Without Warning (1980)

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Heading out deep into the wilderness, a group of friends trying to have fun at a secluded lake finds the area being stalked by a gigantic, monstrous alien intent on killing the world's population and must rely on the help of several demented locals to defeat the creature and get out alive.This here wasn't all that bad an effort. One of the finer points of this one is the fact that there's quite an impressive main alien setup to be the featured here. Not only does it get this right with the imposing size and incredibly deformed features that truly resonate as being otherworldly, this starts off on a great note in regards to the rest of the film where the creature is given even more to really enjoy here. From the continuous point-of-view shots of the creature stalking them in the woods to the ingenious weapon it has featured where it uses flying organic spheres like a frisbee to drink the blood of those it comes into contact with. This is an incredibly fun feature that adds a lot to the main alien as the overall package has plenty to like about it. As well, this one really has a lot to like with the fine action stalking here, from the multiple attacks on the hunters at the lake to the creature stalking the Boy Scouts by the river and the discovery of the dead bodies in the abandoned shack in the wilderness that clues everyone onto the proceedings happening around them. The attack in the forest is somewhat enjoyable with the flying creature emerging and the different antics needed to finally escape once they realize the characters been compromised which provides some decent action scenes. Even the finale offers some rather intriguing moments with the explosive resolution to end it and some minor suspense moments to battle the creature back. Alongside the stellar cheesiness of the characters trying to keep their stories straight, these here are what hold this one up over it's few minor flaws. The one big issue with the film is the rather overlong setups that is one has which tends to make it run a little longer than necessary. Way too many of the scenes here go on much longer than necessary and it drags the film's pacing and running time all out of proportion, starting with the opening attack on the hunters or the extended amount of time with the crazed gas- station owner which just drags this one out longer than it needs to. Even longer are scenes of the group panicking in the diner where it gets to everyone spending way too much time trying to determine if his story checks out so the story drags out a little further. Likewise, this one manages to keep the alien off-screen for much of the running time and basically has just the one scene at the end to really get to see it in full-on view despite the glimpses offered beforehand which fill in the blanks. It really could've used a few more scenes of it to really make an impact, and is what holds this one back.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Language and Nudity.

Something alien flings flying flat things which stick to earthlings and slurp them dead. Something alien flings flying flat things which stick to earthlings and slurp them dead. Something alien flings flying flat things which stick to earthlings and slurp them dead. Something alien flings flying flat things which stick to earthlings and slurp them dead. Something alien flings flying flat things which stick to earthlings and slurp them dead. Something alien flings flying flat things which stick to earthlings and slurp them dead. Something alien flings flying flat things which stick to earthlings and slurp them dead. Something alien flings flying flat things which stick to earthlings and slurp them dead.

9/10 stars? Yup, I'm rating this cheesy sci-fi horror film that much, based on my own preferences. I love 70's and 80's horror films, I can't get enough of them and 21st century horror films are just inferior to them. Without Warning might be cheap and kinda lame but it's a laugh-riot, it's incredibly nostalgic and the rural setting is something you just don't see in films today.Jack Palance and Martin Landau steal every scene they're in, they were probably the best actors in the whole film and they both play rather odd characters. Palance plays a small-town, eccentric gas station owner who actually ends up being one of the more intelligent and resourceful, albeit leering and slightly creepy characters. Landau plays an army veteran who has some serious PTSD and is rather depressing but well-acted. Both these actors rescued this film and made it better than I expected it to be.This film evokes a very eerie atmosphere, one unique to 1980 films like The Children, My Bloody Valentine and The Boogens. And there's something to be said for not seeing a cell phone anywhere in sight throughout a movie; the small town atmosphere and crazy cast of characters accompanied by grainy footage is something that films today are really lacking in.The soundtrack was great, and the effects were disgusting, perfect horror film material. Without Warning is a film that any horror fan needs to check out, if not for high-end effects than at least for nostalgic value.

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.