The seventh installment in this franchise that began in 1987 thrusts the warrior beast onto a hostile planet where it must prove its bravery. Packed with references to science fiction films, this new entry boasts meticulously crafted action scenes.

"Predator: Badlands," in theaters Friday, uses the previous eight films to inspire a story with a sympathetic alien hunting on a planet deadlier than Earth.

The toothy villain is humanised and made sympathetic in this disappointing horror sci-fi – at which point it ceases to be the Predator