Very disappointed :(

Excellent but underrated film

This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Larry Cohen's grisly and original take on the monster movie is very much a product of its time. This is a cold, unflinching '70s film, where every camera shot seems to take place on the corner of a regular street, inhabited by regular, hard-working guys, and the cold night air seems to give a chilly, clinical atmosphere to what's taking place on screen. IT'S ALIVE reminds me very much of early Cronenberg: think SHIVERS and RABID. This is a disturbing film that has the atmosphere of a never-ending nightmare: despite some dodgy effects and occasional campiness, for the most part the horror works.The story of a mutant baby crawling around and biting people to death sounds pretty ludicrous on the face of it. There are only so many stalk-and-slash scenarios that the director can work with, although his blurred-eye-vision tracking shots seem to have influenced Carpenter when he made HALLOWEEN. No, Cohen wisely chooses to focus on emotion and characterisation over action, and the central character is the distraught father who runs a gamut of feelings when he discovers that his baby is responsible for a hospital massacre. John P. Ryan, giving one of the all-time-great B-movie performances, excels as the clinically detached dad who discovers his paternal instincts at the film's climax.The special effects are quite poor by today's standard (the baby is played by a regular actor in close-up shots) and Cohen keeps the monster off-screen for the most part, which does help counter the general cheapness. Still, I found the baby quite eerie, thanks mainly to Rick Baker's makeup work, and the fact that it retains some humanity helps to give the film its emotional heart. Despite the low budget, IT'S ALIVE is also blessed with an absolutely fantastic soundtrack thanks to Hitchcock composer Bernard Herrmann, who goes all out to create spooky, evocative and atmospheric music. The presence of these three men (Herrmann, Ryan and Cohen) makes this film a minor classic of the period.

I was too young to see this when it came out but vividly remember the ads and was very intrigued at the time. I'm so glad it was R-Rated and had to wait to see it. It's one of the worst horror movies ever! The acting was truly awful. The story is pathetic in every way, from the characters, to the plot development and especially the thrill factor. There's zero suspense, very little gore and even the attack scenes didn't raise my pulse one beat. It also completely lacked the proper amount of "cheese" for a good 'B' Film. Don't waste the 91 minutes of your life on this piece of junk. There are absolutely no redeeming qualities about this movie whatsoever!

For a movie about a killer mutant freak child, this is pretty goddamn boring. Though the premise seems very fun and interesting, the execution is about as stale and disappointing as movies get. To me, the most bothersome thing about this horror flick was that there was just no suspense at all. Just, none. Okay, not entirely true, the milkman scene was pretty effective, but that's about one minute of the movie. All the rest is kind of a chore to sit through really, the charm of characters we've barely seen before and barely care about getting killed off-screen kinda escapes me. Even compared with the rather similar and also quite flawed "Basket Case", this just doesn't hold up. At least "Basket Case" had a cool puppet and some hilarious state-of-the-art stop motion effects, this one just has an okayish puppet and no effects. I just couldn't get into this movie at all, though I must admit the climax well, wasn't as bad as the rest I guess. I also liked the lead actor, who's about the only thing that made me keep watching. Good idea, weak movie, that about sums it up for me.

It's Alive is set in Los Angeles where publicity executive Frank Davies (John Ryan) & his wife Lenore (Sharon Farrell) are expecting their second child, Lenore goes into labour & Frank drives her to the hospital to give birth. While waiting in a hallway outside the delivery room Frank sees a nurse stagger towards him & collapse on the floor, Frank rushes into the delivery room & sees all the doctor's & nurses slaughtered while his wife Lenore is in hysterics. The police are called & it soon becomes obvious that Lenore gave birth to some mutant killer baby that is now on the loose in Los Angeles killing anyone it comes across. Frank is fired from his job & he becomes determined to track the monster baby down & kill it...Written, produced & directed by Larry Cohen this killer baby film was a big international hit at the time of release & Cohen went on to make a strong name for himself in the sci-fi horror genre, a surprisingly deep film It's Alive stands up pretty well & is still moderately effective even now some thirty five years after it was initially released. The script by Cohne is pretty witty & has fairly rich concept's floating about like the idea that contraceptive pills my be responsible for the mutant baby, the part the press plays in hounding the Davis family, the way their friends & workers react to them, the scandal & how it's reported, the police line, the idea that the mutant baby must be killed could be seen as a pro abortion stance but the other theme of contraceptive pills being responsible for the mutant baby suggest otherwise & the whole issue of overriding maternal instinct comes into play at the end. Cohen's script juggles the ideas & themes quite well giving a chance for the character's to breathe, the mutant baby isn't seen that often but despite a 90 minute duration It's Alive maintains ones interest very well. There are some nice speeches, some witty dialogue, good character's & a initially simple sounding plot that does have more going on than you may think. Of course there are moments that don't quite work, the police seem to be far too quick to believe that a mutant baby is going around killing people (no-one even saw it, or at least saw it & lived to talk about it) & I have no idea how a days old baby would know or even goes about finding where it's parents lived or even being able to recognise them.Amazingly It's Alive was given a PG rating in the US when originally released & is pretty strong stuff for such a tame rating, there's a fair amount of blood & death although actual gore is low. The film looks nice enough if a little garish by today's tastes, the opening scenes has what appears to be beams of torch light darting all over the lace which I assume is meant to be sperm. The climax in the sewers is pretty cool with scenes only illuminated with the red flashing police car lights. The mutant baby itself was made by Rick Baker & is barely glimpsed, some may say it's more effective when you don't see that much but one suspects the brief flashes & seldom seen baby is down to a poor looking effect rather than any artistic decision.Shot on a very low budget the photography is a bit random at times, the picture can be very dark & the editing is very choppy in certain scenes but the strong narrative help overcome minor technical inadequacies. Regular Hitchcock composer Bernard Hermann provides a rousing score in what was his last film before he died. The acting is very solid, John Ryan is great as the insanely grinning, gum chewing parent who wants the baby dead because somehow it's part of him rather than concern for the many victims.It's Alive is a well rounded little exploitation film that has a surprisingly deep script, it brings issues up & raises good moral questions it's character's have to answer which we can relate too in certain ways. Followed by two sequels, It Lives Again (1978) & It's Alive III: Island of the Alive (1987) & was remade as It's Alive (2008).