The Film (4.5/5)

Night Caller is a hardcore adult film thriller from prolific and versatile director Anthony Spinelli using the pseudonym Wes Brown written by his frequent story collaborator (and possible as of yet not connected additional pseudonym) Dean Rogers.  Anthony Spinelli is known for his big adult films such as Sex World and Talk Dirty to Me, however, this reviewer has always felt that his underrated lesser-known thriller adult films are pure gems – and Night Caller is no exception.

Night Caller tells the story of Robert (David Book); a socially awkward bachelor who gets his kicks from sexually harassing women on the telephone.  One day Robert spies his neighbor Carol (Monique Starr) and her husband Lloyd (Ken Scudder) having sex and he becomes infatuated with her.  As Carol keeps rejecting his lurid phone calls, the more the off-balanced Robert becomes obsessed with her.

The Dean Rogers penned script leaves plenty of room for the sex scenes in Night Caller as the story unfolds and the characters are developed.  The sex scenes fit in well with the story and elements from the sex scenes are used to either advance the story or let the viewer know more about the characters themselves making the sex scenes integral to the story.  The cast does an excellent job with their material, both the sexual and non-sexual, with David Book doing a great job of carrying the film as the main character Robert.

Night Caller isn't perfect, there are some missed possibilities for exploring more of Robert's disturbed relationship with his mother and his sister (Linda York) and, frankly, the way the sex scene plays out between Robert and Carol seems to be out of character for how the plot sets it up.  However, these few issues certainly don't ruin the film and Night Caller is a film that fans of the genre should definitely check out.

Audio/Video (4.5/5)

Vinegar Syndrome has done a beautiful job with their barebones DVD release of Night Caller.  Viewers who have only experienced Night Caller by viewing the almost unwatchable previous Arrow DVD will think they are watching a whole new film when they are watching this release.  Night Caller was shot on film and Vinegar Syndrome has used a 2K scan of a 16mm film print for this release.  Night Caller is presented in the Academy aspect ratio of 1.33:1 in 480p.  The image presented on the disc is excellent sporting grain, print damage, and artifacts.  The depth of color is great and really shows off the beauty of the lighting design.  Oddly, the opening title card for David Book and Monique Starr's starring roles is missing from the print that Vinegar Syndrome has used as the master for this release.

Night Caller is presented with an English Dolby Digital 1.0 monaural audio track.  There is a hiss along with pops and crackles.  Neither the hiss nor the pops and crackles overly affect the listening experience with clear and easy to hear dialog and no issues discerning the ambient sound.

Extras (0/5)

Vinegar Syndrome hasn't included any extras on this release.

Overall

Night Caller is a great but obscure adult film thriller from director Anthony Spinelli and writer Dean Rogers.  Fans of adult thrillers will find much to like within the film with solid sex scenes and an enjoyable plot with good character development.  Vinegar Syndrome hasn't included any extras on their DVD release of Night Caller but the audio and video quality is excellent.