This weekend, the hunt is on.

[intro-text size=”25px”]Twice a month, Cleveland Cinemas plays host to the Late Shift Series, a collection of classic and beloved films that have achieved cult status among fanatic cinephiles. Teaming up with Melt Bar & Grilled, the Cedar Lee and Capitol theaters bring us the chance to watch our favorite flicks up on the big screen in all of their intended glory.[/intro-text]

On Saturday May 16th at midnight, the Capitol Theater is bringing the 1987 action/sci-fi classic Predator back to the big screen. Last month, Late Shift screened Alien, which I praised for having a total badass female protagonist, but that’s only half of the infamous cinematic feud. On the flipside, Predator is 100% testosterone-fueled. It’s kind of like your average slasher flick, except there’s exponentially more men and muscles. In the film, Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a commando named Dutch who battles a hardcore alien hunter methodically killing his squadron one by one in the heart of a Central American jungle.

You’d think it doesn’t get much manlier than that, but somehow they manage to surround Arnie with a cast of (almost) equally burly badasses like Jesse Ventura, Carl Weathers, Bill Duke, and Shane Black, shooting the machismo level off the charts. Director John McTiernan earned himself a golden man-card for creating two of the most seminal action pictures of all time—Predator and Die Hard. In fact, the crew is full of stand outs; legendary effects artist Stan Winston (The Thing) designed the iconic Predator, and composer Alan Silvestri (Back to the Future) scored Predator with one of the most exciting, tension-building soundtracks I’ve ever heard.

While Alien may come off as a more claustrophobic, viscerally intense experience, Predator basically says fuck that. The Predator isn’t just some sexually charged acid-spitter, mindlessly killing everything in its path—the Predator kills everything in his path with patience, cunning, and some seriously rad extraterrestrial hunting technology. For him, it’s a sport, and the only thing cooler than witnessing the Predator in action is watching Arnold match wits with him, which he actually does quite cleverly. So if you’re afraid the film is all stealth kills, machine guns and torso girth, just know that at least there are some brains to go along with all the brawn…not that we needed it.