Xtro/Review

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Nobody believes it when little Tony (Simon Nash) says that aliens kidnapped his dad, Sam (Philip Sayer) but it's been a whole three years since the supposed abduction occured and Tony's mother, Rachel (Bernice Stegers) has moved on with her life and is currently snuggling up with a photographer named Joe (Danny Brainin). We then take a trip to a nearby forest where an alien has crash landed (Or has it returned?). The mean ol' ugly critter then wastes no time on killing a couple who where just driving on their way home. Looking for a place to stay, it settles on a cottage run by a single woman. Since we already know that this critter isn't nice, it's no surprise that the alien attacks and impregnates the woman with it's seed (The same way a facehugger in a certain Ridley Scott film would do). Within the same night, the woman gives birth to a full-grown man! And what do ya know? It's Sam! Although he looks the same, we know better, right? Sure enough, Sam reunites with the family but he seems to have the most interest in Tony. Afterall, Tony is the one who has missed his dad the most while both Rachel and Joe are convinced Sam just ran off with another woman.

But all of a sudden, Tony becomes a little freaked out when he catches his papa eating Tony's pet snake's eggs! Sam then tells Tony the truth that in order to live as an alien while he was abducted, he had to become one of their kind. And that the only reason he came back was to bring his son to his new planet. After a make-up hug between father and son, Sam then injects some sort of egg inside Tony's neck. And it's here when things start to get really screwy. Tony becomes gifted with magical powers and feels the need to kill off a few enemies. And what better way to do it than bringing to life a toy clown! Or how about a life-size G.I. Joe doll? Not enough? Bring in a life-size panther and a self-controlled minature tank which shoots real cannon fire! And if you think Rachel's house has enough strange mayhem going on inside, wait till she gets home and finds an alien nest in the bathroom! And where is Rachel at this moment? She's with Sam. Perhaps on their way to making back up, but...Uh-oh. Sam's skin is starting to shed! This means he'll be a full-fledged alien by the night and will have to make the desperate trip back to wherever the hell he came from. But to hell with Rachel, he wants Tony to go with him. Will his wish come true?

Writer-Director, Harry Bromley Davenport, has candidly gone on to say that much of this movie was made up on the spot and thank god he admitted that otherwise film-freaks like us would have to waste so much time trying to dig for some sort of deeper meaning in this flick. But, he said the main objective was to try and freak people out and I do admit that there are a few gruesome moments that are still a little cringe worthy (like the birth scene or the egg-eating gag, at least that one made my stomach turn). But again, there's still a lot left unexplained such as the "shocker" ending, or the scene where Rachel finds Tony completely soaked in blood (No explanation whatsoever) and..Oh! I didn't even mention the lovely Maryam d'Abo yet did I? She plays a french character who lives with Rachel, Tony, and Joe. But it's never revealed why she's there exactly. A nanny? A roomate? Nevertheless, she looks absolutely delicious here and her inclusion was a wise choice just to make this movie a bit prettier to look at.

From a technical standpoint, I guess things aren't so bad. The acting's decent. FX/Makeup is good. Ah, but that musical score is rather stinky. Composed by Davenport himself, it's another cheesy example of "Bad synthesizer scores" and even Davenport admitted it was bad (I'm starting to like this guy!). So there you have it, I guess. XTRO doesn't make much sense, but it's hard to be bored with it.

Reviewed by Laydback