Without Warning (1980)
Director: Greydon Clark
Writers: Lyn Freeman, Daniel Grodnik, Ben Nett, Steve Mathis
Cast: Martin Landau, Jack Palance, Christopher S. Nelson, Tarah Nutter, Neville Brand, David Caruso, Kevin Peter Hall
There’s a moment in Without Warning where Sarge, played by a paycheck cashing Martin Landau, declares out loud that “Aliens ain’t human, you know.” Its the kind of dialogue, delivered in such an earnest fashion, that us fans of low-budget horror live for. We quote it with our friends, reference it on movie nerd message boards and yell it out at screenings. Some of us even find ways to work it into everyday conversation (or with the ladies, if you’re hip). For us weirdos, these movies provide a rich tapestry of amateurish performances (or incredibly over the top), odd pacing, ridiculous character choices, and cheap but well-meaning effects work. For everyone else…this stuff is probably best left in obscurity.
This particular potboiler opens in the woods, by a stream, in an unspecified region of California. A grumpy father (B-movie king Cameron Mitchell) is on a hunting trip with his sensitive hippie son, Randy. We know Randy is a sensitive hippie thanks to his gloriously thick mustache (which belongs in the pantheon of great horror mustaches, right next to Jameson Parker’s Prince of Darkness soup-strainer) and his knapsack is full of books. Books!! He also has been sleeping all morning while his dad has already been up for an hour. A whole goddamn hour!
Eat your heart out, Steve Christy.
Through some dialogue we find out Randy is a staunch anti-hunting advocate (makes sense in light of the vacation…), so much so that he empties his shotgun shells on the ground while Pops is grumping in the other direction.
For all of Randy’s silly opinions on the sanctity of life, Dad is the real nutjob. In one unsettling scene, he hides in the bushes, points his weapon at Randy and gets visibly excited at the thought of blowing his son’s head off. I wonder what Christmas was like at their house?
Before Dad can act out his homicial fantasies, a slimy starfish-like creature frisbees out of nowhere, attaches to his face, and begins to drain his blood. Randy tries to help him, but alas, his shotgun is empty and he, too, succumbs to the flying vaginas-with-teeth. And so begins Greydon Clark’s Without Warning (aka It Came Without Warning aka The Warning aka Alien Shock).
Is that a Mynock?
Now that we’ve gotten that opening shocker out of the way, its time for the meat-and-potatoes. We are introduced to a friendly foursome made up of three unknowns and one very pink-looking David Caruso. His character, the imaginatively named Tom, along with his ladyfriend Beth have invited mutual pals Greg (Peter Barton lookalike Christopher S. Nelson) and Sandy (non-actor Tarah Nutter) out for a fun-filled day at the lake. While Tom and Beth are squirming to get into each others short-shorts, Greg and Sandy play it very innocent, having just met.
Needing to fuel their van, the gang decides to stop at Taylor’s Gas, one of those gas stations that has a stuffed bobcat hanging by the door and dozens of animal heads mounted on the walls. You know…one of those types of gas stations.
The girls decide to use the john, and finding the door locked, use the men’s room instead, where they are startled by a crazy-eyed looney tune named Sarge. Turns out Sarge has some wicked PTSD (we know this because he references everyday civilian things using military terms, such as latrine instead of john and runs around wearing old army fatigues) that will come into play later.
If being spooked by one character actor wasn’t enough, the kids are then approached by another crazy-eyed looney tune named Joe (these are the sorts of inventive monikers that only a team of four screenwriters can conjure). Joe, portrayed by the oft cheery Jack Palance, proceeds to explain how he runs the gas station and loves killing/eating random animals, which annoys animal empathizer Sandy (too bad she couldn’t have met Randy before his eyeballs got sucked out). Palance finishes up his day on set by warning the kids to not go to the lake. His reasoning? Why its hunting season of course!
I know what you’re thinking. How can the movie be called Without Warning when Joe clearly warned them not to go to the lake?! Its best to not over think such trivial things.
Our heroes eventually make it to the lake, but not before auteur Clark brings the movie to a screeching halt by cutting to a goofy-looking cub scout leader and his pack of kids. Other than trying to up the body count and give former F-Troop star Larry Storch a day’s pay, this scene isn’t funny or scary. The scout leader stumbles upon Randy and his dad’s winnebago, attempts to light a cigarette by striking rocks together, and gets a sucker-snatch to the face. The scouts, many of which keep looking right into the camera lens, see the shadow of a large figure and scream (not all on cue, either).
When we finally get back to Tom, Beth, Greg, and Sandy, they are frolicking in the lake and have forgotten all about the silly warning. Eventually Tom and Beth decide to make the beast with two backs (on a Star Wars blanket no less), leaving Greg and Sandy to awkwardly go for a walk. After roughly five minutes (apparently they have little faith in Tom’s skills as a lover), they return to the van to find that their friends are nowhere to be found. Greg decides this would be a good time to have a snack and change into a Marty McFly life-jacket vest, but his good cheer is short lived and he throws a tantrum at his pals’ disappearance. Spurred on by corpse-like Sandy, they go looking for the couple.
I suppose it should also be noted that all of the scenes above are punctuated by endless steadicam shots of someone or something lurking in the woods. Not that suspense is really a priority for Greydon Clark.
Anyway, after a detour involving some sort of foxhole (that wacky Sarge), Greg & Sandy come upon a shack FULL OF DEAD BODIES!!!!!!! Randy, his old man, the cub scout nerd, Tom and Beth, each in a different state of putrefaction. Realizing shit just got real, they haul ass and wind up seeking help in the town’s only bar. Luckily, the joint is full of cool old-school stars like Neville Brand and Ralph Meeker, suckin’ oat sodas and being generally grizzled.
This is by far the best scene in the film, as Sarge (a part-time pool shark it turns out) is also there, and upon hearing Greg’s story, finally loses his nut and decides that the young would-be lovers are really aliens in human form. Joe shows up before too long and lots of fun grouchy dialogue is had amongst the old stars.
Eventually Joe rasps out that he has known all along that an alien has been hunting people in that area (!) and convinces Greg and Sandy to help him kill it. Having nothing else to do, they go along, being pursued by both the alien and his killer bagels as well as bug-eyed Sarge.
The final reveal of the alien is quite disappointing. He is basically a tall dude draped in a hammock with a generic (though well constructed) Grey Alien head, which, according to the film’s producer, was created by Rick Baker in his kitchen for the princely sum of $19,000.
The movie’s big climax won’t be spoiled here, but it involves Jack Palance rhino-charging a seven-foot extraterrestrial while screaming “ALLLLLIIIEEEENNNNNNNNN!!!” It has to be seen to be appreciated.
The Good: While the pacing is incredibly slow and the acting from the teen leads pretty poor, the movie is still a lot of fun for fans of the genre. Landau and Palance make a solid scenery-chewing team, and the inclusion of guys like Neville Brand give the proceedings a sense of prestige that many genre films of this ilk don’t have.
The film was shot by a young Dean Cundey, fresh off Halloween. He had already cut his teeth on several exploitation flicks helmed by Greydon Clark, and his eye is very sharp here. The bar scene in particular has a terrific sense of composition, especially the shots of Landau being lit only by a lantern.
Christopher S. Nelson, while not a strong actor, is very likable and gives it his all. He also has a “Greg” belt buckle.
The Not-So-Good: There is an awful lot of filler in this thing, particularly during the third act when the story should be moving a lot faster. Its not a fast paced movie to begin with, but when our heroes are being pursued by crazy vets and aliens, they shouldn’t stop to take a nap in an old farmhouse. Less patient viewers are liable to check out long before Palance takes on the spaceman with the Spencer’s mask.
The music, credited to Dan Wyman, doesn’t know if its in a horror movie or Ice Castles. Sometimes its a loud, buzzing electronic score (that will often just stop completely to allow an actor to speak) and other times its a little piano suite straight out of As the World Turns.
Final Thoughts: Without Warning is a slight but very fun little horror movie that fans will suck up like puffer fish alien discs. I can totally understand why it has been so loved by genre aficionados. It has that unmistakable late-70s early-80s independent feel that I adore. Unavailable on home video for decades, Shout Factory imprint Scream Factory has released a gorgeous blu-ray of the film that includes a commentary from director Greydon Clark as well as several interviews with Christopher S. Nelson, Tarah Nutter, Dean Cundey and producer Daniel Grodnick. Highly recommended.
Droppin’ Knowledge: One of the four credited screenwriters, Ben Nett, is actually future Saved By The Bell producer Bennett Tramer (whose name is often used for characters in friend John Carpenter’s films).
Trailer:
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