It must tell you something I went in thinking I haven't seen it, but hold on. Upon every scene and development it suddenly came back. 'Xtro II' is an unrelated sequel to 'Xtro' that's nothing more than a workable, but fairly lacklustre low-budget 'Aliens' clone. The chest bursting scene is a prime example. Well it seemed to share a lot of common ground with another film (which is a lot better) from the same year 'Shadowzone'. Anyhow I didn't find it to be as terrible as many to make out to be, but however it's just too formulaic to rise above its limited scope. Still I was entertained. The conceptual idea is something imaginative (exploring an alternate dimension and bringing something back), but director/writer Harry Bromley Davenport decides to stick with the copy and paste clichés and usual plot mechanisms. Everything is straight-forward (alien stalks and blandly picks off team one by one), rather than the bizarre and unconventional nature of the original.<br /><br />The acting by Jan-Michael Vincent (uninterested), Paul Koslo (over-the-top) and Tara Buckman is reasonably so-so, but their character's are poorly conceived. Nicholas Lea (best known as Alex Krycek in the 'X-Files' TV series) shows up in support. Not helping was that the script was shamelessly lousy in it's supposed toughness. The minor sets look cheap, and the misty blue lighting tries for moody atmospherics in the same-old set-pieces and the score is forcibly clunky. Pacing can stall too much. There's a little bit of splatter, but nothing truly worthwhile. Director Davenport's touch lacks the firepower, despite the weaponry on show. While the story is predictably colourless, the repetitive visionary on screen doesn't fair up any better. The alien doesn't look too bad, but there's a striking resemblance to the way its shot with 'Alien'.<br /><br />I don't think it's the pits, just too familiar and unfocused to be much effective.