Without Warning

I remember watching this on TV back when I was in my late teens.  I can't remember whether it was on video or it was being shown on TV - I suspect the latter.  I do remember that the version I saw was billed as simply The Warning, rather than Without Warning or It Came Without Warning, the titles it is more commonly shown under.  Regardless of the title, I also remember that I found it, if not actually frightening, then definitely somewhat unsettling.  This might be because of some strange shifts in tone, (for no good reason, there's a comic turn by Larry Storch as a scoutmaster early on, culminating in him being abruptly killed, for instance), or it could be because of the creepy atmosphere director Greydon Clark succeeds in conjuring up, despite his obviously low budget.  Then again, perhaps it is because you never seem to know where the movie is going to go next.

It starts out like one of those new-fangled (in 1980, at least) slasher movies, with its unseen killer and remote backwoods setting, where 'civilisation' consists of run-down filling stations and decrepit shacks, populated by assorted rednecks and hicks.  However, it quickly becomes clear that the killer is actually an alien come to earth for a hunting trip, with the local human population as its prey.  Yes, I know, that sounds like Predator.  But Without Warning predates that film by several years, although the actor playing the alien predator in both films is Kevin Peter Hall.  Whilst Predator may have had a bigger budget, name director and Arnold Schwarzenegger, it isn't necessarily the better of the two movies.  Without Warning is faster moving, less pretentious and, to be frank, scarier.  Whilst you never have any doubt that Arnie is going to beat that pesky alien and survive, while watching Without Warning for the first time it is by no means clear that the humans will triumph, let alone survive.  The body count is high and the victims sometimes surprising.

Perhaps the greatest pleasure Without Warning has to offer is watching its supporting cast of veteran character actors ham it up like crazy.  Jack Palance and Martin Landau give particularly over the top, but highly entertaining, performances, with exploitation regulars Neville Brand and Cameron Mitchell giving them a good run for their money.  Between them, they more than make up for the vapid juvenile leads.  It also has a reasonably decent monster, by the standards of the time, which the director wisely prevents us from seeing too clearly, which also has a unique way of killing its victims, by throwing flying organic discs at them, which eat the unfortunate target alive.  I must admit that it those discs which have lingered in my memory over the years.  All in all, Without Warning was, in my recollection, a pretty entertaining ninety minutes or so, certainly better than a lot of the contemporary low budget horror flicks I saw back then.