"Without Warning" is one of those horror flicks that for years you'd heard about but was practically unobtainable. The HD era has been especially ripe for many obscure horror titles and recently this little film has gotten a new lease on life. And for us horror geeks - it's a must see.
It's not very good. Though it has a number of things going for it. It's a nifty idea that predates "Predator" by a few years that has an alien visitor coming to earth to hunt humans and collect their bodies as trophies. The flying disks it uses to subdue it's prey look both incredibly fake but once they grabbed hold - it's pretty icky and the effects department shines. It's just that the film is fatally slow moving and has so many lulls and director Greydon Clark can't milk those scenes with any degree of tension. It picks up for the finale and it ends on a high note thankfully.
The film gets a huge plus for it's cast; or at least Martin Landau and Jack Palance. Often times when big names appear in low budget slashers you have what amounts to little more than a cameo but these old pro's have ample screen time and invest in their roles. Palance, in particular, is effective as a hunter who goes after the alien. Both these guys overact to a degree (Landau more so) but their presence elevates the material and gives a much needed added class to the proceedings.
Minor spoiler -
"CSI Miami" star David Caruso has a small part here but thankfully he's dispatched of soon - another thing in the film's favor :)
End of Spoiler
"Without Warning" will appeal to fans of the genre (be it horror, sci-fi or both) as long as it's low budget origins and hectic shooting schedule (less than three weeks) are taken into account. I found it entertaining as such but it needed some pruning as the lulls were too many and tension free.
Film gets a five but Landau and Palance bring it up a star.
It's not very good. Though it has a number of things going for it. It's a nifty idea that predates "Predator" by a few years that has an alien visitor coming to earth to hunt humans and collect their bodies as trophies. The flying disks it uses to subdue it's prey look both incredibly fake but once they grabbed hold - it's pretty icky and the effects department shines. It's just that the film is fatally slow moving and has so many lulls and director Greydon Clark can't milk those scenes with any degree of tension. It picks up for the finale and it ends on a high note thankfully.
The film gets a huge plus for it's cast; or at least Martin Landau and Jack Palance. Often times when big names appear in low budget slashers you have what amounts to little more than a cameo but these old pro's have ample screen time and invest in their roles. Palance, in particular, is effective as a hunter who goes after the alien. Both these guys overact to a degree (Landau more so) but their presence elevates the material and gives a much needed added class to the proceedings.
Minor spoiler -
"CSI Miami" star David Caruso has a small part here but thankfully he's dispatched of soon - another thing in the film's favor :)
End of Spoiler
"Without Warning" will appeal to fans of the genre (be it horror, sci-fi or both) as long as it's low budget origins and hectic shooting schedule (less than three weeks) are taken into account. I found it entertaining as such but it needed some pruning as the lulls were too many and tension free.
Film gets a five but Landau and Palance bring it up a star.