By Geno McGahee
Most horror fans think of the 1974 monster baby movie when they hear “IT’S ALIVE,” as I did, but there was one that came before it. A made for TV sci-fi film by low budget filmmaker, Larry Buchanan, gets a lot of bad press but it is so over the top ridiculous that it’s impossible not to enjoy.
Norman (Corveth Ousterhouse) and his wife Leilla (Shirley Bonne) are on the road and not getting along very well. Norman is a complete jerk that is constantly taking jabs at his wife. Leilla wanted to get off the highway and see the beauty of nature and now they are lost and nearly out of gas and Norman is fuming. Norman is almost cartoonish with his anger, but I didn’t see anything yet. His character was over the top, but then we meet Greely (Bill Thurman).
Greely owns a zoo and informs Norman and his wife that a gas truck is coming and that they can stay at the house until it arrives, but something is wrong. Greely’s girlfriend, Bella (Annabelle Weenick) is distraught and not happy to see the two new arrivals. As she entertains Norman and Leilla, Wayne (Tommy Kirk) shows up and gets beaten down by Greely and dragged away.
The unhappy couple is given a tour of the zoo and the many animals that Greely owns and takes great pride in. He has monkeys, wildcats and a beast that he only shows certain people. He walks the duo into a cave and the edge of his property and before Norm and Leilla know it, cages drop and they are trapped to the delight of Greely who is now laughing maniacally every two or three minutes. It’s hilarious.
Inside the cage, Norm and Leilla meet Wayne. As they try to figure out what is going on, Greely and Bella begin to fight. She doesn’t want to be a part of this murder he’s setting up, but he is insane. When Wayne asks him to think of humanity, he laughs hysterically, turns away, turns back, and then laughs again. Greely isn’t right. When Bella is thrown in with them after her defiance, she tells the story of how she became the prisoner of Greely after a road trip. This goes on a little long…
The monster is hilariously terrible looking. It looks like they took ping pong balls and used a sharpie to make eyeballs, but it’s still awesome. They tried. This is 1969 and the budget wasn’t really there. So, you have to just accept and enjoy the ridiculous looking beast.
IT’S ALIVE is a great movie…if you enjoy ridiculously bad movies like I do. I give great credit to Bill Thurman for his portrayal of Greely, one of the more notable bad guys in horror history. It reminded me a little of TOURIST TRAP, but it’s just silly. The acting is so over the top. Every character overplays emotions and it makes it a tremendously fun time. I highly recommend this one.
Scared Stiff Rating: 7/10