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.

Four teens—Beth, Tom, Sandy and Greg (Lynn Theel, David Caruso, Tarah Nutter and Christopher S. Nelson)—ignore creepy gas station owner Taylor (Jack Palance) when he warns them not to go up to the lake. They regret their decision when they find themselves stalked by a tall creature that flings deadly organic frisbees at them.As much as I admire John McTiernan's 1987 Arnie classic Predator, I have to admit that the film bears more than a passing resemblance to 1980 sci-fi/horror Without Warning. Not only is the plot suspiciously similar—an alien arrives on Earth to hunt humans—but the performer playing the extraterrestrial hunter is the very same person who played the Predator: 6'9" Kevin Peter Hall.Of course, Without Warning isn't the flawless, testosterone fuelled, action-fest that is Predator: for much of the time the plot goes nowhere, with the teen protagonists stumbling from one location to another pursued by both the dome-headed ET and a loopy, gun-toting ex-soldier, Fred 'Sarge' Dobbs (played to the hilt by Martin Landau); meanwhile, Taylor plans to kill the beast. There's some fun to be had from the wonky alien frisbees, which fly awkwardly through the air and sport burrowing tentacles and gnashing teeth, but a lot of the running time is spent with the characters doing just that: running.The film ends in a manner that is, once again, eerily similar to Predator: Taylor prepares a booby trap and lures the alien by shouting 'come on!'. Coincidence? I think not.6.5 out of 10 for the gloopy effects and Dean Cundey's great cinematography (unlike many a low budget horror, we can actually see what is going on in the dark), rounded down to 6 for killing off bikini babe Beth too quickly.

A low-budget chiller that stands out like a shining gem amid the wealth of other low-budget nonsense made at around this time in America, this excellent sci-fi horror crossbreed is a film to seek out and watch. Not least because it also serves as the inspiration for PREDATOR, as an alien being stalks various folk in the woods for sport. In many ways, this film is actually scarier than PREDATOR , because there aren't any fancy special effects and you don't really see the alien all that much. Instead the film relies on lonely tracking shots, moving shadows, and the dark for most of its scares, plus a great glimpse of the alien at the beginning in the bushes which makes you wonder just what you have seen.On top of all this you have a fantastic cast and an imaginative menace for once. The alien itself is a very old-fashioned creature that looks like it has come straight out of a '50s B-movie flick and THE WARNING captures that same straight-faced but fun feeling very well indeed, it's like a throwback to the old days of B-movies. The impossibly tall Kevin Peter Hall plays the alien and to hit home the similarities between the two films, seven years later he was the alien in PREDATOR as well. The down-to-earth location is atmospheric, and used well instead of merely being a stalk-and-slash in the woods as the Jason films were.The film opens on a bright, sunlit afternoon where hunter Cameron Mitchell (!) plans to bag some game. However, Mitchell doesn't last for long as flying discs come out of the nearby woods and drain his blood supply. You see, the alien is hidden for much of the film, but uses his organic frisbee-like discs to kill people. The special effects are suitably gooey and disgusting, not to mention colourful. The next victim is a nerdy scout leader who quite frankly deserves all he gets from the alien blighter.Meanwhile, four vacationing teenagers decide to use the local woods as their retreat, much to their eventual dismay. The two most irritating teens (including future television star David Caruso) mysteriously disappear, and our young heroes discover a number of mutilated corpses hidden inside a wooden shack: the alien's trophy room. They make their way to a local bar where most people scoff at them, and to make matters worse, 'Sarge', an ex-army lunatic who thinks an alien invasion is imminent, becomes trigger-happy, killing off the sheriff. Luckily, Taylor, a local storekeeper who knows of the existence of the alien, saves the kids and takes them back into the woods to locate the shack a second time.A pretty simple plot, which mainly consists of characters running from one location to another, but is still pretty gripping. This is thanks to the efforts of the cast, who are all pretty much great. Even the two "teenage" leads, Christopher Nelson and Tarah Nutter, are surprisingly good and likable in their roles. Cameron Mitchell pops up at the beginning just so he can die a gruesome death, and his role is very brief. Meanwhile Jack Palance puts in another oddball turn as the town hermit, and is wonderful again. Why is this man so underrated? Martin Landau goes over the top as the paranoid ex-sergeant, and his twitchy performance is a hoot and one of the highlights of the film. The plot may be simple and familiar, yet THE WARNING offers up some great special effects in the form of the alien disc creatures, lots of slimy gore scenes, and a solid cast going through their paces, making it a unique genre crossbreed and a must-see for B-movie fans. It's definitely the highlight of director Greydon Clark's career.

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.