Director: Harry Bromley-Davenport
Writer: Harry Bromley-Davenport, Michel Perry
Starring: Philip Sayer, Bernice Stegers, Danny Brainin, Marayam D’Abo, Anan Wing
Country: UK
Running Time: 87 mins
Year: 1982
BBFC Certificate: 15

XTRO certainly isn’t E.T. and makes Alien look like a girl guides outing, this gore soaked sickie nearly got on the notorious video nasty list. I’m not sure if I should thank them or hate them, but whether you like it or not Second Sight have released this twisted atrocity onto Blu-ray in a limited edition boxset. This is one of those films you could imagine making, but at the last minute would stop yourself, because it’s just one step too far, thankfully some film makers keep going and make the unthinkable.

Sam (Philip Saver) and his son Tony (Simon Nash) happily play at their tranquil country home, when Sam is abducted by a strange light, we leap forward three years and the same unearthly beam returns to leave an alien gamete in the under-growth. The half alien creature grows, but is run-over by Ben (Robert Pereno) and Jane (Katherine Best) as they trundle along a deserted country road. The ungodly beast (Tim Dry) takes revenge on the hapless couple and they are killed as they search in bushes for the twisted extra-terrestrial abomination. The sickening monstrosity heads towards a nearby cottage to horribly violate the unlucky woman (Susie Silvey) living there. When she comes round the alien beast has already vaporised, but something is not right and her abdomen expands hideously, disturbingly we can see something moving inside her. She gives birth to a fully grown Sam; he rinses the blood off himself, takes Ben’s clothes and heads off without any regard for Jane’s lifeless corpse. The sickening start is just the warm up for a vile alien journey into horrendous film madness, sit back and enjoy a despicable trip into a bizarre space invader encounter.

If it wasn’t shocking enough the original creators Harry Bromley-Davenport and Mark Foster have made the infamous alien birth even sharper and clearer for our viewing pleasure, now I’m left even more traumatised, thanks for that. This certainly is a film worth viewing if you are up for something a bit different and of course there’s plenty of gore to keep you entertained, with some delightfully macabre twists. This is a 1980’s film so obviously you are in for that very special 80’s vibe that can be only be experienced via the genuine article, and you certainly get a full on slab of the real deal here.

Xtro is out on 2nd July on Blu-Ray in the UK, released by Second Sight as a stunning limited edition box set, with blistering picture quality and out of this world sound.

The special limited edition features include a limited edition box set featuring both original UK theatrical and video artwork flipped on either side so you can choose the front. This fine presentation sports a new Second sight restoration with an option of original endings plus the original UK video version and new 2018 Director’s version. ‘Xploring Xtro’ is a new 57 minute documentary featuring interviews with Harry Bromley-Davenport, Mark Forstater, Bernice Stegers, Susie Silvey, ‘Tik – Tim Dry, ‘Tok’ – Sean Crawford, Robert Pereno, Alan Jones and Craig Lapper. ‘The World of Xtro’ is a new featurette with Dennis Atherton, Harry Bromley-Davenport and Mark Forstater. While ‘Beyond Xtro’ is a brand new featurette with Harry Bromeley-Davenport and Mark Forstater looking ahead to new reboot ‘Xtro – The Big One’ which includes exclusive test footage. ‘Xtro xposed’ , ‘Loving The Alien’ is ‘A Tribute to Philip Sayer’ featuring an exclusive Brian May music Tribute. Squeezed in is a soft cover book with new writing by Kevin Lyons plus publicity and production stills, original soundtrack CD and English subtitles for the hearing impaired.

This rather splendid box set is finished off nicely with a good lump of extras you’ll get to find out everything you ever wanted to know about the twisted delights of Xtro.

 

XTRO: Limited Edition Blu-ray Box Set
3.5Overall Score
Reader Rating: (0 Votes)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.