Simply Perfect

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

When people think of alien movies from the 1980s, a few come to mind right away. I can only imagine one of those is "Predator." Tons of sequels and Arnold Schwarzenegger forever cemented the hunting space creatures in the brains of sci-fi fans worldwide. Unfortunately, "Without Warning" is probably not found on many of those lists. The movie featured a traveler from another world bent on collecting human trophies and preceded John McTiernan's blockbuster by seven years.Slasher and sci-fi enthusiasts will find something to love within the film. Imagine "Friday the 13th" or "Halloween" with an alien doing the stalking instead of Jason or Michael. Instead of butcher knives and machetes, the killer's weapons of choice are parasitic throwing stars reminiscent of the jellyfish from the classic "Star Trek" episode "Operation: Annihilate!" and the Starro invaders from the Justice League comic books.An alien hunter is lurking in the woods outside a small town. Two teenagers (Christopher S. Nelson and Tarah Nutter) on a weekend getaway find themselves running for their lives after stumbling on the shack where it collects its trophies. Can a gas station owner (Jack Palance) and a paranoid military vet (Martin Landau) put an end to the creature's slaughter?"Without Warning" is rated R for violence and gore, adult situations, profanity, and frightening / intense scenes. By today's standards, this would merit a PG-13 rating at the most. Surprisingly for a 1980s horror flick with camping teens, there's no nudity to be found. The after-death scenes of the alien's victims really aren't that graphic.With its special blend of sci-fi, slasher, and horror elements, "Without Warning" is a must-see for anyone who enjoys those genres. While it maintains a low-budget independent film vibe throughout, it rises above other B-rated fare through charismatic performances by legendary actors Martin Landau and Jack Palance. "F-Troop's" Larry Storch and "CSI's" David Caruso also star as victims of the alien's blood sport. An extra incentive for seeing it is to experience the fun practical effects and early creature design work by Rick Baker.

This movie had good actors in it. Martin Landau and Jack Palance, who were stars when they were younger and would go on to do better things when they were older. This was their "Working for Booze Money" phase, and it wasn't pretty, as they were both overacting in roles that were kind of silly. Also here- David Caruso before NYPD Blue and CSI Miami.The plot is that apparently an alien has taken to hunting people in a rural area. And Landau and Palance's characters are aware of this, trying to find a way to kill the monster. Meanwhile, a van full of horny teenagers shows up to be Monster bait. But the monsters are barely in the film.Oh, hey, Larry Storch from F-Troop is here. No one is entirely sure why. I think he was the comic relief, but it isn't funny when there's gore and a threat to children is implied. He and Caruso and others are victimized by the alien weapon, which is a flying disk with nasty tentacles. It's actually kind of a cool effect. Too bad it wasn't in a better movie.The flaw of this movie is that the characters do things that make not a lick of sense. Landau and Palance are introduced and then forgotten about for about half the movie. THe whole thing looks like it was shot in some rural town for the cost of box-tops.The alien is kind of creepy in that they follow the monster movie rule of not introducing your monster in full view until the last moment possible. Before that it's an ambivalent threat. It's like the film makers really did some things right but did a lot more very wrong.

I saw this movie in the theater when it was released and I was the only one in the theater. I was surprised how a bad movie like this could be released at a first run theater. The cast list includes two future Acadamy Award winners and future star Caruso. The story is weak and the production values are nil since most of the budget went to paying the bar bill for the actors who would only be in a stinker like this if they were drunk. There must be some scenes left on the cutting room floor because the jumps in the storyline are jarring. I recognized many fine actors making appearances here but it must have been a very low ebb for their careers.

I remember seeing the movie trailer one time when I was living in Long Island. Though I was way too young to see it. The movie may have been a limited premier in some places, it should have been nationwide later on. It has a great cast. Martin Landau ( Mission: Impossible, Space:1999), Jack Parlance, the biggest movie veteran ever. What more could you want? How about the 7'2" star Kevin Peter Hall who would later play BigFoot in "Harry and The Hendersons", and "Predator" ! In this movie, he plays this unnamed alien hunter who stalks the humans on Earth. His first kills are a father and son who are enjoying the outdoors and it would be the last for them as well. And the Scout leader was an unfortunate victim, leaving the Scouts running for their lives. How does this alien hunter kills so swiftly? By using these hideous discs that come alive when it hits the victim. So when the four friends went out to the lake to have fun, only two of them encounter the horror themselves. Later on, they meet a former Army Sergeant who still think he's in the war, feel there is an invasion. The store owner happens to be the most trusting is the one the two seems feel safe with. The whole ordeal with this movie is to survive the terror of being hunted by an alien hunter. A very good movie, just a bit overlooked, though.