Was anticipating worse judging from the mixed to negative reviews seen for this film, while it didn't completely grab me it didn't make me mad either. Basically it is a mildly entertaining and harmless diversion, no more, no less.

The performances of Jack Palance and Martin Landau have garnered mixed views, some viewers finding them a lot of fun and others feeling that they over-acted. This viewer is of the opinion that they were a lot of fun to watch and were by far the most involved actors in the cast. The overacting complaints are understandable in the case of Landau who admittedly is over-the-top and not all his scenes add to the film as effectively as they could have done, but because his character is meant to be deranged and that Landau succeeds very well at making Sarge gloriously unhinged the over-the-top-ness is forgivable. Palance is wonderfully cranky and brings a curmudgeonly charm to his eccentric role whenever he appears, and actually for late career Palance it's not that hammy, with the exception of the ALIEN line at the end.

As for other virtues, Tarah Nutter does a credible job in the female lead role, of the younger cast she is the only one to have any material with any real meat to it, due to being on screen the longest of them, and to really convince. Kevin Peter Hall is a cool-looking and subtly terrifying alien, definitely making a good impression with his little (which was wisely limited, any more and it would have taken some of the mystery away) screen time. There are some fun and creepy moments, the climax is fun if also somewhat illogical and the flying discs do provide an unsettlingly creepy effect, on first viewing Greg's death was nightmare inducing and the scene with the boy scouts still has shock value. Greydon Clark wisely doesn't take things too seriously, while making sure that the fun and creepiness is a good mix and doesn't overshadow the other, while not entirely succeeding in making them run consistently throughout the film.

Quality of the effects , the look of the film and script are mixed. The flying discs look good on their victims and have a real gory effect but look rather cheap journeying to them. Without Warning is slickly filmed with some atmosphere in the lighting, though the sets are limited, some exteriors are lit too darkly and a few of the shots in the middle third go on for too long inexplicably, seeming to only do that for padding purposes. With the script, Palance has all the best lines, there is a nice knowing tongue-in-cheek humour and Landau's dialogue at the end is delightfully kooky and while it lacks character motivation logic (and it's easy to mistake it for an all too easy way to get killed) it fits with Sarge's state of mind, but the dialogue elsewhere for almost all the younger cast is very awkward, with some clunky gaps, and confused stuff delivered stiffly.

Of the younger cast, only Nutter convinces, everybody else has very little to do and come and go (some going quicker than when they were introduced) and they are all rather stiff. Ralph Meeker, Cameron Mitchell and Neville Brand are not bad in their roles but have nothing to do, and Larry Storch is rather irritating here. Character development is sketchy at best, only Palance and Landau have any development. Without Warning deserves credit for having an original premise, but more could have been done with it. It entertains certainly and is fun, suspenseful and creepy but those factors don't come consistently and too much of the story is padded out (to make up for that not a lot happens here and to sustain the somewhat too long running time),a little on the predictable side and there is a lack of logic in places (mainly in the behaviour of the characters). Pacing is also a real issue, with too many dull stretches, especially in the transition from the middle act to the last which is an almost endless drag, and would have benefited from less of the long shots and a couple of Landau's scenes (some like in the car going on for too long and not bringing an awful lot to the story, feeling more like padding than anything else) being trimmed down or excised, which would have made the film fifteen minutes shorter perhaps.

In conclusion, mildly entertaining and a harmless diversion, that didn't leave me either completely riveted or angry, but it is a bit dull and more definitely could have been done with the premise. 5/10 Bethany Cox

A low-budget chiller that stands out like a shining gem amid the wealth of other low-budget nonsense made at around this time in America, this excellent sci-fi horror crossbreed is a film to seek out and watch. Not least because it also serves as the inspiration for PREDATOR, as an alien being stalks various folk in the woods for sport. In many ways, this film is actually scarier than PREDATOR , because there aren't any fancy special effects and you don't really see the alien all that much. Instead the film relies on lonely tracking shots, moving shadows, and the dark for most of its scares, plus a great glimpse of the alien at the beginning in the bushes which makes you wonder just what you have seen.

On top of all this you have a fantastic cast and an imaginative menace for once. The alien itself is a very old-fashioned creature that looks like it has come straight out of a '50s B-movie flick and THE WARNING captures that same straight-faced but fun feeling very well indeed, it's like a throwback to the old days of B-movies. The impossibly tall Kevin Peter Hall plays the alien and to hit home the similarities between the two films, seven years later he was the alien in PREDATOR as well. The down-to-earth location is atmospheric, and used well instead of merely being a stalk-and-slash in the woods as the Jason films were.

The film opens on a bright, sunlit afternoon where hunter Cameron Mitchell (!) plans to bag some game. However, Mitchell doesn't last for long as flying discs come out of the nearby woods and drain his blood supply. You see, the alien is hidden for much of the film, but uses his organic frisbee-like discs to kill people. The special effects are suitably gooey and disgusting, not to mention colourful. The next victim is a nerdy scout leader who quite frankly deserves all he gets from the alien blighter.

Meanwhile, four vacationing teenagers decide to use the local woods as their retreat, much to their eventual dismay. The two most irritating teens (including future television star David Caruso) mysteriously disappear, and our young heroes discover a number of mutilated corpses hidden inside a wooden shack: the alien's trophy room. They make their way to a local bar where most people scoff at them, and to make matters worse, 'Sarge', an ex-army lunatic who thinks an alien invasion is imminent, becomes trigger-happy, killing off the sheriff. Luckily, Taylor, a local storekeeper who knows of the existence of the alien, saves the kids and takes them back into the woods to locate the shack a second time.

A pretty simple plot, which mainly consists of characters running from one location to another, but is still pretty gripping. This is thanks to the efforts of the cast, who are all pretty much great. Even the two "teenage" leads, Christopher Nelson and Tarah Nutter, are surprisingly good and likable in their roles. Cameron Mitchell pops up at the beginning just so he can die a gruesome death, and his role is very brief. Meanwhile Jack Palance puts in another oddball turn as the town hermit, and is wonderful again. Why is this man so underrated? Martin Landau goes over the top as the paranoid ex-sergeant, and his twitchy performance is a hoot and one of the highlights of the film. The plot may be simple and familiar, yet THE WARNING offers up some great special effects in the form of the alien disc creatures, lots of slimy gore scenes, and a solid cast going through their paces, making it a unique genre crossbreed and a must-see for B-movie fans. It's definitely the highlight of director Greydon Clark's career.

Or are they Denver omelets?

Actually, they're these flying mini aliens from outer space who attached themselves to people's body and insert a red tube into their bodies that precedes to apparently drink every ounce of fluid and shrink organs, causing them to literally deflate. A bunch of horny teenagers in the woods encounter them and for some reason the government agents begin to suspect the teenagers of the actually being the aliens in question.

A delightfully fun and silly early 80's science fiction film with horror elements that pairs future Oscar winners Jack Palance and Martin Landau, both trying to outdo each other in chewing the scenery, and Landau is ironically playing the type of part that Bela Lugosi would have played had he been able to finish "Plan 9 from Outer Space". Sue Ane Langdon actually steals the scenery as an earthy waitress since she isn't trying to be anything other than the character she's playing. This is a throwback to science fiction films like "It Concord the World" and "Invasion of the Saucer Men" from which a borrow some of its elements, with the mini alien straight out of "It Conquered" and the life sized alien a look alike of the saucer men. A lot of fun, perfect with popcorn.