Sorry, this movie sucks

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Abducted by aliens, a family man returns home to the delight of his doting son, but his time in space seems to have changed him in this gloriously uncanny horror movie. Underwhelming at first, the film stands up slightly better upon revision when viewed as more of a mood piece than a narrative. Largely shot in the dead of night with imaginative creature effects and a sound design that creatively fuses music and sound effects, the film simply drips with atmosphere. There are also several unsettling moments that impressively do not rely on effects, lighting or music, such as lead actor Philip Sayer swallowing snake eggs (just one of the many strange things he does upon returning). Creepy as it may be, 'Xtro' does not exactly spin an airtight narrative and as the boy's toys randomly come to life and as he turns homicidal, one gets the distinct feeling that the project exists as mainly an excuse for director Harry Bromley Davenport to experiment and be as creative as he can when it comes to shocks and horror. That said, the film does play with some very tangible themes and issues - most notably, the void a parent leaves when away for a long time and the uncertainty of whether someone is still the same after being away for so long. Indeed, were it not for all the deaths, the whole film could be read as a manifestation of the boy's anxieties after being separated from his father.

I had heard about this film when I was a child seeing pictures of it in one of those old horror magazines; however, I never got around to ever viewing it. I remember the picture of the alien and it looked like it was outside and I thought it was attacking campers. Flash years later and I would finally purchase this film because I had always wanted to see it. I was a bit surprised that the scene I had saw pictured was not an outdoor picture, but indoors as the alien attacks the woman to impregnate her. I only mention this because it is rather funny and sad how we see things so differently as a child than we do as adults. Things like this film tend to be scarier, the monster more terrifying! So, what I watched unfold was completely different than anything I had anticipated. The film starts out like one of those typical films that tried to duplicate the success of Alien, but then it gets weird. Then as the story progresses it begins to get even weirder and what you are left with is a very bizarre film indeed. I would say it is a bizarre combination of Alien, Close Encounters, Poltergeist and even E.T.! Yes, it is that strange and elements from those four films are within this film making for a very strange film indeed.The story starts out showing us a scene where a boy and his father are playing in the yard. The mom drives away and soon after something occurs turning the day as dark as night and whatever is happening causes the father to disappear. The young boy wakes up and three years have passed since the incident and the boy is still not quite over the fact his father is gone. His mom believes the father simply left them and has moved on with her life, but the truth is a lot more crazy than that. A creature soon lands on our planet, ferociously killing a couple in the car and going to another house where it attacks a woman and impregnates her! Soon she is giving birth to the man who had disappeared three years prior and all this happens in like the first 20 minutes of the film! Soon the father comes back into the mother and son's life and it soon becomes apparent that the father is not normal anymore; of course, I guess the fact that he popped out of a woman should be a good indicator that things are not so normal with him anymore. Strange things happen as it becomes increasingly clear that the father has returned for his son! The film has some good gore and thanks to Maryan d'Abo some good nudity. It is also a very unique film, but the main detractor of this film is the plot. They never let the audience in on why any of this is going on! Sure, we know the father is an alien now, but I am not completely satisfied with he just got picked at random. Why pick him at all and turn him into a horrific nightmare creature? Then why would the aliens travel all the way back to earth just to let the guy they randomly picked get his son? Makes no sense as it is not in the narrative. Perhaps the aliens plan to conquer the earth by way of the eggs that are clearly balloons, but this is never said. Nor does it make any sense for the boy to infect the housekeeper in such a way. Just seems things are randomly happening in this one.So, this is not the best alien film I have ever seen, but it is one of the most unique. Perhaps had they done a better job of explaining stuff this could have been a lot better and had they did a better job on the effects in some areas it would have done better two. Seriously, you can see the part of the balloon you blow it up with when the woman is holding onto the 'egg'. The film would have two endings, but neither is very good. It would have been better just to leave it at the scene where the father and son disappear into the light, but I guess they had to show us those eggs once again or that would have been a loose end. Granted, neither ending really ties anything up and just leaves more questions. There would be two sequels to this film, but neither of them are bizarre like this one and thus neither of them have the charm this one did. The second film is just your typical monster roaming a facility in the air ducts film while the third is pretty much "Predator" if the alien looked like a gray and they couldn't afford a decent cast of action heroes. So while this one is not great, it has its moments and has more uniqueness than either sequel.

Tony's father Sam, abducted by aliens three years earlier, returns to earth and seeks out his wife and son, but Rachel has since been living with Joe and the reunion is awkward. Joe does not trust Sam, and Rachel cannot quite decide what her feelings are for her two men. Sam is not the same as when he left, and he begins affecting Tony in frightening ways.This is one of the strangest films I have seen. And I have seen many strange films, wading as I do in horror, fantasy and cult flicks. This one is... well, hard to say. Definitely horror and definitely science fiction, but far too strange to be a straight narrative in either genre.One suspects the budget was zero, as nobody of note was involved in the picture. Bob Shaye produced for New Line, but this was before New Line had really gotten to be a big name. And yet, budget or not, we have some of the finest practical effects and creature designs you may ever see.

How in THE HELL can I even CONCEIVE to realise this movie came from the guy that brought me "Mockingbird Don't Sing"... HOW? I just finished watching this UK splatter film. I will say here this is one of those few times when the script is terrible yet I give it a decent rating. SERIOUSLY this movie has holes in logic the size of Russia. One of the reasons why I give it 6 is because of it's rather crazy imagination going wild, I sometimes can watch those sorts of movies (HEY I liked the first Troll movie didn't I?) but it's the cinematic equivalent of junk food, enjoyable but not good for you on a regular basis.Bromley-Davenport's directing is actually top notch for a movie of this kind under the conditions they were in as far as budget and directing went.So this is decent - but as far as splatter film goes I'd rather watch movies like The Thing.