Alien 2: On Earth (Italian: Alien 2 - Sulla Terra), also known as Alien Terror, is a 1980 Italian sci-fi/horror film directed by Ciro Ippolito (credited as "Sam Cromwell") and starring Belinda Mayne, Mark Bodin, Roberto Barrese, Michele Soavi, Benedetta Fantoli, Valeria Perilli, and Donald Hodson. Despite the title, the film is unrelated to Ridley Scott's genre classic, the actual plot having more in common with The Descent.
As the world awaits the return of a crew of astronauts from a deep space mission (implied to be the Nostromo), a group of cave explorers are confronted in an underground cavern by a mysterious living rock. Little do they know that it bears home to deadly, flesh-eating creatures, intent on wiping out the entire human race. Can they survive and ultimately prevent the total destruction of humanity?
See Shocking Dark and Contamination for similar Italian knock-offs/unofficial sequels to Alien. For the actual sequel to Alien, see Aliens.
This film provides examples of the following tropes:
- The Assimilator: The creature's adult form is a shape-shifter that has the ability to assimilate other life-forms, not unlike the creature from The Thing (1982).
- Body Horror: Inevitable given this is an Alien rip-off. Like the Xenomorphs, the rock creatures lay eggs in host bodies and literally burst from them once they have outlived their purpose.
- Bolivian Army Ending: After finally beating the creature to death in the bowling alley, Thelma runs through the empty city streets, calling for help but getting no answer. She finally stops yelling and sits down at an intersection, despondent, as text on screen warns the audience, "...You may be next!"
- Bowling for Ratings: Before embarking on their ill-fated caving expedition, Thelma, her husband Roy, and their friends meet at a bowling alley for a short game. It is at this same bowling alley that the finale takes place.
- Chest Burster: Or rather, face burster.
- Combat Tentacles: The rock creatures use these to attack their victims and inject them with their larvae.
- Death of a Child: After the spacecraft returns to Earth with its occupants missing, a girl on a beach discovers a weird, blue, pulsating rock. Soon after the discovery, her mother finds the girl dead, her face having been ripped off.
- Downer Ending: At first, it appears that Thelma has successfully defeated the creature. Then, once she exits the bowling alley, it becomes clear that she is the only person still alive within the city limits, and it's implied she may also be the last surviving member of the human species.
- Facial Horror: All over the place thanks to the rock creatures, with a young girl having her face torn off and several of the spelunkers' faces being ripped apart as the creatures' larval forms exit their bodies.
- Fanservice: Thelma and Roy have a lengthy, fully-nude sex scene.
- Final Girl: Thelma is the only member of the expedition to survive the events of the film.
- Gorn: While Alien had its share of gruesome scenes, most infamously Kane's death by chestburster, it relied mostly on atmosphere to create its sense of dread. This film, on the other hand, piles on the gore like there's no tomorrow.
- In Name Only: Beyond the title, the film has virtually nothing in common with its namesake. Most notably, while the plot of Alien took place in the 22nd century, this one appears to take place in the present day. And while the rock creatures share the Xenomorphs' key trait of gestating inside a human host, each stage of their life cycle is otherwise quite different.
- Mouth Cam: Towards the end, as one of the alien monsters attacks the protagonist, the camera is placed inside its mouth.
- Off with His Head!: While the team prepares to climb out of a hole, one of the creatures explodes from Jill's face and grabs Phil by the neck with its tentacles. Phil is then dragged upside down as the creature slices at his neck repeatedly until his head and part of his spine fall off.
- Psychic Powers: Thelma experience regular psychic premonitions, and also appears to be telepathic. Her telepathic abilities seem strangely limited, though, considering she fails to notice the rest of humanity being killed by the rock creatures.
- Stock Footage: The not!Nostromo's return to Earth is represented by stock footage of Apollo capsule splashdowns.
- Trailers Always Lie: An Australian VHS trailer
features scenes from the film set to excerpts from Jerry Goldsmith's score to Alien in order to pass it off as a direct sequel. - Would Hurt a Child: The rock creature's first victim is a young girl walking on a beach.
- Your Head A-Splode: A side effect of the creature's reproductive methods.
