It's Alive (1974/I)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Larry Cohen

Writer:

Larry Cohen (written by)

Release Date:

October 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror

Tagline:

Whatever it is, it's alive and deadly.

Plot:

The Davies expect a baby, which turns out to be a monster with a nasty habit of killing when it's scared. And it's easily scared. |

Plot Keywords:

Baby | Monster | Hospital | Homicidal Baby | Throat Ripping

Awards:

1 win

Cast

John P. Ryan	...	Frank Davis (as John Ryan)
Sharon Farrell	...	Lenore Davis
James Dixon	...	Lieutenant Perkins
William Wellman Jr.	...	Charley
Shamus Locke	...	The Doctor
Andrew Duggan	...	The Professor
Guy Stockwell	...	Bob Clayton
Daniel Holzman	...	Chris Davis
Michael Ansara	...	The Captain
Robert Emhardt	...	The Executive
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nancy Burnett	...	Nurse (as Mary Nancy Burnett)

Also Known As:

Baby Killer (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (1984) | UK:15 (video re-rating) | Portugal:M/16 | Netherlands:16 (DVD rating) | West Germany:18 | Norway:16 (video premiere) | Argentina:16 (re-rating) | Argentina:X (original rating) | Australia:R | Finland:(Banned) (1975) | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:PG | Iceland:16 | Norway:(Banned) (1975-2003) (cinema release)

Company:

Larco Productions

Trivia:

Bernard Herrmann titled the music cue where the milkman meets his demise "The Milkman Goeth."

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: At the end, when Frank is holding the baby in his arms, the cover accidentally reveals a patch of hair, revealing it to be a dog.

Quotes:

Lieutenant Perkins: Hunting and killing babies doesn't seem to be my specialty.

Movie Connections:

References Frankenstein (1931)

Not too bad

"It's Alive" is one of those cult horror films that I had heard a lot of great things about but didn't get around to seeing until just recently. I have to say that I was bored with it throughout most of the film, but started to catch on to its vibe as it got closer toward the end. I truly support what this movie has to say about the somewhat totalitarian world of medicine, and ended up liking "It's Alive" a lot more when I realized that it wasn't just some dumb movie with no real point or scares at all. I still have to admit that the movie didn't scare me at all, but it generated some good, healthy suspense, and the point is such a good one (and is so well done) that I do have to hand this movie some major support. It was more sad than anything else, but it wasn't too bad at all.