Night Caller from Outer Space
Two different kinds of movie coexist within this low-budget thriller.  One is  a civilized sci-fi picture, with a discreet monster (we barely see him,  actually) and more impenetrable scientific jargon than you hear in an average  episode ofER. The other is a British police procedural, with lots of men in  trench coats marching stolidly around murky London streets. Neither works  especially well, which may be whyNight Caller from Outer Spaceisn't better  known to film history--even under its alternate title, the more luridBlood  Beast from Outer Space. A glowing beach ball lands in English farm country,  allowing an alien from Jupiter's moon Ganymede to beam himself down. The  alien places an ad inBikini Girlmagazine (hey, it was swinging London,  remember?) in order to lure human females into his plan to repopulate his  planet. Pretty dull overall, with journeyman B-movie actor John Saxon as the  token American presence. The ending is actually rather surprising, and  includes a littleDay the Earth Stood Stilljibe at mankind's insistence on  messing up a perfectly good world. The theme song at the beginning is  surprising, too, adding an irrelevant touch of soft-jazz romance to an  already askew movie.--Robert Horton