IT'S ALIVE (1974) - Very good film that really put you in the shoes of this strange situration. You have a real drama here in the midst of an absurd horror film complete with effective dramaitic music to top it off. It's rather comical because the story is so real and convincing except the idea of a killer baby with fangs. This is a must see. So disturbingly strange and sad that it is must be seen. It's a real nightmare of a film.
(http://www.horrormovies.com/images/ItsAlive123.jpg)
It also has a couple sequels that I have yet to view.
Post Edited (05-04-05 21:10)
Dang. It's been 31 years since that movie came out? I am feeling so old now.
I know what you're saying. I still remember seeing the adds for it on TV when I was a kid.
I saw it years later and then realized there was nothing to be scared of. It really was a lame movie.
I saw it when it came out; I was 10 at the time. For a 10 year old it was fairly effective. Not so much so when one gets older, is it? (:
I was pretty scared when I saw it for the first time (as a kid).
If I would watch it now, maybe I would find things to laugh about. One must consider: this movie is about a brat that jumps at one´s larynx and gnaws it (remember the milkman-scene).
The milkman scene is the one scene that stands out for me as well.
It is a funny film because they play it so straight with the family having to deal with work, school, and any help from the community. The helpful neighbor gets killed and the husband is so out of it that he barely response to him laying on the back steps. Then when he hunts the baby down in order to kill it he then becomes attached to the baby and runs away from the police through the sewers. Great film. I really enjoyed it, then again I just saw BLOOD FEAST and THE CREEPING FLESH, so perhaps anything would seem good, but I honestly felt this was a good film worth seeking out if you haven't already.
The thing I can never forget about this film is the father holding the "baby" -- an obvious puppet with his own hand in the thing's head -- which was "biting" him/he using the puppet to snap at his own throat, screaming: "Get it off me!! Get it off me!!" -- I still laugh when I think of it.
My wife and I still use "Get it off me!! Get it off me!!" as a catch-all phrase, usually when observing our cats being bothered by a situation they created for themselves!
peter johnson/denny crane
Havien't seen the two sequels to it, but when I saw it in the theater in '74, it is one of the few horror films that actually scared me.
This was rated "PG," but could easily get an "R" today if I remember it correctly!
It scared the hell out of my mother and me back in 1977 when it came out; we saw it on a double bill at the $1 theater (remember those?) with Exorcist 2 (which blew, but I thought was great at the time as it was my first "R" -- it really is the little things that count!).
I'm 38 now, but was probably 10-11 when I saw it. EVERYONE was talking about it, and the TV commercial was advertised on Saturday morning and it scared everybody (me included!). I saw this as an adult a few years ago, and it just wasn't the same...it didn't scare me at all, and seemed so hokey. I stopped watching after the milkman got it. It was obvious the kid was a puppet, but I remember seeing him champ his teeth in '77 after killing the milkman and it may not have been the same print on HBO as you saw his face. In '77 you didn't. (It's not my imagination either, folks, as movies often have different versions. For "Friday the 13th" the title appears differently in the opening credits in several versions!)
I did see the 2 sequels, and neither was as good as the original, and I did see "Part 2" just a few years after the first. It was on the late movie at ll:30 pm on CBS. It's sad that that isn't around anymore.
I purchased the trilogy at Half-Price Book in Tacoma a few months ago. Not a scary as when I was 11, but still good Larry Buchanan cheesefest. The sequels left something to be desired, but not a bad series, overall. I can think of worse . . .
This came out the year i was born. I saw it later on tv. It's a pretty creepy movie, too bad you never see it aired on tv. Someone needs to revive saturday night matinee movies on local stations nationwide. I miss staying up late on the weekend to watch b movies.
I might be a little biased because it's a Larry Cohen movie (one of my favorite director/writer/producers). I liked this movie immensely, strong characters, a deliberate pace, and a message that outways the budgetary constraints of the film itself. A b-movie, that's for sure, but one that opts to go without a whole lot of humor. This was also one of the first movies to make monster POV popular. A strong, respected pillar of the community.