VideoXploiter The movie drags in places, but it's that same slow-pacing that often facilitates the sudden scares. Jack Palance and Martin Landau add some grizzled gravitas, while the younger actors play their roles serviceably - one such fresh-faced thespian being David Caruso. The filmmakers used their limited budget effectively, from the aliens method of dispatching it's victims, to said creatures reveal at the end. The end sequence itself is kick-ass, with Jack Palance stealing the show. I recommend this love-letter to 50s sci-fi horror movies.

fstammen I re-watched this movie recently because it made a great impression on me back in the days. It predates Predator but is very similar in story: an alien hunter comes to earth to bag him some humans. The movie starts off with the alien going to work quickly bagging him two hunters and a boy scout leader. The boy scouts also see the alien and run away screaming. Here the low budget and B status show, the kids clearly are not screaming but they dubbed the screams and errrr, overdoing it somewhat. Also 4 young adults want to go swim in a lake in the mountains. On their way they need to gas up the van and they meet Sarge, a veteran who does not need character development: he is clearly psyched. In the toilet the youths see a line written on the wall, check the movie because it will be revealed later on what it means. Also the gas station owner is a hunter and the youths are looking at the dead animals hanging on the walls. This is also a link to what the alien is doing because it does not take long for 2 of the kids being bagged and the other 2 go look for them, finding a shed in the woods. Then the alien tries to bag them too but they manage to escape in the van after the obligatory "it does not start" scenes. They flee to a bar were Sarge and some other people hang out and they inform the police. Here some more standard B movie stuff happens, like the electricity falling out at the same time the sheriff walks in while the Sarge is wielding a gun to go hunt for the alien. Also the standard stuff happens when the 2 youths find a vacation house to hide in and the alien comes to visit there too. The final scene also shows the B part, the acting is a little cheesy and the situation is not too believable since the alien seems to be like a scarecrow just standing around. But there is a lot of suspense in this movie and the concept of an alien hunting people using the flying meat discs from Star Trek is also cool. So go watch this movie as it's one of the better B SF horror movies from around that time.

David Roggenkamp "Without Warning" is one of those movies that actually predates a far more popular movie (Predator) that has the same plot synopsis on a lesser scale; it also has the same actor that plays both antagonists. The idea here is that hunting for sport is not unique to humans, in fact an alien thinks that humans are the ultimate sport to hunt due to the fact they are at the top of the food chain. The way in which he hunts involves a starfish like weapon that makes a squeaking (think mice) effect while it flies through the air; once it latches onto a victim, teeth on it's underside dig into the prey; however, to keep things from going awry it also has tentacles spawn from each digit and then embed themselves into the victim's skin.This in itself makes an interesting plot for a horror movie, but it also needs some characters (read: victims) that are hunted down in slasher-esque fashion. Each character has something a bit different as a tangent to add to the film – a father and son on a hunting expedition, a boyscout troop out in the wilderness, some teenagers on a trip for fun, a group enjoying themselves at a bar, and then a gas station attendant that likes to hunt. As a rule of thumb, almost all of the characters have one thing in common – something to do with the wilderness. One character though, manages to have a few things such as PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) flare up during the whole scenario and he takes matters into his own hands.The movie's effects are often unique when they are used; as is the alien costume. We never get to see the alien for most of the movie; he makes one brief cameo in the opening where we barely see him, and then he finally makes his debut towards the end. What we do see is from the alien's point of view – slowly prowling through the wilderness for his next victim, or while he stalks his prey. His starfish weapons do not exactly look believable and the special effects used while their tentacles embed themselves will look completely fake. The alien costume also looks severely out of place in this movie, but it does get the point across. The characters are also a bit on the spooked side, but if that is the case then the movie does it quite well. Things look a bit out of place in the movie, but that could be because the movie was made in 1980 and is nearly approaching its 40th year anniversary.What the movie does do well is the air of suspense and anticipation. As we see an unknown enemy slowly prowling, it does give a sense of what is to come. The fact we never see it until later, yet we get to see its weapons, means there is a foe in the midst that is far smarter than what it is hunting. The characters are all out to have a good time until things go awry, but they don't resort to yelling at each other in as much as some movies rely on this facet solely. But the movies real claim to fame is a specific scene inside of an abandoned house. The problem is, I cannot give this scene away without ruining it and perhaps one of the best parts of the movie – but you will know when you see it.I highly recommend this movie; it is the predecessor to "Predator". While it doesn't have all of the better stuff of the latter movie, it shows just how far movies came in that time and what they had to work with for the era. Please take much of the effects with a grain of salt and an open mind, it will make them easier to bear.Originally posted to Orion Age (http://www.orionphysics.com/? p=10438)

JoeB131 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.