Wednesday, 13 April 2011

NIGHT CALLER (Hong Kong, 1985)



Not to be confused with another Hong Kong movie called MIDNIGHT CALLER.

dir: Phillip Chan

Pretty good giallo (!!) from Hong Kong. There's no DVD so you'll have to track down the old HK Ocean Shores VCD or the Eastern Heroes VHS from either the UK or their Dutch tape from Holland. The UK tape includes film and cast info on the inner sleeve but apparently they didn't think the continentals would need that, LOL. All three releases are subbed in English. However, according to a user on HKMDB, the Ocean Shores laserdisc doesn't have English subs. I wonder why OS used different prints for their seemingly similar releases. Their THE RAPE AFTER video is cut but the VCD is uncut. o_O
Posted by Jack J at 6:56 pm
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15 comments:

  1. Jesus Manuel13 April 2011 at 19:48

    Night caller was also edited in Spain on tape under the title of PERVERSION EN LA NOCHE ( Night pervertion).

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jack J13 April 2011 at 19:56

    Thanks, JM. Apparently Spain was a good country for obscure films on VHS. What do you mean by "edited"? Was it cut?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jesus Manuel14 April 2011 at 09:29

    No no...when I said edited I meant released!. In Spanish edited & released have the same meaning. when is cut edition we use another word or we just say it directly.

    Spain was not so good as Greece but we also enjoyed a lot of obscurities. I am going to pass you the original vhs cover of this one. as always I have to ask my friend to scan it for me!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jack J14 April 2011 at 10:00

    That's brilliant! Thanks, Jesus Manuel.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Doctor Schnabel8 December 2017 at 23:24

    i have the os vcd. my version is in chinese with english subs by the way. maybe there are, like often, diffrent versions out there (like daughter of darkness - cut and uncut vcd from hk)

    kind regards

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jack J9 December 2017 at 18:41

      I have the same OS VCD and also the UK + NL VHS. They're all in Chinese w/subs.

      Delete
  6. NOSTALGY12 January 2020 at 00:58

    A truly amazing Hong Kong thriller!

    Does anyone have the original HK Ocean Shores VCD? I've seen many rips of this film floating around but I would like to buy the original one.

    Also, have you seen this edition before?
    https://zddvm.com/product/night-caller/

    Kind regards,

    NOSTALGY

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jack J17 January 2020 at 16:10

      I've got the OS VCD but I'm not selling it. And I'm afraid I've only got the one copy. The film also came out on sell-thru VHS in the UK (subtitled edition).

      The ZDD version: ZDD is a bootlegger in the UK and his dvd's are dvd-r. I'm sure his version is taken from the UK VHS.

      Thanks for your comment.

      Delete
    2. NOSTALGY17 January 2020 at 18:36

      Hello Jack!

      Many thanks for the information :)

      I also found that there was a screening arranged by the Hong Kong Government in 2018 where this film was shown. Judging by the picture featured in the website I would say that the film was restored.

      https://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/HKFA/en_US/web/hkfa/programmesandexhibitions/2017pc/the-night-caller.html

      It would be great if the film got a proper re-release soon.

      Delete
    3. Jack J17 January 2020 at 20:16

      Judging by the text on the page you link to I would guess it hasn't been restored:

      "The screening copy is a 35mm print used for the original release of the film. However, scratches will appear in parts of the film owing to usage and wear. We appreciate your understanding."

      But still, a blu-ray off a 35mm print would be nice!

      Delete
    4. NOSTALGY17 January 2020 at 21:19

      I compared the picture from the website with the screenshot of the same moment from a VHSRip I have and the image of the website looks completely clean and sharp, even anamorphic!

      '' But still, a blu-ray off a 35mm print would be nice! ''

      - That would be amazing!

      Delete
  7. The Nutty Frog18 July 2020 at 20:19

    The 35mm copy on the website looks absolutely gorgeous, along with the 98 minute time showing off that the copies we got are not at all uncut vs this one, I want that damned 35mm copy on blu-ray by the company who did "The Secret" 1979 restoration, Since they seem the most trustable with HK film, aka the Vinager syndrome of china!

    ReplyDelete
  8. SonataFlash14 January 2021 at 06:48

    I've noticed on IMDb it is listed with 1hr33min runtime and 1hr42min uncut runtime. What are the differences? I found this on YouTube and it said 1:33 and was sad cause I assumed it was cut but I managed to track down a 1:42 download and noticed the additional time was all just movie trailers. Any insight on this?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jack J15 March 2021 at 21:21

      Hi, sorry about being so slow at replying. Good observation there. I don't know any more than you do. But IMDb is often no more reliable than spaghetti is for Bungee jumping.

      Delete

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