It's Alive!

[Ethan Williamson]

I'm a little shocked to see that the 70s classic, It's Alive! is not featured in the I list, it was a strange and in a way it does scare you. The movie posed a question as "What would happen if the rage of a crying baby could be manifested? It would be able to kill everyone in this entire room." Well in It's Alive!, that question is answered in B Movie style, hopefully when the head of this website returns from his duty he'll be able to review and give a few nice screens, after of course he sees his family...... I think he's in active duty now.

[Menard]

This is very probably because IT'S ALIVE! does not stand out as a bad movie, especially compared to the movies on the list, although there are movies on the list, like DAWN OF THE DEAD, which are not bad movies but do belong on any movie list.

IT'S ALIVE! is not a 'when babies go bad' movie, but rather was inspired by incidents such as Love Canal and is a social/ecological message delivered, however, with the unsubtleties of a horror movie. It has its good aspects, but that is often overlooked in its entertainment factor and nailbiting suspense brought to fore with an often point-of-view directorial style which starkly contrasts with its many moments of unknowing. Which basically makes it fun, entertaining, and scary.

IT'S ALIVE! has been discussed in posts before and the movie spawned (pardon the pun) two sequels. Perhaps Andrew will someday include it in his list, but, considering the abundance of eligible candidates of badmoviedom, he has a lot through which to wade.

[Ethan Williamson]

True but the director did pose a question as to the one I mentioned earlier, however the movie is just plain terrible. There is a lack of good acting, it feels a little sloppy and although it scares you, it scares for the wrong reasons. That is, the movie is about a new born baby, but it's evil and goes out killing, orginal but the poor efects ware it down. The times when you are scared are when you aren't suppose to be, I've seen it twice and each time was dissapointing.

[Menard]

The baby is the result of birth defects brought about by factors external to it and its parents, essentially a product of its environment. The baby's actions are those of fear and hunger, but it has unfortunate consequences in its path. Is the baby evil simply due to its birth defects? Is the evil not in the people who caused it?

Judging by the lack of responses from others on this movie, it apparently is not that popular. (:



Post Edited (03-28-05 21:57)

[peter johnson]

The thing I liked most about this film is the use of the baby as a puppet, controlled by the guy the baby's supposed to be biting, going:  "Get it off me!  Get it off me!!", all the while controlling the baby via his own hands inside the "baby"'s head.
"Get it off me!" has become a buzzword/byline in our house for any sort of bad, non-threatening threat, like when our cat is "attacked" by a moth --
Love the bug-eyes on the baby, too --
peter johnson/denny crane

[peter johnson]

And, oh, have you seen "Basket Case"?  They could be related . .
peter johnson/denny crane

[onionhead]

How odd that I recently picked up the It Lives Again/Island of the Alive double disc at Half-Price Books and have often noted the absence of Larry Cohen's magnum opus trilogy on this site.  Maybe some rogue reviewer will submit something.

[Ethan Williamson]

What Menard said is correct, but the movie still remains a scary/creepy classic, I don't believe that Basket Case is related. But who the hell knows?