Claustrophobia, Carnage, and Creatures

Read Time:5 Minute, 45 Second

MOVIE REVIEW
Alien Terror (Blu-ray) (Alien 2: On Earth)
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Genre: Sci-Fi, Horror, Thriller, Adventure
Year Released: 1980, RARO Blu-ray
Runtime: 1h 24m
Director(s): Ciro Ippolito
Writer(s): Ciro Ippolito
Cast: Belinda Mayne, Mark Bodin, Roberto Barrese
Language: Italian with English subtitles. English audio dub available
Where to Watch: available June 10, 2025, pre-order your copy here: www.kinolorber.com or www.amazon.com

RAVING REVIEW: If you went into ALIEN TERROR expecting a sequel to ALIEN, you wouldn’t be alone—and you’d be wrong. This 1980 Italian genre-bender, released in various territories as ALIEN 2: ON EARTH, is one of the more brazen examples of opportunistic rebranding, capitalizing on Ridley Scott’s 1979 hit with little more than a shared genre and the word “alien” in the title. But once you accept that, you’re left with a wild, uneven, and oddly hypnotic slice of Italian sci-fi horror that leans hard into atmosphere and subterranean dread. It's messy, sometimes nonsensical, but strangely watchable—and for fans of Italian genre cinema, there’s charm in its chaos.

Directed by Ciro Ippolito (credited as Sam Cromwell for its English-language release), ALIEN TERROR doesn’t bother with coherent world-building so much as it dives straight into its central gimmick: alien creatures brought back from a failed space mission begin wreaking havoc beneath the Earth’s surface. That’s right—this isn’t a space adventure, but a claustrophobic cave-based creature feature. Think The Descent, if it had been made 25 years earlier by someone who had recently watched Alien, The Thing, and a few spaghetti westerns, then decided to shoot the whole thing with a fog machine, fake blood, and vibes.

Belinda Mayne, best known for her genre work in the ’70s and ’80s, takes center stage as Thelma, a clairvoyant whose psychic powers conveniently warn her of doom just in time to ignore it. Mayne delivers a committed performance, lending some emotion to the increasingly surreal events, even when the film’s dialogue (and the dubbing if you watch the English version) works against her. The rest of the cast—Mark Bodin, Roberto Barrese, and a handful of hapless spelunkers—serve mainly as fodder for the gooey, body-invading alien lifeforms, which are less inspired by H.R. Giger and more by supermarket seafood displays.

The show's real star is the setting: a series of ominously lit cave systems that provide isolation and dread, made all the more effective by some impressively unnerving sound design. The low, pulsating tones and echoing screams (with little to no score for the most part) give the film an atmosphere that’s often more unnerving than its special effects, which range from impressive to laughable depending on the scene. The gore effects are practical, gratuitous, and occasionally effective, with a few truly grotesque moments that stand out in the way Italian horror so often does: not because they’re realistic, but because they’re weird.

The film’s pacing is inconsistent, meandering in its early scenes before settling into a setup, attack, panic, and repetition rhythm. But even when it drags, there’s a certain sincerity in its execution. Ippolito may have been riding the coattails of the beginning of one of the all-time iconic franchises. Still, he seemed genuinely interested in exploring paranoia, isolation, and the fragility of the human body. There's little subtlety here, and even less logic, but the film manages to hold interest through sheer commitment to its strange tone and visual aesthetic.

ALIEN TERROR also belongs to that fascinating subgenre of Italian rip-offs that feel like a fever dream: inspired by American hits, yet filtered through a European sensibility that favors dread, decay, and explosive gore over exposition. It doesn’t just borrow from Alien—it stitches together pieces of Invasion of the BODY SNATCHERS, 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, AND PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES, then tosses them into a cave and lets the weirdness unfold.

The new Blu-ray release favors the film by treating it with respect that contrasts with its dubious origins. The high-definition presentation brings out every texture and gelatinous monster effect. A commentary track with film historians Adrian Smith and Rod Barnett contextualizes the film within the broader world of Italian horror and exploitation cinema. At the same time, a featurette with Eli Roth—appropriately titled Franchised Terrorist—adds a modern perspective on the film’s branding. An alternate English dub is also included, and while purists may prefer the original Italian audio, the dub adds another layer of charm.

There are points where the film loses its footing—both narratively and literally, as some of the cave sequences feel endless or arbitrarily cut. But something is endearing about how committed the film is to its setup, no matter how questionable the logic may be. Even the final moments, which suggest a twist I wasn’t expecting, feel less like a conclusion and more like an ominous kick.

Ultimately, ALIEN TERROR is not a great film but a fascinating one. It occupies that strange space between horror and sci-fi, earnestness and exploitation, and homage and theft. Suppose you’re in the mood for something campy, creepy, and unapologetically off-kilter. In that case, this delivers enough cult appeal to justify a watch.

Product Extras:
Audio Commentary by Film Historians and Hosts of Wild, Wild Podcast, Adrian Smith and Rod Barnett
Franchised Terrorist: An Interview with Eli Roth
Alternate English feature audio dub

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[photo courtesy of RARO CINEMA ART VISIONS, KINO LORBER]

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