Extro II - O Reencontro

I have seen all of the "Alien" films. I loved the "Alien" films. But the one I loved best was "Aliens", partly because of James Cameron's brilliant writing and directing, but mostly because I loved the guns. Oh, the guns! The M41-A Pulse Rifle rocked, but even better than that was the mighty Smartgun. I am a "connoisseur" of Alien ripoffs. So naturally, when I heard that this movie had a smartgun-like weapon in it, my response was, of course, "where can I find this movie?" After searching I finally came across it, and popped it in my DVD player.

Wow.

This movie absolutely blew me away with its unrelenting "Aliens"-style tense action, but mostly I was pleasantly surprised to find not only a smartgun-like weapon, but a near perfect smartgun replica! I was practically vibrating in my seat when I saw that thing fire.

But aside from the gun, I generally enjoyed the movie. It didn't have a "feel-good" happy- skippy ending, but it didn't have a "everyone dies" ending, which I appreciate (though the ending does confuse me a bit...) The creature design was brilliant. In all the "Alien" ripoffs I've seen, (besides the later "Alien Lockdown", which is more of a PredAlien anyways) this by far had the best creature. It even did the famous "headbite", but with its whole head! Altogether, I enjoyed this movie more than "Alien Resurrection" and "Alien 3 " combined.

Overall, I recommend this movie if you are a fan of "Alien" ripoffs, and have the patience for a bit of wooden acting.

I recently watched Xtro 2 (1991) on YouTube. The story follows a group of scientists working in an underground bunker who build a teleportation device to access another dimension. But once they open the portal, they have no idea what's waiting on the other side-or what might come through into our world... and they're about to find out.

Directed by Harry Bromley Davenport (Xtro), the film stars Jan-Michael Vincent (The Mechanic), Rachel Hayward (Cruel and Unusual), Paul Koslo (The Omega Man), and Tara Buckman (Silent Night, Deadly Night).

This sequel is a letdown. It feels like a made-for-TV movie and plays like a low-budget Aliens knockoff. The dialogue is stiff, the acting unconvincing, and the horror elements are weak-aside from a few decent corpse effects. The setting is passable for the story, but overall, there's nothing particularly memorable or original here.

I'd give this a 3/10 and recommend skipping it.

After all the bad reviews I read of this movie, I was dreading watching it. But it actually exceeded my expectations!! It's really fun! Don't listen to all the negative reviews. This was actually a very suspenseful, entertaining, low-budget SCI FI movie! Yes, there are some Alien elements in it of course, but I think the actors performances were really very good. Tara Buckman is fantastic as a "Linda Hamilton" type heroine. I really enjoyed her performance - she definitely leads the movie, and I have to say she's got wickedly cool hair too! She was a knockout in a Buck Rogers episode ('Unchained Woman') from the 70's. I was worried that Jan Michael Vincent would be alcohol-deadened, but he actually turns in an admirable performance as well! I know he's older, but some of that 80's 'action star' persona comes through really nicely, and he still has amazing charisma in front of the camera. It's also a treat to see a young Nicolas Lea (from the X Files) in this - battling aliens, no less! The alien itself is pretty interesting - nothing as scary as 'Aliens', but it's pretty cool special effects. Enjoy this movie- it's fun!!!!

Xtro, the original movie, was a British production involving an abducted father who comes back for his son, transforming him into an alien like himself and raising Hell for his ex-wife and friends.

This movie has nothing even resembling anything like that, with the exception of the director.

It is a bad sign when a movie sequel manages to forget some of what happened in the previous movie. It is a terrible sign when it completely ignores every thing like the plot, characters, situations, et al.

Even worse is when you hire Jan Michael Vincent at the height of his addiction phase, when he was on the verge of getting bounced from Airwolf for his drunken antics. His underwhelming presence in this film is a great display of the depths he had sunken to already.

Scientists at a secret underground complex have found a way to travel to another dimension. Three dimension-travelers are the first to go through the gate - but are soon attacked by something that interrupts the communication with Earth. This horrible something uses the gate to travel back to the underground complex. Most of the staff are evacuated, except four heavily-armed militaries and Dr. Casserly and Dr. Summerfield who just can't stand each other. It turns out that the creature is a alien monster that craves human flesh. Not the best horror film I've seen. Some very nice creature effects and the filmmakers sling some pretty cool gore at us but There's virtually no tension, suspense or atmosphere. It was dull, too, why were all the sets so foggy? Couldn't they afford proper lighting? Or were the sets even complete? It's an OK time waster at best, at worst... 4/10.