It's Alive Trilogy - Blu-ray Review

Movie
Ahhhhhh, Larry Cohen. One of the kings of cult horror back in the 70s and 80s. The man is a sort of B (or C many times) movies, but he has a cult following that really does love his bizarre and zany take on the macabre. When I reviewed Full Moon High back in April I was really shocked that we were getting more Larry Cohen on Blu-ray. Little did I know that Scream Factory was going to release a full boxset of all three It Lives films from the man with a nice array of extras AND brand new restorations from Warner (who is also finally licensing out films to other nice studios instead of keeping them to themselves, which bodes well for other niche titles to be pulled from their vaults sooner rather than later) to boot! While they aren’t magnificent examples of cinema, the It Lives trilogy is a set of cult films that have been highly sought after by horror aficionados for quite some time and makes a worthy addition to any cult horror fans collection.


It's Alive
It’s Alive was the film that put Larry Cohen on the map. He had broken into the film world by directing two blaxploitation flicks starring Fred “The Hammer” Williamson, but when he created the schlock horror film It’s Alive he entered a whole nothing arena. Cheap, cheesy, goofy, and completely gory for a PG film (I’m actually shocked this got a PG rating, as it was easily R rated territory back in the day), it made waves in the horror community. Sadly the film has sort of fallen by the wayside for the B level horror flick that it is, but it still has a cult following and rightfully so.

Frank (John P. Ryan) and Lenore Davies (Sharon Farrell) are getting ready to have their 2nd child. Dropping off their first born Chris (Daniel Holzman) at a friend’s house, the two head on over to the hospital to welcome in their bundle of joy. The only thing is, the pregnancy doesn’t go exactly as planned, with the baby turning out to be a mutated monster who slaughters members of the hotel staff before escaping into the ventilation system. Desperate to see his child, Frank comes in to the aftermath and assumes that the hospital has somehow stolen his child. He and the traumatized Lenore go home to recover while the police look into the matter.

Sadly, it’s not a case of childnapping, as the Davie’s and police soon find out. Their little mutated child whips about town slaughtering people at random, forcing the U.S. government to come in and take a hand in the matter. Convinced that it isn’t human, Frank signs over the body to the government as they try and track down the monster and study it. However, a parent’s love is a powerful thing, and even though their little boy seems to be a monster, Frank and Lenore still desire to help the poor thing.

It’s Alive is pure and utter 70s trash horror, but it does so with a purpose. Back in the 1970s everyone was worried about mutations due to radiation and pollution, so that fear naturally shows up in the cinema of the time. Cohen heavy handedly (by today’s standards) weaves in elements of that topic. Dancing around with a parents love and the fear of mankind becoming extinct, and mutated species being our only hope, Cohen leaves the viewer rather conflicted. One one hand we’re disgusted with the monster body horror of the creature, but at the same time you end up wondering just who is the real monster. The one killing people, or the ones hunting him down out of fear.

It Lives Again
Our favorite Man/baby/monster/whatever is back again for another go and slaughtering innocent people. This time there’s THREE of them though. Frank Davies is back again, but this time he’s helping out innocent mother’s and father’s who are being targeted by the government as the mutant children phenomenon spreads. Instead of being on their side and willing to kill the children, Frank has taken his change of heart seriously and is now trying to intervene before the government agents can come in and snuff out the mutant child’s life. His latest target is a happily married couple who are ready for their first baby. The only thing is, the doctor who is monitoring the baby’s vital signs is contracted to a shadow government agency who swoops in and kills the child upon delivery, and this doctor has already alerted the feds. Frank’s goal is to come in there, along with a secret clan of doctors, and get the expectant mother out of harms way before the feds intervene.

You would initially think that It Lives Again is just a retread of It’s Alive, but with a different couple. Only you would be wrong. The first act mimics much of the first film, but it’s only once Frank helps the couple escape that the movie surprises you by building upon the premise of the first movie and expanding the universe. The world no knows about the hideous monsters that people are giving birth to, which breeds both fear and embracement from the world. Most people are terrified of the beasts, but a secret society (to which Frank belongs) exists to study and help these creatures grow up, as they believe them to be the evolution of man. An evolution that must occur for man to survive all of the pollutants and toxins that they are creating in the world (something that was touched upon during the waiting room seen in It’s Alive).

It wasn’t 3 years after It’s Alive before Warner Brothers asked Cohen to make another film. Luckily, despite the cliched nature of his films, Cohen had a vision for how these things would progress, and he does so quite admirably at times. The problem is that the vision is sloppily done and tends to falter along the way as well. It’s Alive Again has a lot of promise, but rapidly fades into nothingness with bad acting, even worse puppetry than the first movie, and a decrease in the gore level. The fear is gone, and we’re left with more of a cheesy sci-fi movie than a good horror flick.

It's Alive III: Island of the Alive :

If anything, you can’t deny that Larry Cohen has a habit of not retreading over his previous films when he makes a sequel. It’s been 9 years since the sequel It Lives Again, and Warner Brothers has once again decided that it’s time to bring the mutant babies out of retirement. This time Cohen is intent on not even seeming to imitate his previous two films and continues the story line out even further. This time a young pregnant woman is on her way to the hospital when she gives birth to a mutant baby in the taxi. After the child attacks the mother and the police officer who tries to assist her, the whole country is outraged and a court hearing happens to decide the fate of the mutant baby. The baby’s father, Jarvis (Michael Moriarty), protests greatly at the mutant’s reception, as he claims the thing only reacted out of fear to the aggression of the police officer. The judge reluctantly agrees to banish the mutant and 4 others of its kind to a remote desert island where they will be stay, quarantined from the rest of humanity.

Treated like a social Pariah, Jarvis lives his live in solitude, with the rest of society shunning him in fear of somehow catching the mutant gene through touch. A military man named Lt. Perkins (James Dixon) approaches Jarvis some time later, claiming that they want to go visit the island so they can study the children’s growth rate. A move that is obviously stupid to the viewer, but seems logical enough in the film. As you probably guessed, Jarvis and the Perkins’ team arrives on the island only to accidentally free the children, who come back to a society that shunned them, and have no problem slaughtering anyone who gets in their way.

Third films in a trilogy usually end up being the worst ones of the franchise, but Cohen actually does a pretty great job with this one. The creativity is much higher, as he expands the mutant universe even more, and creates a situation that ends up incorporating much of the same mutant baby munching, but in delightfully new circumstances. It also helps a lot that Cohen brings in one of his favorite actors, Michael Moriarty to the mix, as well as the lovely Laurene Landon. The cast seems to have a better grasp on the material than the previous two films, and the gore level has definitely been upped from the lackluster It Lives Again, truly earning its R rating.




Rated PG, Parental Guidance Suggested / Rated R by the MPAA / Rated R by the MPAA




Video:

It's Alive
Usually these low budget horror movies aren’t given the best of transfers, but Scream Factory has stated that all three of the It’s Alive films have been struck from brand new 2K remasters, and that it was done by Warner Studios themselves, rather than Shout/Scream Factory. The films are all put on their own individual BD-50’s and I have to say, I’m shocked at how good It’s Alive looks. The film is naturally grainy (a standard for 1970s film stock), but the detail is astounding. You can see everything as clearly as if we were watching the film back 1974 on the big screen, with great colors that are slightly bronzed, but noticeably well saturated. The fake red/orange blood is bright and shiny, while the black levels are extremely deep and inky, allowing for great shadow detail when the mutant baby is slithering around the place. The dirt and debris that was present on the 2004 disc seem to be gone (I’m going by memory, as my old disc set was lost when I moved in 2009), and this is actually the first time on home video that the film has been released in it’s 1.85:1 theatrical ratio (the old discs were opened up by Warner to 1.78:1. A small nitpick, but a welcome one from Scream Factory).

It Lives Again
It Lives Again was also given a remastered transfer, and it looks nearly as good as It’s Alive does. Colors are warm, detail levels strong, and the breathing room on the BD-50 leaves little room for artifacting. There is some black crush going on, but that seems due to the fact that the film is a bit darker in general than it’s predecessor. Still, shadow details are strong, and the limited showings of the mutant baby keep it from being too focused on special effects. I did mention that It Lives Again is ALMOST as good as the stellar transfer for the first movie, and I stand by that. At first glance the two look really close to each other, but if you look closely you can see that the detailing is not AS fine as the first film. There’s a slightly smooth look to it seems to rob the movie of some of the more intimate details. Not much, not enough to really affect the score wildly, but just enough to be a half star less than It’s Alive.

It's Alive III: Island of the Alive
Island of the Alive is about on par with the second film’s restoration. Colors are bright and warm, and the oeey gooey blood splatters show up nice and vividly. Fine details is really wonderful across the board, and I noticed a lot of the debris and print damage from my old old double feature DVD to be completely gone. There’s some mild softness to the old 1987 film, but being newer than the other two by a good margin, it still looks really nice. The black levels are strong and inky, while the contrast is nice and warm. Skin tones are fairly accurate (although it does have a bit of a ruddy push to them at times), and colors lean to bright and sunny, with a few instances of darkness where the mutants come for their victims.



Audio:

It's Alive
The 2.0 DTS-HD MA mono track is a pleasant surprise as well, as it is about as good of track as you’re going to experience in mono. The old DVD was plagued with an imbalanced mix that had issues with the dialog loves, but this appears to be evenly balanced and just about spot on perfect. Considering the age of the film elements, and the recording style used in the 1970s, this is a revelation to listen to. Dialog is spot on and clean, with only a minimal scratchiness from what I can hear. The score takes up a lot of the listening arena, and it flows effortlessly between the two mains. Naturally we’re not getting any surround or LFE, but as a mono track goes, It’s Alive is exceptionally clean and clear of imperfections. Well done Scream Factory

It Lives Again
Once again, a DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono track is what’s available on disc, and it’s a solid performer. Dialog is well placed up front, and the score takes most of the weight in the film except for the ambulance ride and the end confrontation between the mutant and the government. However, there is a low level hiss that comes and goes throughout the film, making itself mildly known, to full on annoying at times. The track is relatively clean of any audio glitches or problems, but the hiss, or static, is just noticeable enough to a mild irritant.

It's Alive III: Island of the Alive
This third venture is right in the middle, quality wise, as it sports another solid sounding DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono track. The dialog is string and clear, and the two channels that are carrying all the weight do so effortlessly. This time there isn’t nearly as much focus on the musical score, but rather more on the sound effects, such as waves splashing or gunshots ringing out. There is almost no hiss to be heard of this go around, and the ambiance is evenly balanced in the low budget film. A very solid performer in any respect.







Extras:

It's Alive
• 2K Remaster from original film elements
• Cohen's Alive: Looking Back at the It's Alive Films featuring interviews with writer/producer/director Larry Cohen, actors James Dixon, Michael Moriarty and Laurene Landon and more…
• It's Alive at the Nuart: The 40th Anniversary Screening with Larry Cohen
• Audio Commentary with writer/producer/director Larry Cohen
• Radio Spots
• TV Spots
• Theatrical Trailer
• Still Gallery

It Lives Again
• 2K Remaster from original film elements
• Audio Commentary with writer/producer/director Larry Cohen
• Theatrical Trailer
• Still Gallery

It's Alive III: Island of the Alive
• 2K Remaster from original film elements
• interview with Special Effects Makeup Designer Steve Neill
• Audio Commentary with writer/director Larry Cohen
• Trailer
• Still Gallery







The It’s Alive trilogy is a HUGE boon to horror fans everywhere. When I watched Full Moon High a month or so ago I was surprised that we saw ANY of Larry Cohen’s works, but was ecstatic to see such fantastic treatment for one of his most well known trilogy of films. Cohen is a master of C grade horror, and the series embodies the gory, goofy, and downright sleazy film making that was so prevalent during the 1970s and 80s for the horror community. Cult horror fans everywhere where shocked when this set was announced, and will be even more shocked to see how good of a job Warner did with the restorations. Shot has given us a nice boxset, and instead of cramming all three discs into a single multi disc case, they’ve given individual cover art and cases for each film, housed in a slim chipboard covering. All in all, I’m WILDLY pleased with how this boxset turned out and won’t hesitate to recommend it to any fans of the films.



Technical Specifications:

Starring: John P. Ryan, Sharon Farrell, Frederic Forrest, Kathleen Loyd, Michael Moriarty, Karen Black
Directed by Larry Cohen (all three)
Written by: Larry Cohen (all three)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 AVC / 1.85:1 AVC / 1.85:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono
Subtitles: English
Studio: Scream Factory
Rated: PG / R / R
Runtime: 91 Minutes / 91 Minutes / 95 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: May 15th, 2018

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Asere said:

I think I remember seeing the first one many years ago. I also remember seeing Basket Case. Thanks for the review.

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haha, yeah they're a cult series of films that for sure. Basket Case is one I haven't seen for at LEAST the VHS days.