Without Warning (1980)

Having had a stint of viewing better-than-expect b-movies on youtube (blood beach, nightmare beach, primal rage) I was hoping to continue the trend with this film.However, I didn't like it at all. Terrible acting, story, directing etc etc. There really isn't anything good about it and it's not even one of those so-bad-it's-funny films (though the special effects for the small alien creatures is so bad it will raise a smirk).Some kids go to a lake where there happens to be an alien that is hunting humans. One of the crazy locals is aware of the alien but no one believes him. None of the characters are likable or enjoyable to watch which means it's a bore from beginning to end. Lots of running around and ineffective scares.

An alien creature (Kevin Peter Hall) stalks human prey.Greydon Clark is responsible for this film, with all its triumphs and moles. Because almost all the budget went to the two big actors, everything had to be done "on the cheap". Jack Palance had previously worked with Clark on the flop "Angels' Brigade" (1979), and Martin Landau was new to the group. Neville Brand, who had worked with Clark repeatedly, was paid much less. Clark's regular cinematographer Dean Cundey had just finished "Halloween" when he signed on to this picture. He suggested another "Halloween" alumnus, musician Dan Wyman, who had also worked on John Carpenter's "The Fog" (and has gone on to do much more). Cundey was also one of only three people to be involved in the post-production special effects shots. The other two were Clark and makeup artist Greg Cannom, who has gone on to win three Oscars.In the script, the alien originally used a bow and arrow before Clark changed this to the flying pizzas. Is this better? You bet it is. The special effects from Cannom and friends are largely what makes this film memorable.With a great cast and some incredible special effects (not to mention cinematography from Cundey, the greatest cameraman in horror since the 1970s)... this is not to be missed. Sure, it is a bit dull or slow-paced at times, but it still stands out as an important piece of horror and science fiction history.The influence of this film on "Predator" is probably exaggerated, but there are obvious parallels. And they are only made more obvious by the casting of the same actor as the alien hunter. Whether the folks behind "Predator" (including writers John and Jim Thomas) ever came out and acknowledged they were influenced is unclear, but Clark claims that Arnold Schwarzenegger saw a similarity.After it was finished, the film was bought by AIP, but before it was released, AIP was purchased by Filmways, who wanted nothing to do with the movie or AIP's catalog. When Clark finally did get it released, the film had general critical success and has become a cult classic.The Scream Factory disc features audio commentary with Greydon Clark, and it is very informative. Combine what he says here with what he wrote in his autobiography, and you have a great overview of low-budget horror in the early 1980s.

The cornball sci-fi flick "Without Warning" is widely seen as a semi-inspiration for the more famous "Predator", which also stars Kevin Peter Hall as an alien that goes around killing humans. What I notice is that the stars of this movie, Jack Palance and Martin Landau, both eventually went on to win Best Supporting Actor, much like how "Predator" stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse Ventura later became governors.Anyway, the movie is about what you'd expect. The copy that I watched even had Greek subtitles (it was probably either a copy of a copy or taped off the TV). It turns out that makeup artist Greg Cannom also did the makeup for "Mrs. Doubtfire" and "Titanic", while director Greydon Clark pretty much directed B movies throughout his whole career. This movie makes no pretense about what kind of movie it is. It's pretty enjoyable.

I too remember this film from my youth. I think I saw it on HBO in the early 80s - some thirty years better. What did I remember from the original? I remembered the flying alien discs. Aside from that nothing else except Larry Storch. As I watched the credits roll recently, I kept saying "Larry Storch is in this! He is some kind of boy scout or something." Indeed, he was - and still, for me, the best thing about this movie. He has one of those humorous cameos that steals scenes as he talks about Guapo Indians trying to impress his scouts. Well, let's backtrack. The film opens with a man(Cameron Mitchell in need of some bucks and bad!)out to hunt with his, in his words, "sissy" son when both soon find these aforementioned alien discs attack. What does such an attack look like? It looks like a disc being thrown at someone then sticks its tentacles into the flesh and soon the victim dies. We then go to Storch meeting the same fate and then we get a group of teens going to the lake to have fun. Are they aware that something is not quite right at the lake? Of course they are as they have been warned both directly and indirectly - but go nonetheless. Two die and two fly. Well, the film looks and feels very cheaply made. The actors over-act madly. Martin Landau plays a Fred Dobbs(yes, it is Bogart's name in Treasure of the Sierra Madre - and yes, he is crazy too!) Landau really looks like he took an overdose of acting pills, which is good because Jack Palance must have finished the bottle! These two are so far off the chart as to turn this from any serious vehicle to something of a parody nature - though unintentional I assure you. The film is not all bad. There are some nice scenes in an abandoned house toward the end of the film. The master alien is cool looking and the final part of the film FAIRLY effective. There is also a host of character actors given little to do such as Ralph Meeker and Neville Brand. The young foursome are decent at least. But what the film has going against it is quite ponderous: dark lighting throughout, over-acting - did I mention over-acting?, a novice-like feel for the direction of the film, etc... This is a hard movie to find. I watched a horror convention DVD - it took forever just to track that down. Once I watched it I was like - okay, I saw it again. I probably won't for another 30 years again.