A film and a half from the man that brought bits of the Die Hard series. Arnold "Arnie" Schwarzenegger hits the spot as Dutch, the Rambo-esque leader of a team of ex special forces misfits duped into rescuing persons unknown from the depths of a jungle of origin more or less irrelevant. After the raid goes wrong, they are hunted by thing unknown and selectively killed, skinned and munched by the initially unseen but clearly other worldly being that gives the film its title. There are hints of politics at the very outer most fringes of this basically, er, hunter and hunted cum sci-fi movie. It's clear how the later Alien vs Predator spin offs were conceived - any space alien that can give Arnie a hard time in the woods has to be up for a scrap with Sigourney's boyfriend.

The Central American jungle in which the film is set positively oozes sweat and tension, as do all the cast. There were stories that the crew were unknowingly set up for some of the scenes to make things apparently closer to reality - but then that kind of rumour abounds for many potential straight to TV flicks. This was never destined for that fate despite a somewhat second rate supporting cast behind the Austrian man mountain. Carl Weathers plays second fiddle in what was effectively his next big thing after Rocky IV (and III and II). Jesse Ventura muscles in as an adrenaline fueled, baccy chewing gun-monster and this is a better performance from him than the more or less cameo role in Running Man of the same year.

There's plenty of blood in the special effects and lots of care and attention from the special effects team in the detail of the Predator. He is one ugly melon farmer as Dr Kermode would say and is suitably tagged as such when the crew are heading back through the jungle with the movie's token chick, Anna (Elpidia Carrillo), following the botched set up raid.

The creature is first seen only after about 45 minutes of the film and I struggle to remember now how this played on first watch. Memory suggests that its this that makes it compelling viewing as the plot is effectively Rambo meets an Alien meets Any Chuck Norris Movie.

That said, it is compelling viewing now whenever I spot it on a channel some way up the viewing schedule (and typically late at night) but for me the sequel is actually better with Danny Glover and cast providing a truly tense and enthralling follow up.

But what of Arnie and his crew? All get munched of course and the end game involves our main man succeeding where no other could in out-running a nuclear explosion as the creature sacrifices itself and 20 kilometres of surrounding forest to remain "undiscovered". Until we get to LA in the early 1990s that is...

Reviewers Special IMDB Note: The film was nominated for a Best Visual Effects Oscar but was for some strange reason pipped by Dennis Quaid and his internal organ journey in Inner Space. Odd.