The greatest movie ever made..!

Such a frustrating disappointment

An Exercise In Nonsense

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

I knew going in that this was a low budget horror so i did not expect too much. I was only watching it anyway for Maryam d'Abo anyway. And she did not disappoint. She looks an absoute goddess here. Engaging in, completely non essential to the plot, nudity. Brilliant. The acting was so so, especially the kid, the alien looked cheap and rubbery, the score hurt my ears at times. But it was not a mess. It worked. It was really gripping to the end and there were some genuinely disturbing moments. Alien rape scenes, a woman giving birth to a man, the father giving his son a love bite! Horrifiic.........Terrific!

When first seeing this enthusiastic effort back in 85, I fully appreciated this film for it's originality, sick gore, and just being such an entertaining flick. I still do, but not just as much, but I still hold this movie experience deep to my heart. The scene which still stays in my mind to this day, which I find scary, was the soldier, tank scene, and too the bedspread blood scene. I fully appreciated, maid (Maryam d'Abo-The Living Daylights) fully naked and free. Walking a much similar path of plot to later alien films, the story revolves around the return of a father, gone three years, without a word, who can't remember what happened, as being overtaken by an alien, so we notice certain changes in his behavior, wonderfully played by actor, Phillip Sayer. Not at all pleased by this intrusion, by the new, common looking boyfriend (Brainin) certain conflict arises between the two, but the wife, of course gets sucked back in by hubby, who has now got to the little boy, who starts becoming murderous, starting with the killing of an old bat neighbor. Xtro is such a commercial treat, with 80's unrealistic gore, the last scene, quite graphic (don't touch pods in the bath) nudity, humor, conflict, good acting, and special effects. The film somehow has an enigma, or something that makes it come off better than it should. But really, the problem, I found with the movie, was there was just too little, to make it easy to follow, as if this part was really neglected. This was the real fault with this British. The film too has a nastiness about it, which just enhances it. Not for everyone's taste, Xtro, is a sci fi horror lover's delight, less violent than Inseminoid.

Delving equally into the realms of both sci-fi and horror, this terrifically trippy gem is a wholly unique and fantastic relic from the early '80s splatter cycle that deserves much wider recognition than it currently enjoys.The film is largely focused on a young lad named Tony, who witnesses his father vanishing into a blinding beam of extraterrestrial light. Three years later, Daddy inexplicably comes back to reunite with his son, but this touching reconnection has obstacles in the form of Tony's mother and her new boyfriend, both of whom are understandably curious why the absentee father was gone without a trace for so long and exactly where he was during that span.Thankfully, we're let in on the secret early, and we know that the genesis of the proud papa's return involves the arrival of a temperamental alien beastie, which disembowels pesky humans who get in its way and utilizes a decidedly phallic tentacle appendage to impregnate an unfortunate gal and grace her with dicey honor of giving birth to Dad 2.0. In the film's most unquestionably indelible sequence (which we can only assume is the one that prompted Xtro's addition to the "Video Nasties" list), we get to witness the gory and gooey re-emergence of Tony's dad, who actually crawls out of the woman's womb and bites through his own umbilical cord for good measure.Though the term is never used in the movie, the titular Xtro seems to be a monstrous interstellar parasite of some sort, which Tony's father passes on to him. The transference imbues Tony with the ability to bring his toys to life and set them forth on murderous missions, and to summon a creepy dwarven clown to serve as his henchman. If that last bit sounds silly, okay, it probably is, but I'll be damned if the film-makers don't pull it off, and the hallucinogenic visuals employed during the clown's spells of merry mayhem produce some of the coolest moments in the film.All of the portions that veer into this territory are equally surreal, and though the plot is a bit disjointed because of the way it weaves between straight creature carnage and more bizarre elements like a life-size plastic solider doll stalking an annoying landlord through her apartment, the sum total of Xtro is an extremely enjoyable caper unlike anything you've ever seen.Despite the limited production resources at hand, the monster effects are notably impressive, and the movie doesn't skimp on the red sauce either, so in addition to the uber-splattery birthing scene there are several more grisly set-pieces sprinkled throughout. The climax also boasts some memorable transmogrification visuals as father and son begin to assume their gruesome alien forms, and though the ensuing conclusion where Tony's mom makes one final dreadful discovery is built on pretty fuzzy logic, it effectively punctuates the film and ends us on a high note (if you dig Xtro enough to explore the bonus features, take a look at the alternate ending; it doesn't make much more sense than the one that was ultimately used, but it is undeniably nifty).Elsewhere, the skeletal elements are all well above par. The cast of unknowns clearly took the material seriously, and all of the performances are admirably solid; the presence of the lovely Maryam d'Abo certainly doesn't hurt either. The pace is steady and engrossing, and there are plenty of unsettling touches of suspense introduced along the way. Additionally, since we never actually see any sort of spacecraft, the presentation isn't marked by dated matte effects, so the film has held up much better than many of its contemporaries.Director Harry Bromley Davenport was wise not to provide too many particulars about the lethal lifeforms which populate the world of Xtro. We do get some graphic glimpses of what they're capable of, but most of their physiology and purpose remains unexplained. This would seem to bode well for future installments in the franchise, since based on what's here there's a lot of promise in the prospect of dipping deeper into the mythology of these creatures. I won't be able to let you know how that turned out until I get around to reviewing parts 2 and 3, but even if the sequels fail to live up to the lofty benchmark that this inaugural outing sets, Xtro works extremely well as a stand-alone venture.If you share my fondness for the golden age of low-budget splatter and this one has slipped under your radar, do yourself a favor and add it to your list. I'm not sure if Xtro qualifies as a bonafide classic or not, but this evil E.T. flick definitely delivers the goods in a big way. Highly recommended.

How in THE HELL can I even CONCEIVE to realise this movie came from the guy that brought me "Mockingbird Don't Sing"... HOW? I just finished watching this UK splatter film. I will say here this is one of those few times when the script is terrible yet I give it a decent rating. SERIOUSLY this movie has holes in logic the size of Russia. One of the reasons why I give it 6 is because of it's rather crazy imagination going wild, I sometimes can watch those sorts of movies (HEY I liked the first Troll movie didn't I?) but it's the cinematic equivalent of junk food, enjoyable but not good for you on a regular basis.Bromley-Davenport's directing is actually top notch for a movie of this kind under the conditions they were in as far as budget and directing went.So this is decent - but as far as splatter film goes I'd rather watch movies like The Thing.