It's Alive (1969)

Truly Dreadful Film

Sadly Over-hyped

Memorable, crazy movie

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

I'm a sucker for a crappy monster movie, but even I have my limits; 'It's Alive!', a made for TV effort from schlockmeister Larry Buchanan, goes beyond those limits and then some...Bill Thurman plays Greely, owner of a back-road menagerie whose most unusual attraction is a prehistoric monster (also played by Thurman) that is kept hidden in a cave and fed on unsuspecting passers-by. When married couple Leilla and Norman Sterns (Shirley Bonne and Corveth Ousterhouse) take a wrong turn and wind up at Greely's place, they soon find themselves added to the monster's menu, along with unfortunate paleontologist Wayne (Tommy Kirk). Greely's petrified housekeeper Bella (Annabelle Weenick) is their only hope of escape, but can they convince the woman to risk her life to help?With a really bad rubber monster and an amazingly OTT performance from Thurman (a master of the maniacal laugh), this could have been an unintentionally funny piece of Z-grade trash, but the dreary script, wooden acting from everyone else, and utterly lifeless direction from Buchanan ensures that no-one is laughing. Technically shoddy from start to finish, this is a real test of patience, the worst parts being a prolonged flashback filmed with no sound, but given a dreadful voice-over by Weenick, and a slow-motion chase scene through the woods. 80 minutes have rarely seemed so long.

It's Alive, from 1969, is a cheesy, low budget, sci-fi film, with way to much dialog, and little to no monster scenes. The plot revolves around a couple, who are very short with one another. They're going on a road trip, when their car breaks down, or runs out of gas, or whatever. They meet a paleontologist while looking for help, who tells them of a farmer up the road who may be able to help. So when they go to visit the farmer, he tells them he has no gas, and asks them to stay. While they're there, the paleontologist shows up, and asks about the couple. The farmer proceeds to knock him out, and drag him into a cave. So now we know he's a bad guy. He later shows the couple his cave, which is really a hiding spot for the farmers discovery: A giant lizard monster. He locks them all in the cave to feed his friend. When the husband is killed, it's up to the farmers abused wife to help kill the creature with dynamite the paleontologist has. In a predictable ending, the creature turns on the abusive, and insane farmer, and ends up being destroyed with the dynamite. The movie itself isn't bad. In fact, it would be pretty good if we saw the monster more than 2 times, and it was only for a brief period of about 1 minute each time. The rest of the movie is just stupid dialog. But really, if you're bored, then go check it out, and see for yourself what you thinks.

Larry Buchanan disaster about a fish-man kept alive by a farmer who kidnaps people to feed it. Yes friends another film from Buchanan a man who's awful (and therefore often wonderful) movies scarred generations. Buchanan was a man who would make a film on any subject for a buck. Usually he'd take something from the headlines (say the JFK assassination or Bonnie and Clyde) and turn it in to weird little films (His Beyond the Doors about Jimi Hendrix Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison has to be seen to be believed). In the mid 1960's he was asked to make a bunch of quick films for TV syndication. Doing what any exploitation filmmaker would do, he remade several Roger Corman and AIP films from the 50's with out credit. When the syndication package fell apart the films ended up in theaters. This was based on a script from AIP that was never filmed. Its got lots of stilted dialog, lots of voice-overs and scenery shots and a monster suit from another movie. its awful.And if you're disposed to liking bad films somewhat enjoyable. Bad movie fans can give it a shot. All others avoid it like the plague.

Bickering couple Norman (stolid Corveth Ousterhouse) and Leilla (pretty blonde Shirley Bonne) find themselves hopelessly lost in some remote rural region. They seek assistance from deranged redneck farmer Greely (a game performance from beefy veteran exploitation picture regular Bill Thurman), who locks them both in a cave so he can feed them to his beloved pet lethal carnivorous reptilian humanoid monster (also played by Thurman). Flatly directed by legendary Grade Z schlockmeister Larry Buchanan, with a dull, talky, uneventful script, a sluggish pace, cruddy, washed-out color cinematography by Robert B. Alcott, a tedious drawn-out flashback that's just tossed in to pad out the running time, a generic film library orchestral mush score, a simply pathetic some-poor-zhlub-in-a-lousy-rubbery-suit creature, no tension or momentum to speak of, and a spectacularly fumbled less-than-thrilling explosive conclusion, this hilariously horrendous hunk of unmitigated junk possesses all the right wrong stuff to qualify as a real four-star stinkeroonie. Former Disney kid thespian Tommy Kirk seems asleep on his feet as paleontologist hero Wayne Thomas while Annabelle MacAdams does her best with the thankless role of Greely's scared and abused housekeeper Bella. Moreover, the misty cavern setting is genuinely cool and creepy. A tasty slice of prime celluloid Velveeta cheese.