Without Warning (1980) review

CULT FILM FAVES NOT ON DVD

This is a section devoted to rare, obscure and as yet to be released on legitimate DVD movies. Some films may have been released in some part of the world, or on some public domain label, or some may have simply never been released at all on the digital format. This section is designed to keep these films alive and to provide remembrance to those who may have seen them in some form or other, whether it be on the silver screen, video tape, or the small screen at home.

WITHOUT WARNING 1980 aka IT CAME WITHOUT WARNING aka THE WARNING aka ALIEN ENCOUNTER (Tentative title)

Christopher S. Nelson (Greg), Tarah Nutter (Sandy), Jack Palance (Taylor), Martin Landau (Dobbs), David Caruso (Tom), Lynn Theel (Beth), Sue Ane Langdon (Aggie), Neville Brand (Leo), Larry Storch (Scoutmaster), Ralph Meeker (Dave), Cameron Mitchell (hunter)

Directed by Greydon Clark

***NOTE: This review of WITHOUT WARNING is representative of a broadcast from the Canadian Drive In Channel. The title on this version of the film as seen from the screencap above is one of its alternate titles, THE WARNING.

"That Alien...he came down here for the sport! He wants to get himself a few trophies, and you know what? Right now, you and me...we are the prize!"


A huge alien predator from outer space comes to Earth in search of human trophies. A group of young people try to survive the night against the intergalactic menace and his organic, flying, plasma sucking creatures.


Bad movie director, Greydon Clark helmed this interesting 1980 horror picture, the most well known on his resume. Essentially a slasher movie replacing the titular masked murderer with a tall alien hunter, WITHOUT WARNING differentiates itself with some low budget creativity. There's some very nice atmosphere most prominently during the night sequences and a couple of scenes generate some decent suspense. Clark's direction is akin to most of his other directorial efforts; lazy at times with bad dialog and an overabundance of hamminess.


The alien (played by frequent creature performer, Kevin Peter Hall) is a nice design with its blank, dead eyes and large bulbous head. The costume for the monster is a bit unusual as well. Originally, the alien was to have used a bow and arrow as its primary weapon of death. According to Clark, it was his idea to do away with the more Earthly style weapon and opted for a more creatively gruesome method for the otherworldly visitor to snatch his victims. Instead, the alien has these organic, toothy creatures that are attached to its hosts body. He rips one away and throws it like a frisbee at his prey. The spinning critters stick themselves to their victims and sprout tendrils preventing them being torn from the skin. The creatures then suck away blood and other juices from the unfortunates body.


The flying discs of death aren't realized in much of a realistic fashion, but once they latch onto a victim, the grue is quite effective (courtesy of Greg Cannom). If anything, WITHOUT WARNING contains one of the most intriguing monsters in horror cinema. I remember seeing the trailer for the film back in 1980 and shortly thereafter me and my father went out to see it at the local theater. It made an impression on me at the time, but upon seeing it again years later, it serves as little more than a curiosity piece with an occasional good moment here and there.


Greydon Clark made a career out of working in 'B' movies whether it be in front of, or behind the camera. He made appearances in many of his films as well as films from other directors. Some of his directorial work includes the blaxploitation riot, BLACK SHAMPOO (1976), SATAN'S CHEERLEADERS (1977), another star studded alien opus called THE RETURN (1980) the slasher spoof, WACKO (1982) and the hilariously bad mutant killer cat aboard a yacht flick, UNINVITED (1988).


Clark was good friends with a lot of old Hollywood actors and assembled many of them for this movie. The extended sequence inside the bar seems to go on forever and comes off as just a showcase for Palance, Landau and Brand to spout a lot of bad dialog and act insane for about 15 minutes. Palance and Landau (especially Landau) play their characters as completely bonkers and on the verge of a breakdown. At one point, Landau's character somehow ends up with a police vehicle and picks up the two main characters having been chased through the woods by the flying disc creatures. He then attempts to kill them when they manage to escape the car and jump off a bridge into the water below.


Jack Palance takes center stage among the more notable performers on hand. Interestingly, he plays his role of Joe Taylor in an almost identical vein to the military psychopath he played in the superior slasher movie, ALONE IN THE DARK (1982). Palance had an mesmerizing face that served him well especially in villain roles. He has dabbled in just about every genre you can think of. A very popular actor in European territories, Palance lent his talents to all manner of genre cinema in Italy appearing in horror, westerns and modern day crime pictures among his extensive resume. Palance also played himself as the host of the original RIPLEY'S BELIEVE IT, OR NOT (1982-1986) television show. That series retained a more macabre horror tone than its later incarnation with Dean Cain as host.


Martin Landau, another alumni from ALONE IN THE DARK who also played a nutjob, plays a similarly unhinged character in WITHOUT WARNING. Unlike Palance, Landau is unbearably over the top. One gets the impression he really didn't want to do this movie as his acting is some of the worst in the picture. Landau was an Oscar winning actor whose career followed a similar trajectory to that of his colleague, Jack Palance. He has a massive resume filled with all manner of television and cinema roles such as THE TWILIGHT ZONE, THE WILD, WILD WEST, THE OUTER LIMITS and GUNSMOKE to name just a few. Landau will most likely be best remembered for his recurring role in the MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE (1966-1969) tv series and the lead in the science fiction program, SPACE: 1999 (1975-1978).


Larry Storch was a familiar face on television and movies. He was a great friend of Tony Curtis (Jaime Lee's dad) and the two did a string of movies together. Storch, like a fair number of other old Hollywood actors and actresses, did voiceover work on cartoons and dozens of television work including two hilarious episodes on GOMER PYLE U.S.M.C. (1964-1969) where Storch played General Manuel Cortez. Storch is probably best known for his role on F TROOP (1965-1967), a goofy and fun anachronistic western comedy program.


David Caruso, who later found major fame on the popular CSI: MIAMI (2002-2009) show got his start in low budget pictures and various tv shows as well. His role in WITHOUT WARNING is the typical disposable oversexed teen who meets a gruesome end at the hands of the monster. He did get to make out with the beautiful Lynn Theel before meeting his doom. Theel was also mutilated by monsters the same year in the cult classic exploitation flick, HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP (1980; also reviewed here).


Neville Brand was a oft seen character actor on television and had starring roles on such popular programs such as LAREDO (1965-1967) and guest appearances on shows like THE TWILIGHT ZONE, WAGON TRAIN, GUNSMOKE and THE VIRGINIAN. He had a somewhat memorable horror lead role in Tobe Hooper's EATEN ALIVE (1976).


Ralph Meeker is another familiar face on television having appeared in shows such as ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS and IRONSIDE and movies like THE ST. VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE and THE DIRTY DOZEN (both 1967). Cameron Mitchell had a recurring role on the popular western show, THE HIGH CHAPARRAL (1967-1971) among dozens and dozens of other credits. He has a brief role in WITHOUT WARNING during the outset, and his resume is littered with far too many grade Z movies (although some of them have a high fun factor of their own) when his career took a downward spiral towards the end of the 1960's.


WITHOUT WARNING (1980) has a healthy fan base and oddly enough, it's never been released on tape or DVD in America. There were VHS releases in foreign countries, but not in its home country of origin. Despite its many shortcomings, it nonetheless has a goofy charm all its own that at least makes it worth one viewing for the peculiar creatures. Old school horror fans will also get a big kick out of spotting many of the familiar faces from tv and movies.

Cleopatra Jones (1973) review

CLEOPATRA JONES 1973

Tamara Dobson (Cleopatra Jones), Shelley Winters (Mommy), Bernie Casey (Reuben Masters), Brenda Sykes (Tiffany), Antonio Fargas (Doodlebug), Paul Koslo (Baby Tony), Bill McKinney (Purdy), Esther Rolle (Mrs. Johnson), Albert Popwell (Matthew Johnson), Caro Kenyatta (Melvin Johnson), Don Cornelius

Directed by Jack Starrett


US Special Agent, Cleopatra Jones ruffles the feathers of 'Mommy', a nasty female criminal mastermind. When Cleo destroys 30 million in poppy fields owned by Mommy, the malicious mother orders the flamboyant and beautiful bombshells death sentence in addition to organizing a raid on the B & S House, an establishment to get kids clean of drugs and crime. With the help of two Karate fighting brothers, Cleo tries to clear her framed up friends and dodge bullets from Mommy's hitmen including an ostentatious crime boss, Doodlebug Simkins. After severing ties with the raving lesbian kingpin, the ambitious crime lord meets a gruesome end resulting in Mommy sending her goons to silence his surviving girlfriend. The chase is on to save the young girl, clear the name of a wrongly accused young man and bring down Mommy's drug cartel.


The great 70's director, Jack Starrett returns to the blaxploitation genre after helming SLAUGHTER (1972) for AIP. Here, it's for the major, Warner Brothers and while this film has its share of violence, there's a more comic book approach than normal for the genre. It aids immensely in the high entertainment quotient the picture contains. Starrett was a natural at directing action and exploitation films and he obviously enjoyed making them as his resume is riddled with those kinds of pictures of one kind or another. Starrett was known to take small roles in his own movies in addition to taking roles in other directors films such as his highly memorable role as Gabby Johnson in BLAZING SADDLES (1974) and his role as the callous town sheriff in FIRST BLOOD (1982).


CLEOPATRA JONES is filled with exceptional action sequences and some Bondian style plot devices that really stand out more in the flashy sequel. Cleo has a forever changing wardrobe and a souped up Corvette that has guns hidden inside the door panels. She knows martial arts and is often one step ahead of the bad guys lending her character a larger than life persona. Her first appearance at the films opening is a grand entrance ordering military planes to bomb a massive poppy field crippling Mommy's heroin crops. The next time we see Cleo is a few minutes later at the airport and it's another scene stealer wherein she pulls one over on Mommy's "welcoming party".


One of the unique aspects of starrett's movie is that the action scenes are built around Cleo's numerous skills. Whether it be her ability to smoothly command her fast car, her skills with guns, or her martial arts prowess. One top scene is the car chase on the streets of LA and down into the riverbed and back onto the street again. Cleo constantly gains the upper-hand on the villains causing a couple of car mash ups, but her corvette gets away unscathed. There are also a few scenes where assassins attempt to take Cleo down in the street. These scenes showcase her shooting skills as Cleo brandishes a formidable hand gun and some automatic weapons, too.


There are a number of martial arts sequences which were supervised by Master Bong Soo Hon. As per American action movies that featured Karate, kung fu or some other martial arts style, there is a lot of quick cuts in the editing to mask deficiencies in the choreography. Besides this, Tamara Dobson is convincing in her scenes. She puts a lot of vigor and rage in her fight scenes. She's much more convincing than Pam Grier in these types of sequences although Grier is the better screen presence. Incidentally, Dobson was the first female heroine of the blaxploitation genre. However, even though CLEOPATRA JONES was a success at the box office, Pam Grier became a sensation and gained more roles in the genre this being both an advantage and a hindrance.


Tamara Dobson strikes an imposing presence in the role of Cleo, the 6'2" black wildcat. She's definitely not afraid to get down in the action scenes and she makes the role as believable as any featuring Fred Williamson or Jim Brown. Her wardrobe is just as flashy as her character portrayal and her costume change during nearly every scene would seem to have been an influence on Pam Grier when she took on the role of FOXY BROWN (1974). A former fashion model, Dobson was once the tallest recorded actress in cinema and she also had a knack for being a clothing designer. Sadly, Dobson died on October 2nd of 2006 from complications of pneumonia and multiple sclerosis. She was 59 years old.


Bernie Casey had his own career in the blaxploitation genre showing in a supporting role in the lively western, GUNS OF THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (1969) then moving on to the excellent race hate drama, TICK...TICK...TICK (1970). From there, he appeared in a handful of blaxploitation actioners such as HIT MAN (1972), CORNBREAD, EARL & ME (1975) and the hilarious DR. BLACK & MR. HYDE (1976). The beautiful Brenda Sykes (who plays Tiffany) also made appearances in blaxploitation movies such as MANDINGO (1975) and its sequel, DRUM (1976).


Antonio Fargas is possibly best known for his role as informant, Huggy Bear on the hit show, STARSKY & HUTCH (1975-1979). He had previously featured in a handful of blaxploitation movies such as SHAFT (1971), the extremely violent ACROSS 110TH STREET (1972), FOXY BROWN (1974) and CAR WASH (1978). Fargas also played a coach in the doomed cult comedy favorite, UP THE ACADEMY (1980).


Esther Rolle has a cameo appearance as Mrs. Johnson, the mother of Cleo's two friends, Matthew and Melvin. Rolle is most recognizable as Florida Evans, the astute mother on the hit show GOOD TIMES (1974-1979).


Shelley Winters was an Oscar winning and controversial Hollywood actress who had a long, prosperous, yet sometimes tumultuous career on both stage and screen. Like a lot of distinguished film stars, when her career was winding down in the 1970's, she began appearing in more seedy affairs, movies with a lot of exploitation value. Some of these include BLOODY MAMA (1970) where she played the real life Ma Barker alongside co-star, Robert DeNiro. She played in the Hansel & Gretal styled horror fantasy film, WHOEVER SLEW AUNTIE ROO? (1971), the BABY JANE inspired, WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH HELEN? (1971), POOR PRETTY EDDIE (1975) and the Italian giant creature opus, TENTACLES (1977), which also featured the likes of Claude Akins, Henry Fonda and John Huston!


CLEOPATRA JONES (1973) is a rousing good time and one of the most enjoyable blaxploitation movies I've seen. Aside from some comments by Mommy after the opening sequence, this movie is relatively free of the typical nasty racial comments utilized in so many of these films to stir hatred towards the villains. This is a more straight ahead action film with some slight James Bond overtones and a very nice and funky score. While not as sadistically violent as most films in the genre, it's a highly influential classic and one that's well worth any fans time and a wonderful diversion for casual viewers. Make sure to check out the even more fun and bigger sequel.

This review is representative of the Warner Brothers DVD.