''It's Alive!'' is a 1969 American
monster movie
A monster movie, monster film, creature feature or giant monster film is a film that focuses on one or more characters struggling to survive attacks by one or more antagonistic monsters, often abnormally large ones. The film may also fall under ...
directed by
Larry Buchanan
Larry Buchanan (January 31, 1923 − December 2, 2004), born Marcus Larry Seale Jr., was a film director, producer and writer, who proclaimed himself a " schlockmeister". Many of his extremely low-budget films have landed on "worst movie" lists or ...
and distributed by
American International Pictures
American International Pictures (AIP) is an American motion picture production label of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution company known for producing and releasing fi ...
. The story concerns a mad farmer who tries to feed a stranded couple to a
dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...
he keeps in a cave.
Plot
Norman Sterns and Leela Sterns are newlyweds who are driving from their home in New York City to Los Angeles. They become lost and run out of gas, stranding them in the rural Ozark countryside. They meet a friendly
paleontologist
Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...
named Wayne Thomas. Wayne suggests that they visit the nearest farm that could provide gas. The farm is run by a strange man named Greely, who tells them that the gasoline truck was supposed to arrive the previous day, but since it didn't, he expects it there any minute. Greely suggests that they go inside to the parlor, where it's cooler. On the way up to the house, he asks if they know anybody out here, in case they may be waiting for them. They say no, and when they get inside, Greely goes off to tell his "housekeeper" Bella to make some iced tea. She argues with him about what he will "do with them", but Greely smacks her, and threatens that she will "take their place" if she doesn't serve them some tea.
Thomas arrives and Greely goes outside. He tells them that their car won't start. Wayne decides to take a look at the engine and tells Greely to go back to his truck and get a tool. Greely instead beats him on the back of the head with it and drags his body off. Meanwhile, Leela appears to be worried about Greely, because he is acting strange and his eyes don't look right. She then compares his eyes to a stuffed lizard across the room. Greely comes back inside and tells them that he had to do a chore. Leela wants to go back outside, but Greely tells them that they could check out his "collection" while waiting for the truck.
He takes them out to the yard and shows them his "zoo", which includes ordinary animals like turtles, rattlesnakes, coyotes, and a bobcat. Greely then tells them that they should have a look at his "prize", which is located deep in a mountain cave system behind his home. He puts them in a small room which he claims he had set up for tourists while he goes to turn on the rest of the power. However, it was a trap, as Greely pulls a lever and drops some bars down, blocking their way out. Greely leaves the cave, laughing as Leela discovers that Thomas is inside the cell as well, badly wounded but alive. He tells them that Greely threw him into another cavern below them, and left him there, but he found a way out and crawled in the cell, right as they arrived.
Norman suggests that there may be a way out down there, and begins a descent into the cavern. A reluctant Wayne and Leela follow and discover a prehistoric, aquatic dinosaur coming out of a spring, which Greely apparently feeds live victims to. Greely catches them in the enclosure and points a pistol at them, attempting to force them down in there to be eaten. Greely shoots Wayne in the abdomen, but Wayne throws an object at Greely and hits his gun hand, causing the pistol to fall into the enclosure. Norman urges Leela to go for the gun, but Greely tells him that it won't do him any good, and leaves. Norman rushes down and gets the pistol, but suddenly the monster appears out of the water as Leela and Wayne warn him. Norman fires the gun at the creature, but it has no effect, and it kills him before he gets the chance to escape. Bella arrives and reveals that she is not Greely's housekeeper; he kidnapped her and abused her until her will was broken and she agreed to do whatever he told her to do to avoid being fed to the creature. Wayne convinces Bella to help them.
Wayne remembers that he has some dynamite in his car, and he asks Bella to sneak upstairs and bring back some of it. Greely becomes suspicious of Bella, and he drugs the coffee that she brings to the prisoners. Leela and Wayne are overcome by the drug, but not before Wayne hides the dynamite. When Wayne comes to, he retrieves it, but Greely intervenes and threatens to feed Leela to the creature if she will not willingly become his new servant. Bella, having heard that he plans to dispose of her, goes down there.
Greely recovers his pistol, but Wayne overcomes Greely and knocks him unconscious. Bella ignites the dynamite and explains to Greely that she plans to blow up the cave to kill both the dinosaur and Greely. Greely grabs his pistol and kills her, right as the monster is about to kill Greely. The dynamite explodes, collapsing the cavern and burying the dinosaur and Greely. Wayne and Leela escape in Wayne's car to an unknown future.
Cast
*
Tommy Kirk
Thomas Lee Kirk (December 10, 1941 – September 28, 2021) was an American actor, best known for his performances in films made by Walt Disney Studios such as ''Old Yeller'', '' The Shaggy Dog'', ''Swiss Family Robinson'', ''The Absent-Minded P ...
as Wayne Thomas
*
Shirley Bonne
Shirley Mae Tanner (born May 22, 1934) is an American former film and television actress. She is known for playing the role of "Eileen Sherwood" in the American sitcom television series ''My Sister Eileen''.
Born in Los Angeles, California, the ...
as Leela Sterns
*
Bill Thurman
Bill Thurman (November 4, 1920 – April 13, 1995) was an American film and television actor. From the early 1960s until his death in 1995, he frequently appeared in B movies and independent films, often playing "redneck types" or sheriffs. He wo ...
as Greely
* Annabelle Weenick as Bella
* Corveth Ousterhouse as Norman Sterns
Production
In 1963, John Tomerlin was reportedly adapting the
Richard Matheson
Richard Burton Matheson (February 20, 1926 – June 23, 2013) was an American author and screenwriter, primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres.
He is best known as the author of '' I Am Legend'', a 1954 science ficti ...
story "Being" for
American International Pictures
American International Pictures (AIP) is an American motion picture production label of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution company known for producing and releasing fi ...
under the title ''It's Alive''.
The film was reportedly originally written for
Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre (; born László Löwenstein, ; June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian and American actor, first in Europe and later in the United States. He began his stage career in Vienna, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, before movin ...
.
Buchanan stated that the film was shot in a cave in Arkansas in six days.
[Goodsell, Greg, "The Weird and Wacky World of Larry Buchanan", ''Filmfax'', No. 38 April/May 1993 p 64-65]
"One day we did 57 set-ups!" he said. "We didn't see one foot of film until the whole batch came from the lab a week later. Nine days later we had cut, scored and printed the film and delivered it to AlP, who made a five o'clock deadline for a package to one of their stations. It was frantic. It was a different way of doing movies."
Kirk had previously made ''
Mars Needs Women
''Mars Needs Women'' is a 1968 independently made American made-for-television science fiction film from Azalea Pictures. The film was produced, written, and directed by self-proclaimed schlock artist/auteur Larry Buchanan, and stars Tommy Kirk ...
'' for Buchanan.
The actor later called the film "a monster movie so cheap that the monster wore a scuba suit and had ping-pong balls for eyes".
[Disney kid Tommy Kirk a cheerful has-been at 48
Edwards, Don. Chicago Tribune 6 Nov 1990: N_B7.]
The cave scenes were filmed in
Onyx Cave Onyx Cave may refer to several things in the United States:
*Onyx Cave (Arizona), a National Natural Landmark
*Onyx Cave (Arkansas), a small show cave
*Great Onyx Cave, Kentucky
**Great Onyx Cave Entrance, Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, National Register ...
in
Eureka Springs, Arkansas
Eureka Springs is a city in Carroll County, Arkansas, United States, and one of two county seats for the county. It is located in the Ozark Mountains of northwest Arkansas, near the border with Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the city populati ...
.
The monster suit for the dinosaur was reused from one of Buchanan's older films, ''
Creature of Destruction
''Creature of Destruction'' is a 1967 American made-for-television film produced and directed by Larry Buchanan. It is an uncredited color remake of the 1956 movie ''The She Creature'' directed by Edward L. Cahn.
Plot
Suave, silver-haired stag ...
''.
[Palmer, Randy: Paul Blaisdell, Monster Maker: A Biography of the B Movie Makeup and Special Effects Artist, McFarland & Company, , , pp. 244-246]
Buchanan said "Tommy was a really fine actor, but he just disappeared into the woodwork. He had a lot of emotional problems, and needed to talk things out. And the problem of being the director and an Aquarius, I didn't get much sleep having to listen to those stories. After putting in a 10-hour day, he'd want to go and have a few beers until two in the morning. We'd talk about Europe, traveling, philosophy, what he wanted to do with his life. He is a very cultured person, and a very proud person, so he probably took as much as he could before dropping out."
Reception
The film received negative reviews for its poor editing, bad writing, bad acting, and terrible special effects.
A review in
DVD Talk
DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman.
History
Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...
reported that the film features "endless footage of a couple driving" and that "
you disregard the kill scenes, the laughable rubber monster suit, the clunky photography, the plodding pace, and ample padding, ''It's Alive!'' really isn't that bad," adding that "the cast does a decent job with what they're given." A review in
TV Guide
TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...
described the film as "nonsensical sci-fi."
See also
*
List of films featuring dinosaurs
This is a list of films that feature non-avian dinosaurs (that is, not featuring birds) and other prehistoric (mainly Mesozoic) archosaurs, pterosaurs and prehistoric (mainly Mesozoic) marine reptiles (such as mosasaurs and plesiosaurs).
Liv ...
References
External links
*
*
*
''"It's Alive! (1969)"''at monstershack.net
at obscurehorror.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:It's Alive
1969 horror films
1969 films
1960s science fiction films
Films about dinosaurs
American International Pictures films
1960s English-language films