It Lives Again (1978) Way back on 10/17/17, we fondly remembered and reviewed "It's Alive", shlockmaster Larry Cohen's 1974 instant cult classic about mutant, monstrous babies on the rampage....
How can any film buff not feel a special place in their heart for Cohen, a feisty maverick who carved out his own career as writer-director of high concept horror films.....(he was Mr. High Concept before Hollywood wags ever coined that term....)
Though his ideas and gimmicks for scripts could grab you by the throat, as a director, Cohen was never more than a shoot-it-fast, fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants guy........yet he somehow coaxed a rich ominous score for "It's Alive" from the legendarily ornery and irascible genius Bernard Herrmann.
Herrmann's score gets a reprise for the "It Lives Again" credits and this time Cohen chose to delve into the politics and science of this tooth-'n-claw babies.
As the mutant creatures pop out of random, hapless women, two opposing groups hunt them down with separate agendas.....
The government group, with the eager aid of local law enforcement, kill the infants right in the delivery room, making for one hell of a dramatic maternity ward.....
But a rival rogue group, convinced the babies are the next evolutionary step, seek out the expectant mothers to rescue the babies from the swat teams.......and possibly let them breed to reign over the earth.....holy effin' diapers.....
In essence, Larry Cohen came up with a funhouse mirror version of today's toxic pro-choice, pro-life chaos that continues to rip the country apart.
As the film proceeds to all of its expected horror whim-whams, it's clear which side Cohen falls on. Just like the clueless scientists of cheesy 1950's sci-fi films, the pro-baby gang, despite their best intentions, prove themselves naive fools. The liberated little gargoyles (once again created by make-up wiz Rick Baker), waste no time shredding these do-gooders, including Frank Davis (John Ryan) the poor conflicted dad of the first "It's Alive" chomper,
Once again, Cohen judiciously rations out full views of his monsters......(a wise choice, since any real good look at the tots, with their bulbous heads and jutting fangs, might provoke unwanted laughter.) John Ryan broods and simmers at the tortured Davis and buffs will love seeing a rare American film appearance from Eddie Constantine, who spent a lifetime starring as 'Lemmy Caution' in French gangster movies.
The baby kill scenes could have used a little more time and attention, but in a Larry Cohen movie, that's always wishful thinking.......you can only sit back and revel in the cheese.......a guilty pleasurable 3 stars...(***)
(And oh yes, BQ's well aware there's a third film, the 1987 'It's Alive III: Island Of The Alive'.....I promise I'll get to it before year's end.....maybe in time for the holidays......)
No comments:
Post a Comment