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Title: Eaten Alive (1977) Post by: Torgo on October 12, 2007, 03:14:13 PM (http://services.windowsmedia.com/dvdcover/cov150/dru400/u413/u41386megdu.jpg)
I hadn't seen Eaten Alive in quite some time. In fact, the last time I saw it was on a edited VHS copy that looked like it had been kept underwater for a year or so at one point or another. This was Tobe Hooper's 2nd film after his surprise success and notoriety of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. People hoping for the same level of quality as that film are going to be sorely disappointed in Eaten Alive. It's not a good movie by any means, but I've to be truthful by saying that it's one of the most entertaining and craziest movies that I've ever seen. Finally getting to see it uncut was really cool as well with the recent 2 disc special edition by Dark Sky Films. Neville Brand plays Judd, a backwoods redneck psychopath who runs a run down hotel that just happens to have a pretty large & hungry crocodile resting in the back. The movie is set down in the bayou somewhere. There is hardly any plot, basically, he's nuts, people come to stay at his hotel and at some point and another he attacks them with a scythe usually and then lets his pet croc eat them. Most of Judd's dialogue is just rambling almost incoherent stuff that makes me think that Neville wasn't really acting all that much at this point in his career instead of just being his own screwed up self on film. Marilyn Burns returns in this one playing the wife of a highly disfunctional family with a little girl and a husband who has some serious "issues". In fact, almost everyone in this movie is just plain nuts in some way or another. Robert Englund plays Buck who is a sex addict of sorts. This is the movie in which Quentin Tarantino cribbed his "My name's Buck, I'm raring to f**k" line from for Kill Bill Vol. 1. Mel Ferrer plays a guy trying to find his daughter who Judd has just happened to have fed to his pet croc at some point after murdering her. Carolyn Jones plays an owner of a local whorehouse and Stuart Whitman plays a local cop. The cast has quite a bit of great talent who had had great success in the past but were in the twilight of their careers at this point which explains how they all wound up in this mess. But they still do great work. The croc effects are laughable at times and decent in others. Not a good movie by any means but highly entertaining nonetheless. One thing I couldn't shake however is how the movie mirrors a sort of mid/late 70's update on "Manos": The Hands of Fate at times. :tongueout: Anyway, what do you all think of this flick? Title: Re: Eaten Alive (1977) Post by: RCMerchant on October 12, 2007, 05:53:52 PM EATEN ALIVE is one of my very favorite films of the seventies! Many people compare it to the TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE...and site how great that film was...and how much of a let down this one is.
BALONEY!!!! This stands on it's own very easliy. As you said,the movie is loaded with great charcters and performances...and the obviously studio bound sets enhance,rather than take away from the mood of claustrophobic fear. And Neville Brand...God bless his crazy ass!!! He does an excellent job as the nutso hotel keeper with a croc. Incidently...this too is based...(very loosly) on a true story of a barkkeep named Joe Ball-who,back in the 1930's, killed guests and tossed them into his pit of hungry crocodiles in the back of his joint. He ended up shooting himself in the head when the cops came to bust his sorry ass. I think it's a CLASSICK!!! :thumbup: [youtube=425,350] http://youtube.com/watch?v=-lngof-9Byc Title: Re: Eaten Alive (1977) Post by: Torgo on October 12, 2007, 05:57:37 PM Incidently...this too is based...(very loosly) on a true story of a barkkeep named Joe Ball-who,back in the 1930's, killed guests and tossed them into his pit of hungry crocodiles in the back of his joint. He ended up shooting himself in the head when the cops came to bust his sorry ass. They've actually got an interesting short film on the 2 disc special edition that talks about this guy and his exploits. Very interesting stuff! Title: Re: Eaten Alive (1977) Post by: Joe the Destroyer on October 12, 2007, 08:45:57 PM :cheers:
I love Eaten Alive! Not many of my friends can actually stomach the film long enough to say how it compares to TCM, sadly. I think the two stand alone, even though the feeling of psychosis is definitely there. However, in this film I feel a much more vibrant psychosis compared to the subtle one that TCM has. Not saying that either is better than the other, but both are great horror flicks. I still love the scythe through the neck scene. |