I saw Xtro in the theaters at the ripe age of 12, and it scarred me. It has arguably one of the more disturbing horror scenes of that era and I recall it all too well. It was a strange cult classic that I have not returned to in decades. It was panned overall, in fact Roger Ebert was definitely not a fan:
Most exploitation movies are bad, but not necessarily painful to watch. They may be incompetent, they may be predictable, they may be badly acted or awkwardly directed, but at some level the filmmakers are enjoying themselves and at least trying to entertain an audience. Xtro is an exception, a completely depressing, nihilistic film, an exercise in sadness….It’s movies like this that give movies a bad name.
But it is one of those films that once you have seen it, you can’t unsee it. It was been near 35 years, and I am wondering if it may not be time to return to this film. The urge was brought on thanks to this Italian version on VHS I picked up this morning on Ebay. I dig the wild 80s cover art. I feel myself falling down a pretty deep hole with Reclaim Video, and I love it.
