Without Warning (1980) review

WITHOUT WARNING 1980 aka IT CAME... WITHOUT WARNING aka THE WARNING

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), Darby Hinton (Randy), Kevin Peter Hall (Alien)

Directed by Greydon Clark

The Short Version: Greydon Clark's alien slasher movie came without warning right at the beginning of the psycho killer boom of the 80s. This cult favorite isn't a particularly good movie but it has enough wacky elements and a few moments of genuine tension that have made it a lovable low budget gem. The plot has been sucked dry like the alien's victims, but there's a fantastic cast including future Oscar winners Jack Palance and his patented overacting; and Martin Landau's crazed 'Nam vet taking overacting to greater extremes. A moderately gory love letter to 50s SciFi, it's extraordinarily well made for a movie with a $150,000 budget. Influential on the makers of PREDATOR (1987), it's easily the best movie about an alien trophy hunter bagging human prey with the use of flying, plasma-slurping alien flapjacks.

An alien hunter lands on Earth seeking human trophies. After their friends are killed, a young couple try to survive the night while being pursued by the intergalactic invader and his flying, blood-sucking parasites.

Greydon Clark's most well-known movie is arguably his best work; wrangling a great cast of actors and television thespians; topping things off with a few moments of surprisingly eerie atmosphere. Elsewhere, gooey effects work from Greg Cannom off-set the silliness of the pentangular shaped, fang-toothed, plasma-sucking organisms thrown like frisbees that wobble on the strings propelling them through the air. 

For a movie made for $150,000 it left a big impression on the writers of the SciFi hit PREDATOR (1987), a big budget movie pitting Arnold Schwarzenegger and other highly trained soldiers against an alien hunter on Earth seeking trophies in the South American jungle. Director McTiernan swapped out the 50s alien invasion motif/80s slasher pairing to suit the 80s Action Hero style that dominated the decade in its respective genre. Another connection between the two movies was Kevin Peter Hall, the 7'3" actor inside the suits of both hostile visitors.

Hall made a career out of playing monsters, and his height suited such roles. His first was inside the mutant killer bear suit in John Frankenheimer's eco-monster movie PROPHECY (1979). WITHOUT WARNING followed next. He's best remembered for his portrayals as the Predator in PREDATOR and PREDATOR 2 (1990). Sadly, Hall would die from pneumonia in 1991. His last film work was in the wild horror-comedy picture HIGHWAY TO HELL (1991).

The bulbous head and thin body of the unfriendly E.T. is typical of the then cultural fascination with aliens. The ingenuity of the creature's costume looks unusual even though it's just a hammock he's wearing. The monster originally used a bow and arrow, but Clark decided for something more organic and specific to the alien. Attached to its body are these parasitic creatures that operate like homing missiles when thrown like a Frisbee. This added feature is arguably what the film is best remembered for.

The success of WITHOUT WARNING is due in no small part to Academy Award winning makeup effects artist Greg Cannom's squishy FX involving the blood-gurgling, alien flapjacks. When they're flying through the air they look silly (especially the glow in the dark variety) till they latch onto a victims face or other body part. The tentacles emerge, injecting into the victim followed by blood and other bodily fluids erupting from the wounds as it feeds on your insides.

The first look at the otherworldly hunter is very well done with Clark channeling a similar shock moment in PSYCHO (1960); Clark's homage being more effective than anything in that film's shot-by-shot remake from 1998. Some choice editing enhances the surprising potency of this sequence; arguably the best one in the movie. Had Clark been able to display that level of fear and horror throughout, WITHOUT WARNING would be regarded as more than the cult camp item it is today.

The cast has some major names from both film and television; the bulk of them feature in a lengthy bar sequence that feels inspired by the season two TWILIGHT ZONE episode, 'Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?' For 15-20 minutes, the young couple enter the bar and detail their story while the cast contemplate what's out there when the lights go out. Other than seeing these old school actors together in the same sequence (for those who remember them), the scene goes on for too long, failing to amass any tension when it really could've used it. The lumbering pace of the director's cut on this blu-ray also tries the patience.

Landau, who was a fantastic actor, must've been on a ham-only diet while making this. It's one of the most overripe performances ever delivered. He's fine at first, but goes into overdrive hogging a lot of screen time that would've been better suited to encounters with the alien. Co-star and future Oscar winner Jack Palance always went overboard in his movies, but he was also a master of exaggeration. Landau would play a similar role in a far better handled psychopathic performance in the underrated slasher/siege horror picture, ALONE IN THE DARK (1982); also co-starring Jack Palance.

 
One young actor in the movie would go on to bigger things later in his career; that actor being David Caruso. In WITHOUT WARNING, Caruso is your standard obnoxious teen character that ends up dead in the alien's shed along with Lynn Thell (the beautiful woman that gives birth to a monster in 1980s HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP). After several additional film roles, Caruso broke big on NYPD BLUE (1993-2005) during its first two seasons, winning a Golden Globe before leaving the show shortly into its second season. Striking out as a leading man in movies, he returned to the TV medium on CSI: MIAMI (2002-2012) for the entirety of its ten seasons. 

Elsewhere there's Neville Brand (1954s RIOT IN CELL BLOCK 11; THE UNTOUCHABLES TV series), Larry Storch (comedian and star of the F TROOP TV series as well as numerous TV comedies), Sue Ane  Langdon (famously as Mary on THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW), Ralph Meeker (1972s THE NIGHT STALKER), and Cameron Mitchell (1952s LES MISERABLES). Mitchell is the classic example of an actor beginning his Hollywood career in high profile pictures before working predominantly in Drive-in style exploitation movies and becoming known more for the latter than the former.

I saw WITHOUT WARNING opening day back in 1980. I saw the trailer on television that morning and immediately rushed upstairs from the den to beg my parents to take me to see it. My mom passed, but my dad decided to take me. It was a much better movie to me as a five year old than now, but it still retains some charm that isn't all about the nostalgia.

If you were interested in Greydon Clark's movies, WITHOUT WARNING is the best place to start. He has a website where you can purchase DVDs and blu-rays of his films as well as a book about making his movies. He also personally signs the items purchased HERE.

WITHOUT WARNING remained MIA on American home video for years. You had to buy bootlegs of foreign releases if you wanted to see it. Showings on HBO, 3am airings on late night TV, MGM HD, and other networks such as Canada's Drive-in Channel under the title of THE WARNING (our old review HERE) were the only ways to see it on North American shores till its 2014 Blu-ray/DVD debut. If you're a fan who hasn't seen it since its initial run, its landing on American home video is a stunning, and welcome, presentation. For cult fans who enjoy such low budget movies with a fascinating history and impressive acting pedigree behind it, don't ignore this WARNING.

This review is representative of the Scream Factory blu-ray/DVD combo. Specs and extras: 1080p HD 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen; audio commentary with Greydon Clark; actor/producer/FX artist/DP interviews; original theatrical trailer; other trailers; stills gallery; reversible artwork; running time: 01:36:49

Yeti: The Giant of the 20th Century (1977) review

YETI: THE GIANT OF THE 20TH CENTURY 1977 aka YETI: IL GIGANTE DEL 20 SECOLO

Phoenix Grant/Antonella Interlenghi (Jane), Jim Sullivan/Matteo Zaffoli (Herbie), Tony Kendall/Luciano Stella (Cliff Chandler), Eddy Fay/Edoardo Faieta (Morgan Hunnicut), John Stacy (Professor Henry Wassermann), Steve Elliott/Stelio Candelli (Henchman #1), Loris Bazoky/Loris Bazzocchi (Al, Henchman #2), Mimmo Crao (Yeti), Donald O'Brien (Sergeant Stricker)

Directed by Gianfranco Parolini

The Short Version: Italy's version of KING KONG is more of a question of "Why?" than an answer to Dino De Laurentiis's American-made 1976 remake. Basically it's a giant Barry Gibb in an Eskimo coat staying alive after being thawed out of hibernation by scientists and a wealthy businessman. In addition to the expected 'Beauty and the Beast' angle, there's also a mute boy and his pet collie wedged into a script that hammers its anti-capitalist/consumerism message over your head; along with dollops of hilarity to divert your attention if the intermittent dullness doesn't put you to sleep first. Low on spectacle but high on camp, YETI is a GIANT OF 20TH CENTURY schlock.

A million year old Abominable Snowman is discovered in a block of ice in Newfoundland. Industrialist Morgan Hunnicut intends to use the creature to enhance his business ventures while a competitor has other ideas. In the meantime, the creature escapes and falls in love with Jane, the granddaughter of the business magnate.

Known internationally for helming the popular SABATA trilogy (1969-1971), Gianfranco Parolini (alias Frank Kramer) helmed this heavy-handed monster movie that overindulges itself in anti-entrepreneurialism and heart-string pulling instead of exploiting its potential for rampant monster mayhem. The consumerist messaging is poured on so thick it ceases any seriousness it may have intended. Mario Di Nardo's directionless script is as confused as the Yeti upon awakening to civilization; as well as being predominantly lifeless and slow to thaw. With little action and city destruction, it's the frequent and abject weirdness that keeps the movie going.

Earlier in the decade the PLANET OF THE APES movies gave birth to a variety of merchandising that would explode in even bigger ways in 1978 following the release of STAR WARS in 1977. Di Nardo's script has people going nuts over assorted Yeti products like shirts, food, and even gas ("Put it in your engine and you'll have great power!"). Society has totally fallen in love with the hairy giant they haven't even seen yet. It's also the only times in the movie that you glimpse of the full-size mock-up built for the film--on display in store advertisements.

Aside from breaking some glass, busting through a few walls, and climbing DOWN a building, the Yeti's urban renovation is small in stature; so if you're expecting a KONG-style rampage you're going to be disappointed. However, the picture more than makes up for it by trading its limited spectacle for unbridled schlock. 

One of the best examples being the first time the creature carries Phoenix Grant is in his enormous hand. Marveling at sightseeing from high altitude, she accidentally brushes Yeti's nipple with her fingers--making it hard and causing his face to be enveloped with a level of excitement signaling something else has hardened as well (it's been a million years, after all). Instead of creating a bond between beauty and beast, Di Nardo's script is incapable so the special effects crew literally pump air into a fake nipple.

In another scene the Yeti uses the skeleton of a huge fish he was eating to comb Jane's hair. But instead of washing it off beforehand, he lovingly brushes her follicles while potentially depositing millions year old bacteria on them. This is the Italian variant of Kong washing and blow drying Jessica Lange in Dino's version with its sexual subtext. In Parolini's film, it's just unintentionally stupid.

As for the title walking carpet, Mimmo Crao had just played Saint Jude Thaddeus in the star-studded television mini-series JESUS OF NAZARETH (1977) before participating in what would be his last known credit. The filmmakers apparently wanted a more expressive face for their Bigfoot by making Crao's visible, with some added facial hair and a huge lion-style mane. This explains why he looks a lot like Barry Gibb wearing an Eskimo coat. 

Crao does as good a job as anybody could do in the role; but it's inescapable the finished product is anything other than epically poor quality. The picture revolves around the Yeti, but the filmmakers do very little with him--failing to make a blood and thunder monster epic; and to formulate any sort of dramatic crux between him and the girl. In an unusual move, the script differs from the usual tragedy aspect of these movies; nor is there an attempt to develop the Yeti as a pitiable creature. Instead, he just wanders around as aimless as the movie is.

Filmed mostly in Rome with interiors at Cinecitta, this Stefano Films release for producers Wolfranco Coccia and Nicolo Pomilia shot location footage in Toronto to give the movie an international feel while hiding its Italian origins. The picture's heavy reliance on Ermanno Biamonte's bluescreen work not only superimposes the Yeti into the Canadian location shots, but some of the main cast as well. 

Similar to the court battle between De Laurentiis, RKO, and Universal over remake rights to KING KONG (1933), the Italian YETI was embroiled in a similar controversy. After '76 KONG's release, it was announced Dino De Laurentiis would next mount another giant monster movie to be shot in the Himalayas under the title of 'Yeti'. David Z. Goodman (co-writer of STRAW DOGS [1971]) was writing the script based on a story by Italian writer and filmmaker Giorgio Moser. Allegedly, some months prior to Parolini's YETI, Moser had discussed the soon-to-shoot Dino picture with Parolini; later claiming that the director had stolen the idea from him. With YETI in production from Stefano Films, the De Laurentiis Abominable Snowman movie was abandoned, moving on to other killer animal films, THE WHITE BUFFALO and ORCA (both 1977).

Dino's KONG was a success in Italy during its Christmas release in 1976; so the producers and director Parolini attempted to mimic that success in every way--including having the film ready for a Christmas release the following year. Wishing to follow in Carlo Rambaldi's footsteps, but with a lot less money to play with, modelers from the Carnival of Viareggio built an over 20 foot Yeti that didn't resemble Mimmo Crao in the slightest. Looking like an enormous troll, you mostly only see the feet and legs. The only times you see the full-sized model is in the above-mentioned advertisements. A mechanical hand is utilized for the obligatory scenes of the lovelorn beast carrying the object of his affection around. Unlike Dino's KONG, the big hand is barely used.

The script has no mercy on the actors either. For example, one of the characters is a little mute boy. The script sets up the notion that something will transpire to cause the kid to get his voice back. To ramp up the cute factor, the kid has a collie named Indio. Towards the end the dog is presumed killed. But in the last few minutes he's alive and two of those minutes are cutaways of the boy and his dog running to each other in slow motion; and the kid remains mute.

Only 16 at the time (she married at 15), and billed as Phoenix Grant (in both the Italian and English versions), this was Antonella Interlenghi's debut. A few years later she would appear as one of the brain-ripping zombies in Lucio Fulci's CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD (1981).

Aldo Canti, an acrobatic actor frequently used by Parolini (and familiar to fans of muscleman movies and westerns) is listed in the end credits as 'The Killer'. Unless he had some additional scenes, he's only in one; has no dialog, and if you blinked you'd miss him. 

Tony Kendall is the most recognizable face in the cast. Having starred in virtually every genre of European exploitation as good and bad guys, he's the latter in YETI. And yet again, the script fails to do much with him. Some of his well known horror roles are WHIP AND THE BODY (1967) for Mario Bava and RETURN OF THE BLIND DEAD (1972) and THE LORELEY'S GRASP (1973) for Amando De Ossorio.

Other than a few good scenes, the best thing about YETI is Sante Maria Romitelli's musical score. His cues contain the grandeur and poignancy the movie lacks. The same can't be said for an atrocious song by the made-up band, The Yetians. Possessing some of the dumbest lyrics ever devised, it's notable for being the only Bigfoot movie with a disco-rock main theme song.

Much like its inspiration, YETI: THE GIANT OF THE 20TH CENTURY (1977) had a lot of ballyhoo behind it. But unlike its inspiration, it didn't go over big with audiences. If you want to see a truly wild, action-packed KONG clone with bold, soul-shocking camp qualities then check out the Shaw Brothers epic THE MIGHTY PEKING MAN (1977). If YETI had exploited its title creature with a more prominent action quotient, then Parolini's clumsily entertaining, yet mediocre Abominable Snowman movie would have left a much bigger footprint in Fantasy-Monster Movie history.

This review is representative of the Dark Force blu-ray. Specs and Extras: New HD master; 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen; English dubbed version only; running time: 01:41:16