BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Micitype Pretty Good

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

sol- Abducted by aliens, a family man returns home to the delight of his doting son, but his time in space seems to have changed him in this gloriously uncanny horror movie. Underwhelming at first, the film stands up slightly better upon revision when viewed as more of a mood piece than a narrative. Largely shot in the dead of night with imaginative creature effects and a sound design that creatively fuses music and sound effects, the film simply drips with atmosphere. There are also several unsettling moments that impressively do not rely on effects, lighting or music, such as lead actor Philip Sayer swallowing snake eggs (just one of the many strange things he does upon returning). Creepy as it may be, 'Xtro' does not exactly spin an airtight narrative and as the boy's toys randomly come to life and as he turns homicidal, one gets the distinct feeling that the project exists as mainly an excuse for director Harry Bromley Davenport to experiment and be as creative as he can when it comes to shocks and horror. That said, the film does play with some very tangible themes and issues - most notably, the void a parent leaves when away for a long time and the uncertainty of whether someone is still the same after being away for so long. Indeed, were it not for all the deaths, the whole film could be read as a manifestation of the boy's anxieties after being separated from his father.

Sam Panico Alien is a haunted house movie in space that has begat a slew of imitators, copycats and outright rip-offs. 1982s Xtro, on the other hand, is truly a movie that has something for everyone: if everyone includes folks who want to see movie about a father reconnecting with his son, as well as a film where Maryam d'Abo is repeatedly naked, a kid discovers his psychic powers with a weird clown, an Alien-style birth scene of a fully-grown man being born out of a pregnant woman ("What is it with all the alien birth scenes in these movies? What is wrong with people?" asked my wife), toys coming to life, a child hunting down people like The Omen…truly Xtro is about ten movies worth of ideas in one scuzzy, scummy exploitation fever dream.I'll do my best to summarize the plot, but at any point, you may declare, "You're just making this up now." I assure you that what follows is as close to the filmed truth as possible. It truly is that weird film that even surprised a jaded viewer such as myself.Tony and his dad Sam (Phillip Sayer, The Hunger) are playing fetch with their dog. On the last stick through, much like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Sam tossed the stick high into the air and the screen goes white as he gets abducted.Three years later, the light appears in the sky again and an alien creature scurries across a British countryside road. It gets hit by a car, yet survives to kill the driver and his passenger, then find his way to a cottage where it impregnates the lady who resides there. Moments later, Sam is reborn, clawing his way out of the woman, even biting into a bloody umbilical cord before he leaves. This is ten minutes into the movie. And if you think this is the end of the craziness, read on….Sam wants to find his son, who lives with his mother Rachel (Bernice Stegers, Macabre), her new boyfriend Joe (Sinon Nash, Brazil) and a French babysitter named Analise (the aforementioned d'Abo, The Living Daylights) whose sole job seems to be getting naked every time she is on screen. Sam has nightmares about his dad every single night, waking up soaked in blood. Oddly, it turns out that the blood isn't his.READ MORE AT http://www.thatsnotcurrent.com/xeroxenomorphs-xtro-1982/

Lee Eisenberg Fans of schlocky '80s horror flicks are going to love Harry Bromley Davenport's "Xtro". Sort of a mash-up of "E.T." and "Alien", this is one movie that's not afraid to do anything that it wants. I have no doubt that they had a lot of fun filming it.It turns out that a number of the cast members have had prominent careers elsewhere. Bernice Stegers (Rachel) appeared in "Four Weddings and a Funeral"; Maryam d'Abo (Anneliese) was a Bond girl (and a first cousin of one of the members of Manfred Mann); Anna Wing (Mrs. Goodman) starred on "EastEnders"; Robert Fyfe (the doctor) appeared in "Cloud Atlas"; and Sean Crawford and Tim Dry (the monster and the commando) are a mime duo. What a combo for a movie that features makeup work rivaling that of Tom Savini.I understand that it got mistakenly labeled a Video Nasty. If you're not familiar with that term, it's a reference to movies that the British press criticized for their violence. Moral crusader Mary Whitehouse* (known for her homophobia) led a campaign against the Video Nasties, and some local jurisdictions began prosecuting them. As always, these holy rollers get in the way of everyone's fun! Anyway, it's a really fun movie, especially a certain scene featuring Maryam d'Abo. In conclusion: Joe Stalin never imagined his likeness appearing in one of THESE flicks! PS: Although none of the names are supposed to match those of real people, there was actually a Sam Phillips. He was the founder of Sun Records, which recorded Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison and Jerry Lee Lewis.*The recent movie "Pride" (about the alliance between gays and miners during the 1984-85 Miners' Strike in the UK) featured a scornful reference to her. It sounds as though a good nickname for her would be England's Anita Bryant. I like to think that she did double flips in her grave when the UK legalized same-sex marriage.

Scott LeBrun ...Then, by all means, get out of your car and take a look.The British production "Xtro" is just about as wild and wacky as low budget genre junk can get. In the words of its director, Harry Bromley Davenport, it's a "rubbish" film, but a deliciously trippy one. The levels of cheese and trash are off the scale here, starting with the electronic score composed by Davenport himself. The story has a father & husband, Sam (the late Philip Sayer) abducted by aliens and returning to Earth three years later, clearly NOT the man he used to be, in order to claim his son Tony (Simon Nash) and wife Rachel (Bernice Stegers), who's now taken up with an American photographer, Joe (Danny Brainin). This is a Hell of a ride for one to take, and provided they're comfortable with the plethora of sexual elements throughout, they can have a lot of fun with it. Davenport and company just have a total ball throwing out every crackpot idea that they can think of, including toys that come to life and act out Tony's dark fantasies. The demented little clown and the living toy soldier are just a hoot. To add to that, we get a panther thrown into the mix, a hotter than hot French nanny (played by future Bond girl Maryam d'Abo) who is subjected to a nasty fate, a man dining on a snakes' eggs, and some of the most wonderfully warped creature & makeup effects to be found in this sort of thing. The biggest I-gotta-rewind-that-and-watch-it-again set piece concerns a woman giving birth to a full grown man. The audience will likely be howling with appreciative laughter watching the madness that Davenport and company bring to the screen. A modest body count adds to the fun. The actors do an incredible job of maintaining poker faces the entire time. Sayer ("Slayground") is very sincere in the lead. Genre fans will recognize Stegers from Lamberto Bava's "Macabre", so she certainly had experience acting out a bonkers plot. D'Abo is very easy to watch, and Anna Wing is hysterical as the dotty old Mrs. Goodman. Well worth watching overall, and followed by two in-name-only sequels. Eight out of 10.