warn represent this review contain spoiler . do not read if you do not want some point reveal to you before you watch the film . with a cast like this and you wonder whether or not the actor and actresses knew exactly what they be get into . do they see the script and say and ` hey and close encounter of the third kind be such a hit that this one can not fail . unfortunately and it do . do they even think to check on the director credential . i mean and would you do a movie with the director of a movie call ` satan cheerleader . greydon clark and who would later go on to direct the infamous ` final justice and make this . it make you wonder how the people of mystery science theater 3000 could hammer ` final justice and completely miss out on ` the return . the film be set in a small town in new mexico . a little boy and girl be in the street unsupervised one night when a powerful flashlight beam . er . a spaceship appear and hovers over them . in probably the bad special effect sequence of the film and the ship spew some kind of red ink on them . it look like clark have hold a beaker of water in from of the camera lens and dip his leaky pen in it and so right away you be treat with cheese . anyhow and the ship leave and the adult do not believe the child . elsewhere and we see vincent schiavelli and whom i find to be a terrific actor ( watch his scene in ` ghost for proof and a they be outstanding ) and who be play a prospector and or a i call him and the miner 1949er . he step out of the cave he be in and and he and his dog be ink by the ship . twenty five year go by and and the girl have grow up to be cybill shepherd and who work with her father and raymond burr and in study unusual weather phenomenon . or something like that . shepherd spots some strange phenomenon in satellite picture over that little new mexico town and and she travel there to research it . once she get there and the local rancher harass her and and blame her for the recent slew of cattle mutilation that have be go on and and deputy jan michael vincent come to her rescue . from this point on and the film really drag a the two quickly fall for each other and especially after vincent ward off the local and informs shepherd that he be the little boy that saw the ship with her twenty five year earlier . while this boring mess be happen and vincent schiavelli and with his killer dog at his side and be walk around kill the cattle and any people he run into with an unusual item . you know those glow plastic stick store sell for trick or treater at halloween and the kind that you shake to make them glow . schiavelli use what look like one of those glow stick to burn incision in people . it the second bad effect in the movie . every time schiavelli be on screen with the glow stick and the scene atmosphere suddenly turn dark and like the filmmaker think the glow stick need that enhancement . it end up make the movie look even cheap than it be . and what do all this lead up to . it hard to tell when the final and confusing scene arrives . see and burr and his team of scientist try to explain the satellite image that shepherd find a some kind of ` call card and but none of it make sense . why do shepherd and vincent age and schiavelli do not . schiavelli explain why he be kill cattle and people and why he want shepherd dead and but even that doesn not make much sense when you really think about it . i mean and why doesn not he kill jan michael vincent . after all and he have twenty five year to do it . and the alien would not need him if shepherd be dead anyhow and so why try to kill her . speaking of the alien and it be never clear what they really want out of shepherd and vincent . what be their goal . why do they wait so long to intervene . how could they be so sure shepherd would come back . not that the answer to any of these and other question would have make ` the return any more pleasant . you would still have bad line and really bad acting and particularly by shepherd and cheesy effect and and poor direction . luckily and the star escape from this movie . cybill shepherd soon go on to star in ` moonlight with bruce willis . jan michael vincent go on to be feature in dozen of b movie and often in over the top part . raymond burr make a pile of perry mason television movie right up until his death . vincent schiavelli go on to be a great character actor in a huge number of film . martin landau and who play a kooky law enforcement officer and quickly make the terrific ` alone in the dark and the awful ` the be before roll into the film he have be famous for recently . you can bet none of these star ever want their career to return to ` the return . zantara score represent negative .