Tom (David Caruso, Session 9), Greg (Christopher T. Nelson), Beth, and Sandy (Tarah Nutter) are teenagers who go to a remote lake for some fun in the sun. Tom and Beth are your typical horny adolescent couple, while Greg and Sandy are more virginal and innocent. The four of them pack into a shag carpeted Chevy van and go into the countryside.
A father (Cameron Mitchell) and his son are also in the region on a hunting trip, as is a troop of Cub Scouts led by Larry Storch (of TV’s F Troop) who are earning a few merit badges in the great outdoors. The hunters and scouts all come across something weird and terrible hiding in the woods, bizarre flying jellyfish monsters that grip onto victims and dig into their flesh with tentacles and fangs. These terrifying frisbees of death are only the weapon of choice for an extraterrestrial entity with a human blood thirst in the woods.
When our youths stop for gas, they come into the terrifying proprietor Jack (Jack Palance), who tells them to keep away from the lake, but they merely laugh it off. Horny teenagers seldom heed to doomsday predictions, but what fun would that be? They arrive at the picturesque watering hole and have a dip before splitting up to follow their individual hobbies. Of course, it’s the horny teenagers that vanish without a trace, leaving the virgins to piece together what happened to their colleagues in the style of Scooby-Doo. They are shocked to discover their slimy corpses in a little cabin beside the remains of the scout leader and the hunters, supposing their buddies are off fornicating in the woods. They hurry into town and into a pub, where they try to warn the people, but the intoxicated townies just do not believe them. Veteran actors such as Neville Brand (Eaten Alive) and the aforementioned Jack Palance make appearances in this film. Then there’s Sarge, a crazy ‘Nam vet (Martin Landau) who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and extraterrestrial paranoia, and who just happens to be the only one who believes the teen’s strange narrative.
Without Warning is exactly the type of drive-in science fiction drive-in that I like. Relics of a bygone period of cinema that defy logic and are riddled with terrible decisions. The ensemble of characters is great; we have our kids Greg and Sandy, who are the loveliest teenagers you could ever imagine; they’re so lovely and courteous it’s almost sickening. Both of the young females in the picture cut quite a figure, and while the adolescents are ostensibly the major characters, it’s veterans Jack Palance and Martin Landau who chew the scenery and steal the movie from beneath them whipper snappers. Landau is especially amusing as the bug-eyed madman who believes that aliens have replaced the adolescents and pretty much everyone else, simply a lot of fun and absurd anxiety.
The low-budget special effects are a lot of fun, especially when the blood-sucking alien jellyfish vibrate and expel a sticky, nasty yellow liquid. There’s a scene when they hook onto a windshield and you can see the teeth gnawing away on the underneath; most of the effects are very antiquated, but I adore these rubber monster ideas; they’re extremely fun. An elongated grey extraterrestrial with a gigantic skull and long scary fingers, the predatory monster design is a marvel of schlocky beauty. Perhaps not the most defined design, but it is incredibly powerful and only seen for brief moments. The unveiling of the alien is extremely good; it’s a shame it’s spoiled on the Blu-ray artwork.
Without Warning is available on Blu-ray from Scream Factory in its original widescreen aspect ratio (1.85:1) and looks rather excellent. Despite being shot on the cheap, it looks really decent, with a beautiful grain structure and high color saturation. The HD update does not significantly improve fine detail, but it does provide a very appealing image. Given that this cult item has been difficult to obtain for years, the source material is in excellent condition. The English DTS-HD Mono soundtrack is clear and perfectly balanced, and Dan Wyman’s spooky music sounds fantastic – English subtitles are available.
Extras include a 21-minute interview with performers Christopher S. Nelson and Tarah Nutter. Nelson recalls the experience warmly, as well as working with veterans Jack Palance and Martin Landau. Nutter recalls being chilly on set and struggling to remain warm, as well as being cast in the role. Both speak well of one other and director Graydon Clark, as well as what it was like to work on a low-budget picture. Sure, Nutter describes shattering the cottage in the field with the sheer force of her scream. My favorite Nelson tale is a David Caruso story about Palance threatening to attack him during a scene, which I would love to witness!
For around fifteen minutes, cinematographer Dean Cundey talks about working with Greydon on four prior low-budget films (Black Shampoo, Satan’s Cheerleaders, Hi-Riders, Angels Brigade) and the ambitious low-budget production of Without Warning. He recalls working on the picture shortly after finishing Halloween with John Carpenter, despite being advised to avoid exploitation films for the sake of his career, and what a fantastic experience that was.
A brief six-minute interview with Special Make-Up Effects Creator Greg Cannom discusses creating the low-budget effects for the film, while Co-Writer/Co-Producer Daniel Grodnik discusses his career producing films such as the slasher classic Terror Train and the comedy Star Hops. Extras include videos, a still gallery, and a reversible sleeve of artwork.
