starring Monty Python's John Cleese!!

With the imposing figure of the alien generally shown lurking in the shadows or hidden behind heavy clothing and a mask (shades of the giallo subgenre?), its menace is evoked through the creature's adoption of a mellifluous yet sinister 'human' voice; that said, the make-up effects shown intermittently are surprisingly subtle. Even so, the best thing about the film is certainly Stephen Dade's chiaroscuro photography - utilizing some odd angles, particularly during the alien manhunt, obviously inspired by THE THIRD MAN (1949)! The rather uneventful cautionary finale, then, is reminiscent of THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951).

There are already quite a few good comments on this unusual film already. However a major difference is the utterly splendid opening instrumental score over the opening credits!The USA release has lounge type of male vocalist singing the films title!- it is dire indeed.Not so the British release, It is very memorable, and have only recently tracked it down though spent decades trying!A superb piece by Alan Haven called "Image" It seems to encompass everything; it is a mixture of spooky organ music set to a mod (ish) and moderate jazzy tone.Quite unnerving it seems to warn the viewers what lies ahead. The opening scenes have a tracking shot showing London by night, and perfectly fits the mid-sixties feel and period of the time. Medra was scary!!