THE NIGHT CALLER (1965)
(a.k.a. NIGHT CALLER FROM OUTER SPACE/BLOOD BEAST FROM OUTER SPACE)
Article #458 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 6-16-2002
Posting date: 11-9-2002

A strange sphere from outer space lands on our planet; it turns out to be a matter transportation device that brings a sinister alien monster to our planet.

The first half of this “alien-on-the-loose” epic, where scientists investigate a meteor that turns out to be a small cold sphere, is the better half of the movie; it starts the fuse burning and leads you to believe that you’re watching an effective little thriller. Things don’t run quite so smoothly in the second half, though; despite an interesting progression of the story and some quite good character roles, one is left with the feeling that the fuse is being left burning too long without adaquate pay-off; in short, it starts getting dull. And the denoument, though it manages to be a bit of a surprise, also manages to be lame, anti-climactic, loaded with message, and at odds with the rest of the movie, and it garners a Rubber Brick award for movies with bad endings. And though I won’t go as far as to say that the movie’s theme song stinks, I will say that there are some movies where a theme song is distinctly out of place. Like this one. This one is best watched for the good moments and for John Saxon.