10 Movies You Wrongly Thought Were Innovators
2. Without Warning Had An Alien Hunter Years Before Predator
The original Predator has such a cool hook it’s a wonder no one thought of it before; an alien hunter comes to earth to hunt the most dangerous game of all: man. The film milked the premise for all it was worth, and spawned a series that further explored the concept with varying degrees of success.
It turns out a film actually did beat Predator to the idea, and that was Without Warning, a low-budget horror flick from 1980. The story finds a bunch of teenagers – including a shockingly youthful David Caruso – being stalked by a lanky alien, whose weapon of choice is a nasty organic throwing star, that comes with a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. Occasionally Jack Palance or Martin Landau appear to ham it up, before it’s back to the kids running around the woods.
While the film has a few cool moments, it’s ultimately kind of dull. It lacks the action and suspense Predator had in spades, and it doesn’t do as much with the concept. Still, it deserves credit for getting there first.