ALL SCI-FI

[Bogmeister]

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_________________ Without Warning - (1980)


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This is a low budget precursor to Predator (87). It seems there's this alien in the woods, flinging living parasitic projectiles which suck the life out of various victims.

This has a stellar cast of old-time pros — Jack Palance, Martin Landau, Neville Brand, Ralph Meeker, Cameron Mitchell, and even Larry Storch for brief comic relief. But only Palance & Landau are used to any potential; the rest are in little more than cameo roles.

Palance & Landau lend a somewhat crazed tone to the proceedings. Landau's character, a war vet nicknamed "Sarge," is so nuts that he even sees aliens where there aren't any and probably shouldn't be trusted with a firearm. Palance, however — even though he's also a bit nuts — has figured out the alien's modus operandi and may be the key to finally destroying it.

This all takes place during one night and, much of it is filmed in the dark woods; it can be spooky, but it's also tough to make out what's happening in some scenes. Director Greydon Clark may have inserted intentionally loopy plot turns - at the midpoint, Sarge shoots the local cop but no one bothers arresting him for this; maybe there were no other law officers in this area. The main characters are actually a young couple who find themselves fleeing the threat for much of the movie.

BoG's Score: 5.5 out of 10


BoG
Galaxy Overlord Galactus

[Bud Brewster]

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Here's the trailer.

The trailer makes the mistake of showing several scenes of the circular "flying" creatures the alien sends out to kill people. They look ridiculous, like wobbling, misshapen frisbees, flying towards the camera, mostly out of focus.

But the rest of the movie appears to be more professionally made. Watch for a funny scene with Larry Storch as a Scout Master marching in front his Boy Scouts in the woods, singing a hymn while the boys behind him are singing "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall".
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_______Without Warning (1980) - Official Trailer


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Krel]

I paid to see this at the show, and you both make the movie sound better, than it is.

The only thing I can say is that it isn't as bad as "End of the World."

David.

[johnnybear]

I saw this on rental video back in the early eighties and liked it! Sadly there isn't a good DVD currently out there...
JB

[Bud Brewster]

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The YouTube version above looks very good, JB! Have a look at it. I suspect the upload is from a recent DVD.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bud Brewster]

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IMDB has several interesting trivia items for this production.
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~ The plot for the Arnold Schwarzenegger sci-fi/action film Predator (1987) also features the same idea of an alien from outer space that hunts humans. The same actor who plays the alien in "Without Warning", Kevin Peter Hall, also plays the Predator.

Note from me: Ain't it amazin' how talented people can take a good concept and turn it into classic. . . while dimwits with cameras end up making a glorified home movie?

~ The picture was made for $150,000, (of which $75,000 went to Jack Palance and Martin Landau as their salaries), and was filmed in three weeks.

Note from me: Does anybody think that if these folks had more money the movie would have been any better?

~ The alien head was created by special makeup effects artist Rick Baker. According to producer / writer Daniel Grodnik, "It cost me $19,000 to have Rick Baker - in his kitchen - make that alien head. And that was what was used on all the posters and everything else. So, it was worth it."

Note from me: Talent can be money in the bank. Ask Rick Baker if he agrees with that.

~ The shack with the bodies in it was the sole set built for this movie.

Note from me: "Keep it simple. Keep it cheap. Don't expect any Oscars." Words to live by if you work in Hollywood.

~ The extreme close-up shots of the flying creatures digging into various people were filmed by a three person crew in Greydon Clark's garage.

Note from me: "Keep it simple. Keep it cheap. Film it in your garage while you wife is out shopping."

~ Larry Storch and Cameron Mitchell both only worked for half a day on this film.

Note from me: On the one hand, Storch and Mitchell have been in some great movies!

One the other hand, they've rarely been able to shoot all their scenes between lunch and dinner!

~ The studio that owned the rights to the movie, Filmways Pictures, later sold it to the now bankrupt Orion Pictures.

Long unavailable in America on VHS, Laserdisk, DVD, or Blu-Ray, this film was finally given an official Region 1 release in both the DVD and Blu-ray formats by Shout! Factory in August, 2014.

Note from me: This is good news for our friend, Johnnybear, who said this!