Star Hunter

I love Roddy McDowell, but, I felt so bad for him being in this movie. It's low-budget, really bad concept, and horribly bad acting. Need I go on? Apparently so. A shame really, since I've said everything that needs to be said about this HORRIBLE movie!!!!! It reminded me of a really low-budget early '80's campy horror flick. It's supposed to be scary, but with all the horrid acting, I was applauding and laughing every time one of the idiot kids got killed! Want a good horror flick? Go watch something else...ANYTHING else! Skip this movie! If I could give this film zero stars, I would! There are so many better horror flicks you could be watching instead of this movie!

The only reason I gave this movie 1 star is because I couldn't give it any less. An absolute, total waste of time. The special effects were extremely cheesy (flashing lights on the screen for no apparent reason), the acting was horrible (the kids I could understand, but when Roddy McDowell acts "down" to a movie like this, it was really sad to see), the aliens were a total rip-off of Predator (and a bad one at that), the "tracker" was a ridiculous rip-off of the Star Wars Stormtroopers. Stella Stevens looked pretty good but her part was hard to watch as well. It looked as if the entire film was filmed by an eighth grader with a 20 pound shoulder held video camera from the 80's. I usually like anything science fiction, but this was beyond anything I could stomach.

I must say I was pleasantly surprised with this film. It focuses on a group of teenagers who are forced into a strange video game like hell after seeking shelter in an abandoned,well so they thought, warehouse. It turns out that an evil monster has been programmed by his master-Roddy McDowell to kill all the teenagers who are now trapped in an electrical magnetic playground where there is no escape!. This film plays like a video game, there are lots of dark corners and corridors and heaps of unexpected frights. The robot/monster is also quite effectively menacing. This film is actually quite a good example of the horror, sci-fi genre. And its different- which is a big plus. In summary a better than expected sci-fi horror, which you should see at least considering watching.

Let's cover the good stuff first: Decent set design. Nice visuals. A good cast that are clearly capable of doing more than they're given here. They've done a reasonably good job of hiding their low budget which is commendable. However, nothing can save this movie from its poor writing. Painful dialogue, odd pacing and and a complete inability to ratchet up the tension results results in an endless string of scenes where teenagers are being chased by a robot killer. This is an example of a production where the filmmakers decided what seems need to be in a sci-fi movie but they forgot that they needed a story.

Heheheheeee! This movie is soooo bad it's good! It's so funny! One time, this guy turns to his friends and says, "Guys, I think we're in the hood." It's so funny cause the way he says it, he sounds like he's giving his son a talk about sex! The movie's about these dumb high school kids with their even dumber bus driver (she doesn't even know where their High School is!!!) who get lost in "THE HOOD!" They meet this weird guy with white hair and huge sun glasses who collects people's heads. He tells them to go hide so he can play a game, and then this one guy who looks like the Predator's inbred relative suits up and tries to kill everyone. Some great parts are when the bus driver gets shot and some blood pops up on her face, but there's no wound! Another is the first time the Star Hunter is shot, he explodes; next shot, he's just fine! Plus, every time he's shot after that they show the same scene of him grabbing his left shoulder! The best part: the little robot at the beginning!

MST3K fans won't want to miss this one.