La amenaza desconocida

Robert Urich and Jobeth Williams star in this fairly competant issue. Urich plays a single dad who while on vacation with his daughter starts to investigate a series of cattle mutilations. Good beginning and middle but ending could have been better.

At the time of the 'Endangered Species' initial 1982 release there had been 10,000 recorded cases of cattle mutilation, small change when compared to McDonald's daily apocalypse, but perhaps the macabre singularity of these bizarre, apparently random bovine evisceration's would prove to be more of a film-worthy premise for Alan Rudolph's enjoyably black-hatted conspiracy thriller,'Endangered Species'. Featuring two of the more resolutely 80s-looking movie stars; tall, rugged housewives favourite, Robert Urich and America's winsome sweetheart JoBeth Williams as the frisson-creating, diametrically opposed picture perfect couple, both drawn inexorably together by the magnetic movie magic of 'hooray for Hollywood' screenwriting!

The curve-balling, faintly spooky tale unfolds with creditable alacrity after the initially esoteric mysteries concerning these ominously precise livestock mutilations bring the vexed town's higher echelon into vociferous ferment. With anxious, newly elected sheriff Harriet Perdue (JoBeth Williams), stalwart newspaperman (Paul Dooley), boorish, appropriately bovine patriot Ben (Hoyt Axton) and fleet-fisted wild card ex-city cop Reuben (Urich) all discovering that the rapidly moving lights in the night sky, the inexplicably undisturbed earth around the meticulously gored cattle's ruinous remains, and the confounding post-mortem anomalies, mysteriously suggest the reality of a deeply corrupting conspiracy, perhaps, far stranger than any of them could have previously imagined!

Director Alan Rudolph has always been a class act, and being so fruitfully blessed with such a solid, chaff-free script and a uniformly excellent cast, 'Endangered Species' winningly remains an exciting, thought provoking, proto-X-Files 80s feature that still provides fun, attention-grabbing entertainment for avid Sci-thriller fans young and old! Seen today, 'Endangered Species' has the added boon of giving contemporary, conspiracy-hungry audiences a neat-o submersion into warmly fuzzy 80s genre movie nostalgia, zestfully charged with the energizing, neon-hazed synthesizer score by composer, Gary Wright which is a pleasurably pulse-pounding, adrenaline-spiking, Paul Hertzog-sounding dream!

Ruben Castle (Robert Urich, "The Ice Pirates") is a recovering alcoholic and burnt-out former NYC cop who relocates to a small community in Colorado, with his bratty, rebellious daughter (Marin Kanter, "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains") in tow. With the help of the local sheriff (JoBeth Williams, "Poltergeist") and his old pal, newspaperman Joe Hiatt (Paul Dooley, "Breaking Away"), Ruben gets caught up in a bizarre local story: cattle are repeatedly, mysteriously being mutilated by some shadowy force. Could it be the work of human, or alien, perpetrators?

While this is no classic waiting to be re-discovered, or the debacle some people may lead you to believe it is, I found it to be a reasonably engrossing conspiracy thriller, decently directed by cult favorite Alan Rudolph ("Choose Me", "Trouble in Mind"). It is true that it's not all that suspenseful, or surprising, but I did like the story, and the nefarious, ruthless nature of the antagonists. I also liked the fact that our heroes didn't have a definitive plan of action for a while, given that they weren't sure HOW to proceed. The lovely Williams is engaging right from the start, but it takes a long time (until the second half) to warm up to Urichs' Castle character; he's a surly jerk who doesn't try very hard to stay on the wagon.

But the two of them ARE very well supported by a solid cast of familiar faces: Peter Coyote ("Jagged Edge"), Hoyt Axton ("Gremlins"), Gailard Sartain ("Mississippi Burning"), Dan Hedaya ("Blood Simple"), Harry Carey Jr. ("The Searchers"), John Considine (a regular in Rudolphs' films), Patrick Houser ("Hot Dog...The Movie"), etc. Actor turned softcore auteur / executive producer of this film Zalman King ("Wild Orchid") has a cameo at the outset, Urichs' wife Heather Menzies ("Piranha") has the small role of Susan, and Bill Moseley ("The Devils' Rejects") made his film debut here as a cabbie.

With an amusing electronic score by Gary Wright (yeah, the Gary Wright who did the song "Dream Weaver"), this entertains sufficiently, working its way towards a decent, atmospheric finale - albeit one that may not completely satisfy some viewers. Location shooting in Wyoming and Colorado is a definite asset.

Seven out of 10.

Ruben Castle (Robert Urich) is a rough alcoholic ex-NYC cop who quited under some suspicions. His delinquent daughter Mackenzie is released to him as they travel to Colorado. Mackenzie gets arrested for running into Harriet Purdue (JoBeth Williams). Harriet is the new sheriff in the small Colorado town. She's investigating suspicious cattle mutilation deaths. Ruben's friend Joe Hiatt (Paul Dooley) runs the local paper and has a conspiracy theory about the cattle. Cattle rancher Ben Morgan (Hoyt Axton) is the local big wig. There is a secret base out in an abandoned nuclear silo.

It take awhile before the movie settles down to its subject matter. Purdue should be much more of the lead character instead of Castle. That way the movie is solidly about the cattle mutilations. Instead it's too much about Castle's drinking and his failing father daughter relationship. The movie wants to hint at UFOs. The investigation feels like it's put on the backburner too much early on. The investigation has good spooky vibes at times and works well especially with the electronic music. The sound effects works well in opposition to the open space hinterland. The major drawback for me is that it never really explains everything to my satisfaction. It explains just enough for me to give it a pass.

this is a fascinating film. I remember it vividly as my father took me to see it when I was about 12. Come to think of it, my parents took me to see some really odd films when I was growing up in the early 80s. Before I was even thirteen my parents took me to see such films as "Heavy Metal", "Eating Raoul", and "Blow Out". What the hell were they thinking? lol.

Anyways, this film is about cattle mutilation and delves into the world of conspiracy theories involving black helicopters, satanic underground networks, and all that other stuff people were starting to get worked up about in the early 80s.

Robert Urich plays an investigator from the big city who comes to the rural town where the mutilations are happening. With him is his delinquent teenage daughter (who is quite good. whatever happened to that young actress??). Urich also becomes romantically entangled with the local female sheriff played by JoBeth Williams.

I have to give special mention to a couple of things. This film (in my opinion) is easily the best that Alan Rudolph has ever done. He's always been somewhat of a cult director but I never found his films very impressive. But "Endangered Species" is just superb. If you're going to create a film about conspiracy theories, this is the way to do it, folks. By NOT spelling everything out for the audience. But suggesting a great deal. By NOT treating the audience as though they are idiots. The cinematography is also very impressive, as is the droning, disturbing score. A definite winner! I used to have a copy of this on VHS and I gave it away a few years back. I'm still kicking myself for doing that!