Revisiting the Classics: IT’S ALIVE

Can you believe I’d never seen this one? Somehow or other, despite me being aware of its existence for years, it somehow managed to slip through the cracks—until now, that is. Thanks to the coronavirus quarantine, I have nothing but free time to catch up on all those movies I’d always meant to watch but somehow never got around to. My thoughts on this one? I think its straightforward approach—and it plays it as straight as creepy old geezer Pat Robertson *claims* to be—and solid acting might lead the unwary viewer to miss the fact that this movie is, appearances be darned, a prime piece of satire. Never, not even once, is there a wink at the camera. But the bite is there.

IT’S ALIVE, released in 1974, also bridges the (not all that significant, honestly) chasm between a monster movie and a slasher movie. Its star, the animatronic mutant baby designed by a pre-AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON Rick Baker, is a little bit of both. A monster for sure, but it sheds lots of blood, too. This was back in the day before the PG-13 rating came along, and the lack of nudity or heavy profanity guaranteed this one a PG rating despite the copious amounts of tomato sauce-tinted blood splashed around the sets.

Now I’ve gotta get the two sequels.

By The Evil Cheezman

WAYNE MILLER is the owner and creative director of EVIL CHEEZ PRODUCTIONS (www.evilcheezproductions.blogspot.com, www.facebook.com/evilcheezproductions), specializing in theatrical performances and haunted attractions. He has written, produced and directed (and occasionally acted in) over a dozen plays, most of them in the Horror and Crime genres. His first novel, THE CONFESSIONS OF SAINT CHRISTOPHER: WEREWOLF, is available for purchase at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/734763 MORTUI VELOCES SUNT!

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