My review was written in February 1987 after watching the film at Cine 42 on Manhattan's 42nd St.
"Alien Predator" (that what it says on screen, despite confusing ads which spell it "Alien Predators") is a truly stupid horror film shot in Spain in 1984 as "The Falling". Initially aimed at release along with two other Helen Sarlui productions by Film Ventures International, pic went on the shelf when that company experienced financial problems and surfaces instead via home video firm turned theatrical distributor TWE. A lawsuit or at least stern warning should be in the offing from 20th Century Fox, since new title not only intones the likes of Fox' "Alien" and "aliens" hits, but also Fox' upcoming Arnold Schwarzenegger-starrer "Predator". TWE also cut corners by virtually duplicating the poster art here from its 1984 flop "Creature".
It would be difficult to come up with a more obnoxious triumvirate than leading players Dennis Christopher, Martin Hewitt and Lynn-Holly Johnson, smirking, flirting and pouting as three squeaky-clean kids on a vacation in Spain in their massive recreational vehicle and dune buggy. Too bad for them that Skylab crashed nearby in 1979 and five years later, Spaniards are being exposed to the result of an experiment conducted on Skylab involving living microbes found on the moon from the Apollo 14 mission. These microbes result in an alien critter (shown only briefly as an imitation of the small, early forms of the monster in "Alien") that inhabits a human host, drives the human crazy and in 48 hours pops out in time-honored chest-burster fashion to begin the process again.
Tedious presentation actually apes Michael Crichton's "The Andromeda Strain" (filmed by Robert Wise in 1970) with a NASA scientist Professor Tracer (Luis Prendes sporting an incongruous Spanish accent) comin gu unbelievably with an instant antidote using himself as guinea pig. As in "Strain", there is a multi-leveled, underground complex.
Deran Sarafian's direction is sluggish, relying on pointless car chases to try and drum up excitement. His script is worse, filled with mushy speeches by the three young leads and a series of idotic references to Rod Serling's "The Twilight Zone". Special effects are weak and audiences will be very angry at the nonappearance of the expected, full-grown title monster.
