Xtro 3: Watch the Skies is campy ‘n’ corny-yet-at times fairly damn gory 1990’s blend of sci-fi, horror, and action. Here from the guys over at Vinegar Syndrome is a recent duel Blu Ray/ DVD release of the film- offering up a new 2k  scan & a small selection of extras…and don’t worry if you  haven't seen the other two Xtro films, as each is a stand-alone….with only extraterrestrials-terrorizing-humans connecting the three films.

Xtro 3: Watch the Skies( aka Xtro III, Xtro-3 - O Massacre) appeared in 1995, and it was the fourth film from British writer/director Harry Bromley Davenport- who before this directed the first two Xtro films, and mid-1970’s horror/ thriller Whispers Of Fear, which appears to somewhat of a lost film. I’m a big fan of the first Xtro film- which is fairly big budget UK horror/ sci-fi film from 1982- that was gory, surreal & at times completely bonkers. I’ve not seen Xtro 2 which appeared in 1990.  It’s fair to say that Xtro 3 is more of a formal American sci-fi/ horror film, though it still has some of Bromley Davenport's quirky ideas, corny dialogue, and the odd bizarre touches.

The film's plot finds a group of rag-tag /rough ‘n’ ready Marines making their way to a secret island off the US coast. The group is led up by shifty & sinister Captain Fetterman- played by  Andrew Divoff who really amps up the campy nastiness. The group is sent to island on the pretence of defusing bombs, as the island was meant to have been used by the military for training- though no-one has apparently set foot on the island for fifty years. To start with things seem fairly mundane/ normal- then the group come across a mass human grave, and in-rags like Robinson Crusoe figure.  But things really turn bad, when two of the soldier’s blow-up the corner of a large concrete box- it turns out this houses a UFO, and its grey alien denizens, who were put on the island after a cover-up of a landing back in the 1950s.

Sure Xtro 3: Watch the Skies has more than a few nods towards the likes of Aliens (a group of Marines out of their depth), Predator (the aliens appear & disappear), and Fire In the Sky (creepy & brutal alien experimenting on humans). But Bromley Davenport adds in some neat/ bizarre touches- like the aliens creating huge cobwebs to catch their human prey around the island, and the aliens have long string-like tongues that create red static- before blood, when wrapped round their victims' bodies. Added to this we get some often weird cutting( which I’m guessing is down to bad editing), the often loud in the mix & overtly dramatic score- which is supposable by some called Van Rieben( who has no other credits), but I suspect is by Bromley Davenport-as it sounds similar in tone/ quirkiness to the original Xrto score, which he wrote.

The rest of the cast is good enough- with them having a good selection of often corny lines to say. The whole thing moves at a fairly good pace, with the group getting to the island fairly quick- and the action kicking in soon after. On the whole, this third film is certainly not as weird ‘n’ wonderful as the first Xtro film- but as 1990’s sci-fi/ horror goes this is a lot of fun- with some neat & fairly inventive gore along the way, oh and the grey’s with their shifty green eyes do look fairly unnerving. So, all in all, I was pleasantly surprised by what we have here, and can certainly advise checking this out if you enjoy sci-fi horror, with campy-yet-at-times gory edges.

Moving onto this new Blu Ray/ DVD release of the film- and we get a good & clear scan of the film, though the sound is often a little uneven as the score is often very high in the mix- but I guess this can’t be helped.  On the extras side, we get two interviews- one with Harry Bromley Davenport & one with Daryl Haney who co-wrote & acted in the film- each interview are on camera & runs around twenty minutes. The Bromley Davenport interview is great, as he’s very droll & self-deprecating- he starts the interview by saying “I directed fourteen films & most of them weren’t great”- he  then goes on to discuss this been his first film in the USA, effects going wrong, and how they came up with the film's concepts. The discs are topped off with a great cheesy trailer- so all told a small, but good selection of extras.

The first Xtro got a much-needed reissue back in 2018 on Second Sight Films, so it’s great to see Xtro 3: Watch the Skies getting a reissue on VS. Let us hope someone has plans to reissue the second film too, as well as some of Harry Bromley Davenport's other filmography too- as in all he helmed 14 films. In finishing if you dig alien focused sci-fi horror, with slightly quirky edges- I’d say you’ve most definitely need to pick-up this VS reissue.