I know what many of you were thinking when you chose this movie. This plot sounds a lot like Humanoids From The Deep (with it being an alien instead of fishmen). And I am here to tell you that if you were hoping for that movie…….man, you will be extremely disappointed. In fact if you were hoping for a movie to be able to know the time correctly, you would be disappointed.
You might recall that this film was about John Saxon and you would need to know that this is his first introduction to the science fiction community because before this, he was doing dramas and westerns….like many people were doing in the 50s. I don’t have proof, but I have a strong feeling this film didn’t have even a medium size budget as well. Besides John Saxon, the only person who might have done something noteworthy is Patricia Haines, but it isn’t for any role necessarily. She was the first wife in the 50s of a certain actor who hadn’t made it big yet.
Her current husband was Bernard Kay (who she married in 1963 and stayed married until she died), who was….
There is not much to add other than that so let’s get into this film.
First we get…
I forgot to mention that this is a British film and how you truly know it is a British film is that back in the 1960s, you would get this certificate that tells you the film’s rating and that they have allowed this to be in theaters. The British Board of Film Censors still goes strong today as the British Board of Film Classification.
We see three people looking for anything as far as space goes and the women of the group notices something.
They notice that something is falling fast into Earth’s atmosphere and then slows down which mean this is not just a simple meteor as meteors really don’t decrease speed until they land. Whatever it is, it is heading straight for London. It then changes course and still has not burned up so it definitely is not a space rock of any kind.
Then we go to a shot of London and the lounge song “The Night Caller” being sung as the title of this film is shown.
The next day, there is a military group as well as the two doctors we were introduced to earlier looking for the object that landed last night.
Basically despite all the radar’s saying, there is no large object that has been seen so it is now time to look for it on foot instead of by helicopter. They also have a space where there is some radiation signatures which might help in locating the object, which it does as they find it shortly thereafter.
So, we go to Falsey Park Government Radio & Electronic Research Establishment and the military is all over on protecting the area. The object is put in a lab and is being looked over by our two doctors and their lady assistant. Again, it is mentioned again that it is cold and it must be made of some type of material to keep it so cold. But before anything more can be done, Major asks Morley to show him around the facility so he can perfectly know where he can post his men as guards.
Dr. Costain and Anne talk over what the object could be and Jack thinks it may not be of this Earth. When everyone is back, we find out that the object is has an unknown silicone type of material as an external shell. They then reveal that the sphere itself is not radioactive as the radiation must have been picked up in the atmosphere as it was landing. Basically, this is not an atomic device at all so there goes any worry about it being a weapon of mass destruction. However, they do not know where it is from.
Everyone heads out for the night except for Anne, who stays behind to look over some things despite Jack trying to woo her into sleeping with him. As Anne is typing away alone, a strange light starts coming out of the room that the mysterious object is in.
The next day, Jack comes in and is told by Morley and the Major about what happened with Anne last night. They go to work, but Jack notices a muddy print on the floor.
And even worse, there is a window and a footprint outside.
Jack has the footprint carved up and shows it to the others who are befuddled by it. Oh, and despite all of this, the Major still thinks this was just some prank played on Anne by some of the soldiers.
After the Major leaves, Morley thinks the Major’s explanation is sound, but both Anne and Jack answer how stupid that explanation is. Jack thinks they need to find out what is going on with the sphere as the sphere obviously has something to do with what happened last night. Then it goes to night again and they are doing tests on the sphere. They talk more scientific crap that I have no idea what they are saying.
The only thing mentioned the radio and TV stations met with some interference that came from the area that happened during the time of the attack on Anne last night. And they are back to scientific mumbo jumbo about the transmutation of matter. Basically, they had a visitor from space last night.
Unfortunately, something does happen and it is hurting Dr. Morley. The Major wants to stop this and help Dr. Morley, but Jack insists that D. Morley not wish to be disturbed at this time. Dr. Morley loses his glasses and as he looks for them, the alien appears. Even with his diminished vision, he is still terrified by the visitor and he suffers a heart attack, which kills him.
They then decide to interview the parents of one of the missing girls in Reg and Madge Lilburn.
She goes to the offices of Orion Enterprises and we see that Medra does not have a secretary, but has a sliding door.
And that’s it for this scene. Back at the police station, they find out that police records and Interpol have nothing on a Medra. But Hartley has decided that he is going to go to the place that put out the ad. And then we find out that while we saw one girl get taken, another one got taken as well so the number is now 23. Again, I guess this film could not produce 23 girls to get taken so I once again have to assume this film has a very tiny budget.
We ignore most of the meeting scene as everything that has been said is fucking repeated in this scene. Although we do find out that it is the same guy who likes to always hide in the shadows and that he may be using something to help his breathing as he may not really be able to 100% breathe oxygen. Finally, we find out that one of the girls taken had a brother who is an ex-con artist and he took down the number of a car that took her. Unfortunately, that car has been reported stolen so it won’t do much help. But it is the same car that he drove off in at the Research Facility.
We find out that Commander Savage has been put at the head of this case as it is still hush hush. Oh and now it is time to go where the advertisement was sent from with the realization that there have been 201 applications to the ad. It’s in Soho and now you get to meet this creep Thorburn.
We of course find out that he is merely a middle man to the tall man with a scarf over his face that has breathing problems. Basically, Medra pays Thorburn to get the ad to Bikini Girl Magazine and he sends the applications to Medra. Thorburn always does deal with peculiar people to stay in business and Medra always seems to have worn a mask underneath the scarf. One big thing, Thorburn may be gay.
I know how this is going to sound like he is only creepy because he is gay and I only say he was a creep by his attitude, but that is because that is probably what the film wants you to believe. You see, England had a terrible reputation with how it treated the homosexual community and even had a law against sodomy that was finally decriminalized in 1967, one year after this film was done. In fact, there is a very infamous PSA called Boys Beware that is very anti-gay so yes, this film is homophobic.
The sting operation begins and Anne heads to the bookstore that Thorburn owns for the interview. We also find out that there is a window that Medra could escape, but it is heavily barred so they don’t even bother to place anyone there. Anne enters the shop and has trouble finding Medra or Thorburn. I say Thorburn because as she is looking for Medra, she passes by Thorburn’s dead body.
Something I forgot to mention from the previous scene and that is that Anne talked about Dr. Morley’s death and she said the alien probably thought Morley was a threat. She assumes that given her gender that she will not be seen as a threat by Medra. Well, Medra shows up and basically tells Anne that he also sees her as a threat because she was able to stop being controlled by whatever Medra is using to get these women to allow him to capture them.
Everyone comes in and find Anne’s dead body as well as Thorburn’s. Oh and you remember that barred window? Well, you see they forgot that this alien may have superhuman strength so…
And because no one was in the area, Medra got away scot-free.
Back at the meeting room, Jack tells the rest that they are obviously dealing with a creature of superhuman strength and a primordial lust for violence and savagery. Jack also thinks that Medra could be the forerunner of a full scale invasion. They now think that they must destroy the sphere more than the monster because more could come from it. When asked how they could find it, Jack says that it emits secondary radiation when it is in use. Hartley is allowed to put out the warning to all girls who answered that ad to contact them immediately instead of going for their tryout instead.
So the report is placed thanks to the media and at Falsey Park, they are setting up to see if they can pinpoint the secondary radiation that comes from the sphere. At the police station, they get an immediate call from a girl who met Medra so they try to get to her before she goes missing later on tonight.
They go to interview the girl, whose name is Joyce Malone.
Anyway, the only thing she remembers after Medra spoke was being on the streets afterwards. Hartley tells her that she is going to be looked after by his men so if she sees some people in the shadows, she shouldn’t be afraid of them. Joyce can’t believe she could be in any danger from Medra and Hartley tells her that is exactly why she is in danger.
They find the place where Medra was, but Medra and his furniture are long gone. This gets back to Hartley and they decide that Joyce will (without her knowledge) be used as bait. As Joyce sleeps, the picture of her lights up and she awakens. After looking at it, she goes back to sleep. Hartley is told that he can only follow and not apprehend Medra immediately if he shows up for her since they need to find the sphere.
After that, a car shows up that isn’t one of theirs and Joyce goes into it. Hartley believes that is Medra so after the car leaves, they follow. They tell the head of this whole thing and Jack that Medra picked her up and they are following. Apparently, they are picking up radiation signals from the sphere, but cannot pinpoint where it is at yet.
They pinpoint it to an abandoned village just ten miles from Falsey Park so they rush there. Harltley and his assistant get there and immediately see the now abandoned car and the sphere.
Everyone else appears and they surround the sphere, but there is now a fire around the sphere.
He then shows them his face.
They explains that they will have no fear for the women that will be returning with him as no harm will come to them. He says one day they will return, but hopefully it wont be too late for Earth by then. He disappears and the sphere flies off.
This is gonna be one of those rare movies on here that critics thought was fine (and those are the type of critics who liked all the mumbo jumbo talk) and audiences (they played this in 60s low budget theaters) freaking hated it. I have a feeling this movie definitely played to the wrong crowd. No word on if the movie made a profit or not although considering how cheaply made it feels at times, I think it could have at least broke even. But then again, considering how most people probably have never even heard of the film, it wasn’t exactly a smash hit either.
Of course, John Saxon did a lot more (being in Black Christmas, Tenebrae, Nightmare On Elm Street (1, 3, and New Nightmare), Enter The Dragon, and much more). Most everyone else had bit parts (although Patricia Haines played Emma Peel in The Avengers for a single episode). Most of the others did stuff in the UK that I really don’t have time to mention. Ballard Berkeley would go on a bit later to become Major Gowen in Faulty Towers. But almost all of the cast has sadly passed away since then.
Tom Gill (who played the police commissioner’s secretary) died at the age of 54 in 1971. Patricia Haines (who played Anne Barlow) was taken from us way too soon at the age of 45 thanks to lung cancer in 1977. George Hilsdon (who had an uncredited role as armed policeman) passed away in 1982 at the age of 75. John Gilling (the director) died in 1984 at the age of 72. Geoffrey Lumsden (who played Col. Davy) passed away at the age of 69 in 1984. Gerry Judge (who had an uncredited role as a detective) died in 1986 at the age of 75. Ballard Berkeley (who played Commander Savage) passed away in 1988 at the age of 83. Fred Davis (who had an uncredited role as Hartley’s driver) passed away in 1988 at the age of 52 from lung cancer. Tony Wager (who played Pvt. Higgins) was died at the age of 58 in 1990. Jim O’Brady (who had an uncredited role as detective) passed away on New Year’s Day of 1991 at the age of 83. Romo Gorrara (who played Lieutenant) passed away in 1997 at the age of 65. Jack Watson (who played Sgt. Hawkins) passed away at the age of 84 in 1999. Maurice Denham (who played Dr. Morely) passed away in 2002 at the age of 92 from natural causes. John Sherlock (who had an uncredited role as the TV newscaster) died in 2002 at the age of 70. Reg Thomason (who had an uncredited role as an army driver) passed away in 2003 at the age of 84. Walter Henry (who had an uncredited role as a police inspector at the meeting) passed away at the age of 83 in 2005. Marianne Stone (who played Madge Lilburn) died in in 2009 at the age of 87. Alfred Burke (who played Detective Superintendent Hartley) lived also to be 92 years old before he died in 2011 from a chest infection. Warren Mitchell (who played Reg Lilburn) died in 2015 at the age of 89. Aubrey Morris (who played Thorburn) also died in 2015 at the age of 89 (in his case, a little over a month after his birthday). Robert Rietty (who was the voice of Medra) died in 2015 at the age of 92. John Carson (who played Major) died in 2016 at the age of 89. Aidan Harrington (who had an uncredited role as a Jeep driver) died in 2017 at the age of 88 from natural causes. John Saxon (the whole reason we are doing this film and who played Dr. Jack Costain) sadly passed away in 2020 at the age of 83 from pneumonia.
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