.... because it doesn`t look like it was made by professional film makers . XTRO has a really cheap and cheerless no budget production feel to it and is usual in these type of productions the make up and FX are totally unconvincing while the cast look like they`re ashamed to be in a film like this . Even so there`s no excuse for such bland performances especially Philip Sayers who looks like he`s impersonating a block of wood rather than a man who`s been abducted by aliens .
What I really disliked about this film is the very underdeveloped script . There`s no real explanation or logic as to why things happen . Take for example the scene where a character drives to a cottage then warns his companion to " Stay here " and enters the cottage with trepidation. There is absolutely no way the character would know he`d be in any danger by entering the cottage so why is he so nervous ? I think I can speculate as to why the panther appears though ( And unless you`ve seen the film the next couple of sentences will make no sense - just like the film itself ) The toy tank is supposed to be a version of the second world war German panther tank hence a panther appears . Only the toy tank is actually based on the tiger tank mark two aka King tiger , which means instead of a panther appearing in the flat a king tiger should have . It just shows you how bad XTRO is when the director tries to bring subtle irony to a senseless script and manages to screw that up .
I`m led to believe that XTRO was banned on video in the 1980s which makes it one of the very few British " Video nasties " , perhaps the only British film to receive that accolade , but there`s nothing here to churn your stomach . Churning your brain is another matter entirely
What I really disliked about this film is the very underdeveloped script . There`s no real explanation or logic as to why things happen . Take for example the scene where a character drives to a cottage then warns his companion to " Stay here " and enters the cottage with trepidation. There is absolutely no way the character would know he`d be in any danger by entering the cottage so why is he so nervous ? I think I can speculate as to why the panther appears though ( And unless you`ve seen the film the next couple of sentences will make no sense - just like the film itself ) The toy tank is supposed to be a version of the second world war German panther tank hence a panther appears . Only the toy tank is actually based on the tiger tank mark two aka King tiger , which means instead of a panther appearing in the flat a king tiger should have . It just shows you how bad XTRO is when the director tries to bring subtle irony to a senseless script and manages to screw that up .
I`m led to believe that XTRO was banned on video in the 1980s which makes it one of the very few British " Video nasties " , perhaps the only British film to receive that accolade , but there`s nothing here to churn your stomach . Churning your brain is another matter entirely