Xtro (1982)

"When Tony grows up, he's going to be just like Daddy!"

Plot

Tony witnesses his dad, Sam, being abducted by aliens and becomes traumatised little boy. Three years later, and his mam, Rachel, has moved on, living in London with Tony and a new man and assumes that Sam simply ran off with another woman. However, when the alien ship returns and drops off a passenger to Earth, a startling sequence of events leads to Sam reappearing and wanting to be close to his family again. Rachel is suspicious of Sam trying to reintroduce himself into their lives, but Tony is excited to see his father again.

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And when I say a ‘startling sequence of events’ I mean just that. Roger Ebert once called it an “ugly, mean-spirited and despairing thriller that left me thoroughly depressed” and summarised it saying, “It’s movies like this that give movies a bad name.” And he isn’t wrong in the first instance. What could best be described as a British sci-fi horror mis-mash between Alien, Starman and E.T., Xtro is one weird trip down a rabbit hole that really loses its way… if it had a way to begin with. Whilst it all appears to be a standard issue alien abduction flick on the surface, Xtro is a surreal experience and doesn’t mess around when it comes to the exploitation factor.

There is just so much happening at any one point in the script that you’ll quickly stop trying to make sense of it all and just sit back and watch how it unfolds. I’m not sure how this managed to escape the censors at the start of the Video Nasties controversy in the early 80s in the UK, though it did make the Section 3 supplementary list that weren’t liable for prosecution but still could be seized. Laughably, it’s been released uncut nowadays! Trying to figure out what is going to happen next is near impossible because things just happen right out of leftfield – director Harry Bromley Davenport said he only made this to shock people and shocked you’ll be. It doesn’t make any sense, and it’s designed to be that way; even if the overall narrative is somewhat linear and easy to understand (alien replica of his dad comes back to claim his son), its everything around it which reeks of the kitchen sink approach.

Aside from all of the cooky, but expected, sci-fi horror stuff involving lights from space, alien eggs, cocoons and the like, Xtro doesn’t just stop there. From dreamlike sequences involving a dwarfish clown, an appearance of a black panther in the middle of the house, and Tony developing the ability to animate his toys and make them life-size, the script is just littered with ideas which make little sense but they're brought to life in such surrealist fashion. There is an element of uncanny valley with a lot of the effects on show, particularly the six-foot-tall Action Man who Tony brings to life to go and kill his neighbour who murdered his pet snake. The alien creature shown on the artwork and featured in the opening sequences is hideous, fantastically brought to life by a mime artist crawling around on all fours, caked up layers of gloop and goo. Rather than just going along the standing tall on two legs approach, the alien’s movements and mannerisms really give off an ethereal vibe unlike many other aliens brought to life on film.

Perhaps Xtro’s most infamous scene is when a woman, fresh from being orally raped by the alien in face hugger-like fashion, goes through the gestation process almost instantly and quickly proceeds to give birth to a fully-grown ‘human’ man. The result is both bizarre and grotesque but is also a decent special effects set piece which will leave you a little bit queasy after watching it. The filmmakers certainly didn’t skimp on the gore here but it’s the added sound effects as Sam pulls himself out of the woman’s ripped vagina which really etch it into the brain! If that wasn’t enough, later in the film the hickey that Sam gives Tony, transferring some of his alien abilities into his son, needs no further explanation than what you see on screen.

With all of the bizarre occurrences, you’d hope that the film would be anchored with some solid characters who could at least make it all make sense. Alas, Xtro features some thinly sketched characters who don’t behave like normal people (well, considering one is an alien, you know what I mean) especially given all of the nonsensical events that seem to go their way. Simon Nash, as Tony, is deeply unlikeable and Rachel, played by Bernice Segers, makes some crazy decisions such as inviting Sam to stay with her and hew partner for a while. Former Bond girl Maryam d'Abo looks amazing in this, her debut role, and only five years before she was cast in The Living Daylights. As the French Au Pair Analise, her frequent nude scenes are far more than a little gratuitous.

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Final Verdict

Everything in Xtro is designed to make your skin crawl and your brain question what is going on. So in that respect, it does what it set out to do at the start and shock its audience. Its gooey, its surreal and its trashy in equal measure. The British didn’t make too many sci-fi horror films during this period so sit back and enjoy something which truly beggars description. Love it or hate it, you’ll remember it!

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Xtro Director(s): Harry Bromley Davenport Writer(s): Harry Bromley Davenport (story), Iain Cassie, Michel Parry (story), Robert Smith Actor(s): Philip Sayer, Bernice Stegers, Danny Brainin, Maryam d'Abo, Simon Nash, Peter Mandell, David Cardy, Anna Wing Duration: 86 mins