Night Call Nurses

The third entry in Roger Cormans' "nurse" series marked the feature directing debut for Jonathan Kaplan, who went on to make such diverse fare as "Truck Turner", "Over the Edge", "Heart Like a Wheel", "The Accused", and "Unlawful Entry". With a script by George Armitage (who'd directed the previous nurse flick, "Private Duty Nurses"), it gives each of its three extremely comely gals their own story thread. Among other things, the gals get stalked / harassed by a creep who sends them letters, one has her consciousness raised by a new acquaintance (a black revolutionary), and another gets involved with a likable, talkative speed freak cowboy truck driver.

There are some enjoyable bits throughout, if no real fireworks, but Kaplan knows full well what fans of exploitation fare want, and he delivers it - over and over again, with various scenes of delectable nudity. Naturally, the leading ladies are appealing and oh so easy to admire: the sweet Barbara (Patty Byrne), the serious-minded Sandra (Mittie Lawrence), and the upbeat Janis (Alana Stewart). A fine cast of familiar faces is a true pleasure: Clint Kimbrough is the arrogant Dr. Bramlett, Felton Perry is the impassioned Jude, Richard Young is Kyle (the aforementioned truck driver), Dennis Dugan is cheerful orderly Kit, Stack Pierce is convict Jon Sampson, and the *always* welcome, and *always* funny, Dick Miller makes the most of his brief screen time as horny motorist Mr. Jensen.

Armitages' script is often funny and occasionally weird (what *is* with that sequence of people pretending to be a machine?), and injects the kind of social & political commentary that was sometimes to be found in these Corman productions. Offbeat characters such as amiable compulsive flasher Bathrobe Benny (Martin Ashe) and sleazy pharmaceuticals peddler E. Eddie Edwards (Robert Staats) add to the fun. R. Michael Stringer does the slick cinematography and there's a good 'n' groovy rock soundtrack to help things move along well.

Overall, this is worth watching for trash film enthusiasts.

Seven out of 10.

Sure, "Night Call Nurses" is essentially a relic of the typical product thrust upon drive-in theatres in the 1970s. There isn't much of a plot, just a whole lot of nonsense about three nurses and their exploits. There is a lot of nudity, a little humor, some slasher-film elements and a truck driver who does psychedelic drugs. Pretty ridiculous stuff overall, but not without some amusing parts. (I was scratching my head, however, with the "human machine" segment; it was interesting yet pointless).

"Night Call Nurses" was merely one entry in the New World Films "Nurses" cycle which included "Candy Stripe Nurses" and the original "Student Nurses." While those films had a more coherent plot than this one, it is difficult to criticize this one for being so episodic and meandering because the film delivers what it promises: nude women. There are plenty here, no complaints in that category.

And George Armitage, who went on to make the cult classic "Miami Blues," infused some wit and social commentary into the script which are also present in his own foray as writer-director into the "Nurses" cycle, "Private Duty Nurses."

The music is all pseudo-rock and gutter-guitar blues.

Overall, "Night Call Nurses" is a mindless time-waster, but as far as time-wasting goes you could do far worse.

Night Call Nurses, which follows the travails of three young ladies (as director Jonathan Kaplan says on the Shout factory DVD, it was told he had to have three girls), one involved in a rather salacious story (the girl who is tricked mentally to snap), one just involved with an amiable redneck-speed freak, and another (the black girl) with a political story as she tries to help get a guy who is on suicide watch out of the hospital, is a lot better and more fun than it has any right to be.

Kaplan, very early in his career (and recommended by Scorsese to Corman), brought a lot to the table as a director - he tries a lot of things, not least of which having that speed freak guy having a meltdown early on (how he meets the nurse he's hooked up with) via an LSD trip where he keeps seeing mad things on the road, and overall this has a breezy, free-wheeling and shaggy feel. Not to mention this has some actually decent dramatic bits (or at least it tries, and it doesn't feel unearned), gleefully stupid twists (one of them involves, no joke, the guy who would eventually direct numerous Happy Madison productions, Dennis Dugan), and a climax that really decides to go all out on the fifteen cents they were able to throw at the thing. The girls are also good actors, or at least they *try* more than in Candy Striped Nurses, which came out two years later.

Don't expect art; this is a joyful, sexy romp with a few wtf moments, and of course that guy Dick Miller!

This very episodic little exploitation flick from the '70's has three nurses of the psych ward of a local hospital as they go about their duties which revolve around dealing with flashers, suicides, horny drug-taking cowboys, ex-con black prisoners, and death threats among other things. Competently directed by Jonathan Kaplan (whom would go on to direct one of the best Blacksploitation films of the era, with "Truck Turner), this is not tightly plotted in the least bit and feels more of an excuse to get the ladies topless, which is not a detriment to the movie in the least. If you're a fan of the kitchy '70s and mostly innocent exploitation then you could do a lot worse than this mindless fluff.

My Grade: C

DVD Extras: Theatrical Trailer; and Trailers for "the Young Nurses" & "Student Nurses" (the latter two featuring nudity)

Eye Candy: Patty Byrne, Mittie Lawrence, Lynne Guthrie, Dixie Peabody, & Alana Stewart all get topless; Barbara Keene supplies the T&A

I don't know what to say about "Night Call Nurses". The experience of watching it was so light and negligible I was barely aware I was watching a movie. And it was so dull that mostly, I wasn't really watching it anyway, I was just waiting for it to end.

The movie seems to be about three nurses at a psychiatric ward. One becomes obsessed with a charismatic psychiatrist... or cult leader, another has an affair with a truck driving good ole boy with a cowboy hat, and another nurse does something with a black militant or something.

Let's be real: there's only one reason why anybody would watch "Night Call Nurses" when it came out, and only one reason why they'd watch it now. In both cases, it's the nudity, and particularly coming from nurses, whom men fantasize about like women fantasize about firemen.

So how's that nudity? It's pretty underwhelming. For some reason they weren't allowed to do full frontal, and thus it seems oddly restrained. There's too much... plot (?) and it's impossible to care about any of it.