Early Warning

Early Warning (1981)

Runtime: 86 minutes

Directed by: David R. Elliott

Starring: Delana Michaels, Christopher Wynne, Joe Chapman, Alvy Moore, Bill Sax

From: Missionary Enterprises

Note that tonight I'll be posting another review. This film is quite obscure and in a genre I rarely cover: Christian movies. I explain below in my Letterboxd review how I found out about it and how it's at least a competent motion picture: 

Here is something out of the ordinary for me, but I am glad for a breath of fresh (or in this case, different) air once in awhile. I will admit that it was a review from a mutual (Jason Coffman) which informed me that this even existed; I won't talk about my religious beliefs here as I know that would only lead to trouble, but Christian films aren't ones I usually seek out. As he gave it a decent review and from the trailer I saw online and the plot description, when I found it being sold for super cheap by a private seller on Amazon, I took the chance and got it. It's only an average film but I don't regret the purchase or watching it.

This is a low budget thing which isn't like what I understand the original Left Behind films or the Omega Code series to be, where you see a bunch of extravagant things happen and they usually come off campy or goofy. Instead, we follow a gal named Jenny who is with a Christian group and they believe that a group named the One World Foundation is controlling much of the world behind the scenes and will soon bring the one world government as foretold in The Bible. Well, that group is right. She goes to a newspaper reporter named Sam and she has a cassette tape w/ a recording of the OWF's sinister plans. They end up on the run from the group and that's most of the film, a paranoid conspiracy thriller & a chase movie, part of it set in the desert and all of it filmed in Southern California. So it's not a movie where you see Revelations or the Rapture happen; rather, our two heroes wish to stop them before it reaches that point.

I won't spoil anything but there are some stupid moments, oh yes there is. Yet overall I can rate this as average. The cast of mainly no-names does a fine job, especially Delana Michaels and Christopher Wynne as the leads. It does not try to do more than it realistically can do with its budget; there are at least a few exciting moments along the way. The film is done competently overall; think of it like a TV movie from the time. And it's not that preachy, which will be good news for those people that aren't too religious; it's not constantly shoved down your throat.

I do have to note that not only was a supporting player here someone who apparently was a supporting player on Green Acres (Alvy Moore) but playing the part of a militia man named Tucker (w/ bib overalls and carrying an assault rifle) was none other than George “Buck” Flower. I know of at least one big fan of his so I'll mention that his role is small but as it's Buck Flower it is memorable. I laugh that he did a Christian film considering that before this not only did he appear in motion pictures like Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS and 70's sex comedies, he did at least one adult movie early in his career.

Also, I was amused by such things as Jenny driving a Mini Moke (an old open-air vehicle designed for cities by the beach) and the villain having an office with a door that opens horizontally when you stand by it... you know, like the doors on Star Trek and the Starship Enterprise.