It's Alive

It's Alive (1974)

Runtime: 91 minutes

Directed by: Larry Cohen (RIP)

Starring: John P. Ryan, Sharon Farrell, Andrew Duggan, Guy Stockwell, James Dixon

From: Warner Bros.

A few weeks after the fact, I see one of Larry Cohen's films to pay tribute to the late iconoclastic, one of a kind independent movie-maker. Whether as a producer, writer or director he was involved with a number of interesting low-budget films, some of which are still cult favorites today... Q, the Maniac Cop flicks, some blaxploitation, The Stuff, Gold Told Me To, and this, one of his most famous works.

You may have some preconceived notions about a movie with the ludicrous premise of a mutant killer infant being born to an average California family but It's Alive treats the subject with utmost seriousness; not that there aren't dark comic moments throughout as there are... what I mean is that this doesn't wink at the camera and treat this scenario as a goof. The viewer sees how the Davis family is ostracized after the pubic discovers what their progeny is-the media is a target of satirical barbs here; both parents (Frank and Lenore) have conflicted feelings about the kid as it is still their child... even if it is a monstrosity and has killed something like 10 adults and a cat. There is genuine pathos as they try to deal with this bizarre situation. The police want to kill it right away while scientists wish to study the creature.

It's a very interesting film and more thoughtful than you'd expect for the premise. This has several big assets (a Bernard Herrmann score that gets electronic at times, Rick Baker contributing to the effects) but to me the biggest ones were that the leads were played by John P. Ryan and Sharon Farrell as the parents-they were both great in their roles that required them to run through a gamut of different emotions. While there were moments that brought me great joy-the amazing 70's clothing and especially the astounding 70's look of the Davis home-I did feel bad for the family and unfortunately, in the past there were drugs that were on the market and given to pregnant reason to alleviate feelings of nausea or other reasons... and they weren't properly tested so many children were born deformed... not hideous mutants, but still deformed. Thalidomide is the most infamous example of this, and an obvious inspiration for this story.

This is a rare movie which did not do well at first but was re-released a few years later and with a push earned more money. A regime change at Warner Brothers resulted in this making enough of a profit for two sequels to be created. A character like Larry Cohen will be missed and I was happy to finally talk about one of his films here.