Trailer Terrors: XTRO (1983)



Not all Extra Terrestrials are friendly.

I was recently inspired by a creatively written post on The Deadly Doll's House of Horror Nonsense to track down and see a film that I've heard a lot of buzz about, but never had the chance to see... XTRO.

Having done so I have come to the conclusion that XTRO is definitely a film that is experienced and not seen. It offers so many different ideas that are both surreal and WTF?! that your eyes will literally not be able to translate much else to your cerebral cortex other than the fact that "yes, that midget clown did just try to kill someone with a rubber hammer" and "damn, panthers are cool!" There is a plot which is sprinkled throughout the film, but overall the entire movie is a sequence of bizarre scenes and practical special effects. The story is made even more confusing by a surprise ending that is clearly inspired by Alien (1979).

Gorehounds can rejoice as there is a venerable amount of dyed corn syrup to go around in addition to some gratuitous nudity and, while the aforementioned grue doesn't compare to fellow European import Dead Alive, XTRO more than manages to make up for it with subtext that is fit for both science fiction and sex. Perhaps the best example of this takes place near the beginning of the film in which Sam (the little boy's father) impregnates a helpless woman with his alien "DNA" only to be reborn a fully-grown man from her womb no later than 10 minutes. Try that one on for size, Sigmund Freud.





5 comments:

  1. Jon Guerra said...:

    Been wanting to see this since I read about it on The Deadly Doll's House of Horror Nonsense. Have yet to track it down. It's on the list of things to do.

  1. Strange Kid said...:

    Its totally worth it. The movie is crazy enough to hold your attention and the gory effects are just cheap enough to keep you laughing.

  1. Anonymous said...:

    Is that Roger Rees? He's now the artistic director for the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego...which you probably wouldn't think of by watching this.

  1. Strange Kid said...:

    I have to admit that thought never would have crossed my mind. ;)

  1. deadlydolls said...:

    So glad to inspire some magical gruel! What's especially strange to me is that the film seems to tray rather hard to tell a straight narrative, then pretty much just throws its hands in the air and goes insane with goo. And midget clowns, of course.

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