trimbolicelia Very good mid-60's British-made sci-fi film. Scientists and the military recover a small beach-ball sized sphere that comes from "OUT THERE". Weird happenings occur at the facility where it's being examined, then the sphere disappears along with whatever came out of it. After a few weeks the cops call in the scientists because young women are disappearing under strange circumstances and it's believed that the sphere traveler is responsible. Turns out that the space creep is from Ganymede, one of Jupiter's giant moons. It seems that "Ganymede Needs Women". A long time back Ganymede had an atomic war and it is only now that the inhabitants are starting to recover. But it seems that they need fresh, pure female genes to clean up their physiology. Someone should tell them they would need clean male genes as well. We never see the Ganymedian, named Medra, until the end. He has a claw hand, one side of his face is classically handsome, the other side all messed up. Poor captive girls, having to wake up to that in the morning. I don't think these E.T.'s have learned their lesson yet. Medra is incredibly snooty, thinking his people are infinitely superior. Well they nearly wiped themselves out with nukes, so how are they better than us? Anyway Medra achieves his mission and escapes with his captive women. One of the better British sci-fi flicks, crisp black-and-white photography, and a non-camp story. The opening title song is good but doesn't seem to fit the genre. The Image Entertainment DVD is excellent quality and is the one to get, though it has very little in the way of extras. Hard to find now. Highly recommended.

MARIO GAUCI 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).

Coventry "The Night Caller (from outer space)" is another clever British Sci-Fi gem from the sixties that incomprehensibly got neglected over the years. What are you waiting for, horror fans? This puppy is up for an urgent re-discovery as it is a rather intelligent, atmospheric and involving film. The premise is silly, sure, and can be summarized in one phrase: Medra is an alien from Jupiter's 3rd moon, capable of transporting matter through space, and he comes to earth to abduct young girls in order to repopulate his planet. I realize the plot sounds like a textbook example of cheap and cheesy 60's trash, but it really is worth watching! The script is filled with minor but ingenious little aspects and there's this constant haze of mysteriousness that keeps you fascinated at all times. The movie opens with three scientists (Denham, Saxon and Patricia Haines) investigating a strange alien cocoon that landed on the earth but it abruptly turns into an action-packed detective story in which cool cop-characters (like Stanley Meadows) and the remaining scientists try to solve the disappearing of over twenty girls, unquestionably linked to the arrival of the outer space visitor... The editing is a little rough at times, but the dialogues are wit and imaginative. There's some nice B-movie flavored acting as well, especially coming from the great John Saxon. Especially his 60's and 70's movies are terrific since it looks like he was still figuring out himself which type of roles fit him best.

Chris Gaskin The Night Caller is one of several low budget British sci-fi movies that were made around the mid-1960's and is one of the best. Others include Invasion and Unearthly Stranger. I found this one quite good.A strange sphere from outer space lands on some moorland and the Army recover it and take it to the local research station. During the night, it starts to glow and making a strange bleeping noise at the same time. Just after, a woman who works there sees a figure dressed in black and nobody believes her at first. They do when a strange footprint is found and a car makes off from the research station at high speed. Despite a lot of shooting, they fail to capture the driver, who is the alien. In London, women start to disappear, all after applying for a job advertised in the Bikina Girl magazine. The woman who works at the research station applies but she is killed. The police eventually close in on Medra (the alien) and we get to know he is from one of Jupiter's moons, Ganyemede and wants these women to take back with him, which he does. The sphere then takes off in a ball of fire. The alien the winner in this one.The Night Caller is very atmospheric at times and is shot well in black and white. One interesting point is how the alien knew how to drive when escaping from the research station.The cast includes American actor John Saxon (Planet of Blood, A Nightmare On Elm Street) and several well known British stars: Maurice Denham (Curse of the Demon, The Nanny), Warren Mitchell (The Crawling Eye, Till Death Us Do Part), Patricia Haines, Ballard Berkeley (Fawlty Towers), Alfred Burke (Children of the Damned) and Aubrey Morris.The Night Caller is worth checking out, especially for fans of 1950's/60's science fiction. Excellent.Rating: 3 stars out of 5.