It's Alive!

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Cast & Crew

John P. Ryan
Frank Davies

Sharon Farrell
Lenore Davies

Andrew Duggan
The Professor

Guy Stockwell
Bob Clayton

James Dixon
Lieutenant Perkins

Michael Ansara
The Captain

Robert Emhardt
The Executive

William Wellman Jr.
Charley

Daniel Holzman
Chris Davies

Shamus Locke
The Doctor

Larry Cohen
Director

Larry Cohen
Writer

Peter Sabiston
Executive Producer

Larry Cohen
Producer

Bernard Herrmann
Original Music

Fenton Hamilton
Cinematographer

Peter Honess
Film Editor

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Critic Reviews for It's Alive

Audience Reviews for It's Alive

• Jun 28, 2020

  My goodness composer Bernard Hermann was brilliant. He elevates screenwriter/director Larry Cohen's ho-hum demon child tale into something that feels deeper than it really is.
  

  Aldo G Super Reviewer
• Oct 31, 2012

  Starts out with a very regular daily basis routine of a family that is brutaly interrupted by the birth of the mutant child. It's a wonderful setup that unfortunently doesn't pay off much later on. The rest is a very competently made and acted horror/mistery flick but doesn't offer much else. The cinematography is pretty bland and boring and the creature itself pathetic at times, but fortunently it sticks to the shadows most of the time.
  Francisco G Super Reviewer
• Jul 30, 2011

  <i>"When I was a kid, I always thought the monster was Frankenstein. You know, Karloff walking around in these big shoes, grunting. I thought he was Frankenstein. Then I went to high school and I read the book, and I realized that Frankenstein was the doctor who created him. Somehow the identities get all mixed up, don't they?</i> Haha, didn't the exact same happen to you? Call me insane, but this was shot in a most bizarre way. I liked that. It was also horribly edited and had a godawful continuity. The main character has a scary physiognomy, and the baby is hilariously scary. I liked all of that too. 75/100
  Edgar C Super Reviewer
• Apr 08, 2011

  5.2/10 Larry Cohen must be the equivalent to God for fans of cheesy, B-movie horror. Here, he's made a suitably cheesy film that is meant to be scary, funny, and entertaining. It's got traits of all three things hidden beneath the surface, but mind you, this film is rough. I won't say it's a bad film. In fact, for a movie like this, it's better than it needs to be. There are some funny moments, some scary moments, and yes, some entertaining moments. This film has all the necessary materials, but without the mind and intelligence to use them wisely. At best, I felt this was an entertaining, but completely forgettable slice of campy horror than does not do what it wants to do as well as it thinks. The film intends to be scary by preventing us from seeing much, which is smart. But where's the humor? Why isn't this movie scary AND funny? There's a charm to this movie, and it's waiting to charm and seduce me, but I just can't enjoy this flick when it can't even do half of what it wants to do. But...at least they tried. The film stylizes itself by not showing the film's villain so much. We see his little fangs, and his little disturbingly horrid face once in a while, but this film admittedly understands one of the rules of horror; don't show much unless you intend on showing something worthwhile. That very much applies to "It's Alive", but that does not make it good. The story opens with a couple awaiting the birth of their second child. The wife and the Husband leave their first-born at a friend's house, while they rush to the hospital to have the baby. After unusually hard labor, the child is born. But the babe isn't normal. In fact, the child is born hideous and deformed. When it pops out, it starts to kill people. We theorize that it may kill only when it's frightened, or perhaps this is only what (most) of the synopsis' suggest. So the murderous, mutant baby goes on a killing spree while his worried parents deal with the pressure of the press. They are surrounded by suspicion, caused by suspicious people. They don't understand what the couple understands. They don't know that this diaper-wearing little tyke is a demonic weapon of certain, (nigh) mass destruction. You see; this film consistently tries to balance relationship drama with something along the lines of a "horror-comedy". I appreciate what this movie is trying to do to murderous little babies, but it doesn't quite hit the funny or scary bone as it intends. The relationship is weak. The husband goes from loving his bundle of joy to detesting the thing to the point where he'd kill it. From there, the movie gets dark, cruel, and therefore, we get sad. They also could have made the movie touching, but no...they just end it on a note that TRIES to have a purpose and a message. Sadly, the ending shouts "sequel", and it's one that I don't think I'm going to watch. I heard by the third one, they've got an island full of these babies. Oh, wherever will they go next?
  Ryan M Super Reviewer

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