Classic Horrors Club

The Secret Night Caller (1975) takes a different approach for an obscene phone caller movie. Although it opens with a few thrills and chills, it quickly morphs into a sympathetic character study of a man with compulsions he doesn’t understand. Because he takes responsibility for what he’s done and seeks help, he’s magically forgiven for all his wrongs.

One year after The Brady Bunch ended, you have to believe Robert Reed was trying to either change his image or at least demonstrate that he had some true acting chops. Earlier in 1975, he played a transgender doctor in a two-part episode of Medical Center. In this, he plays a “calm, old-fashioned” IRS employee with an inner demon that wonders if the crimes about which people are dreaming are like his.

Yes, Freddy Durant (Reed) has some issues. Berated by his father as a child and told he would never amount to anything, he never pursued a career as a doctor. When he witnessed his father shoot himself, he felt joy. He relays this information as he pursues his wife, Pat (Hope Lange), through the  house, eventually throwing her on the couch.

It’s after Pat locks herself in the bathroom that we learn what’s perhaps the scariest thing about this. She whispers, “You promised it would never happen again.” This isn’t a new malady; he’s attacked her before, usually after drinking, and then weeps as he tells her he needs her. This time is enough, though. She says, “You’re crazy.”

It’s not politically correct these days to say that. However, as mentioned, he sincerely doesn’t want to be “crazy” and has been seeking the counsel of Dr. Mayhill (Michael Constantine.) Mayhill mentions that Durant has been coming to him for quite some time and suggests he tell him the real reason. He replies that he has an inner self that has ridiculous thoughts.

He also tells him he sometimes experiences an uncontrollable desire to eat bugs, like he was a bigger bug. When one of his calls sends a woman from the office running into the night and becoming injured in a serious car accident, Mayhill is obligated to call the police. Even then, though, Durant is such a nice guy that no one presses charges.

There’s an accompanying story about Durant visiting a strip club and entering a cat and mouse relationship with one of the dancers, Chloe (Elaine Giftos.) She discovers he’s the caller and blackmails him. To raise the money, he submits to the unethical act of accepting a bribe from Mr. Henry (the great Thayer David) for a tax reappraisal.

I wouldn’t say The Secret Night Caller is “entertaining,” but it features good acting and offers a different angle for the subject matter. The optimist in me likes to believe that there are doctors who care and realize the best way to get patients help isn’t to throw them in jail. However, the pessimist in me sees that it was made by Penthouse Productions and I suddenly question its legitimacy.