It Lives Again (1978) Online

I thought the first movie of this series was a pretty mediocre effort all around, so my hopes were not high when I sat down to watch this sequel. To my surprise, for quite a while I thought that this movie was shaping up to be much better than the original movie. The production values are a lot better, for one thing. Also, the first half of the movie, with the new and old characters, is surprisingly engaging. It was a new angle and not simply copying the first movie.

However, around the halfway point, the movie starts to fall apart and gets more tedious as it progresses. There's a lot less horror in this sequel than the first movie - in fact, the first real horror sequence only happens when more than half an hour of the running time has passed! The real problem is that the movie simply becomes boring and a tough slog to get through. Too bad, since writer/director Larry Cohen did have the stuff to make a better film.

One last thing: "It Lives Again" was rated "R", while the first movie got a "PG" rating. Which I don't understand, because "It Lives Again" has no nudity, no sex, no foul language, and far less blood and horror than the first film!

Weak follow-up to the original cult classic It's Alive is virtually a remake of the first film, but with three babies this time around instead of one. Dull, boring, talky horror flick with a disappointing score and just about all the action and scares confined to the end, but by then it is too late. Rick Baker actually did the poor effects for this inept sequel.

Rated R; Violence & Profanity.

John P. Ryan returns as Frank Davis, the father of the monster baby from It's Alive, this time to warn parents of infants about to be born of a conspiracy of the government to have killing squads ready at the time of birth. It seems that his baby was just the tip of the iceberg - a whole group of these mutant babies is being born all over the country. Though certainly not as effective as the original, I found It Lives Again to be quite an engaging, well-done sequel. Larry Cohen again returns as both writer and director, and he brings back some of the same folks from the original - James Dixon in particular returns as the lieutenant. john Marley does an able job playing a policeman with special reason to seeing these babies die. The other actors give decent performances with Andrew Duggan standing out as a doctor bent on giving these babies a chance. I guess what I really liked about the film was the sense that even though these mutants are destructive, killing machines, they still have a glimmer, a spark if you will, of some kind of inherent humanity. Cohen tries to keep his viewers at least somewhat sympathetic to their plight. As with the first film, don't look for mind-boggling special effects here. We get the same camera blur treatment when we see things through the eyes of the babies. We also never get a real good look at the infants in this one either. Some scenes that I thought were particularly well-shot include the hospital awaiting the arrival of the Scott's and much of the by-play with Marley and Ryan. Bernard Herrmann's music is back as well. Rather enjoyable sequel!

Anyone remember that 80s sci-fi series V ? It`s best remembered for a scene where a teenage girl gives birth to an alien mutant baby , but what a lot of people can`t remember about the series is that every single scene has a studio microphone popping into view . Guess what ? IT LIVES AGAIN also features mutant babies and microphone goofs . Look at the scene where the party has just broken up and Jody and Frank sit on the sofa . You can clearly see a microphone sticking up from the coffee table . I`m surprised the scene wasn`t reshot because the microphone is so obvious it`s impossible not to notice it . Director Larry Cohen has noticed it but instead of reshooting the scene he seems to have dispensed with microphones for the rest of the movie ! Seriously I`m certain he has because the sound mix after this scene is all over the place , when someone speaks the volume of their voice increases/decreases from shot to shot and there`s also plenty of scenes with obvious overdubbing , and not to mention bizarre background noises .

As for the rest of the film it`s a disappointment . You`d think a movie with mutant babies on the rampage would have been so bad it`s brilliant , but the screenplay takes itself far too seriously and most of the actors seem to have other things on their minds especially Frederic Forrest who seems to be thinking " I just hope Francis Ford Coppola releases that Vietnam war movie as soon as possible "

This is not actually a review of 'It Lives Again', just a quick comment, in case anyone is interested. I had a tiny speaking part in this film. I was part of a crowd of extras in the police/sheriff's roadblock scene (right after the tunnel shot), when the director decided to create a dialogue between the Sheriff's Department and the city police about whose jurisdiction it was.

He picked two of us who were wearing sergeant stripes on our uniforms (we were off-duty cops at the time) and we made up the scene on the spot. My two lines made it into the movie: "This is the Sheriff's jurisdiction and we're stopping the truck"...then, I turned to the other deputies and said, "OK, stop the truck." ...that's it. 35 years later, my family and friends still get a huge laugh out of this.

M. Pettit Tucson, AZ 2002

After the first film It's Alive about a mutant baby that's a real killer fresh from the womb, it was decided a sequel was in order. The first must have made a few dollars, that is how these things are decided.

Returning from the first film is John P. Ryan the father who killed his own mutant and now has a mission in life, maybe to save others who are now showing up in the population. Which is why he visits Frederic Forrest and Kathleen Lloyd another expectant set of parents.

After that things get real silly as the all seeing government in the person of John Marley gets into the act. There's also an institute that wants to house and study the mutants that's headed by Andrew Duggan. All these plot elements combine for one bloody ending.

Not that the first film was a world beater, but it's Citizen Kane next to this.

It's Alive epitomizes the realization of the perennial fears: this could really happen and the (Frankenstien-esqe) ideal of setting something in motion that cannot be controlled or committing an act that you cannot repeal or take back. The First Its alive is truly an epic, we have Davis wanting to kill his monster-baby and evolving to the point of wanting to protect it--an adroit display of humanism. It Lives Again multiplies the fears of the first film exponentially by 3 (there are three babies) and the motives of the main characters evolve as well.

Part 3 still manages to pull on my heart-strings yet its tired-feeling. I look beyond the technical deficiencies of all three films and am captivated my their magic. Somehow fans allow themselves to watch King Kong 1933, Phantom of the Opera 1925, The Lost World 1925, and Niosferatu 1922 and three of these films don't have sound and all are shot in black and white and King Kong's effects are far out-dated. We have to look beyond a lot of things to really, to be carried away . . . too often our expectations are too high and we're not humbled in our approach to these genre pictures. A lot of us don't go to church because we feel its boring because there's nothing there . . . same with the movies . . . we have to allow ourselves to feel sometimes what's really there in order to love the films.

~Spoiler~

I was very surprised that I liked the original It's Alive. I liked it a lot actually, enough to buy it. I'm not a big fan of Larry Cohen; I recognize his oddball talents and his contributions to the genre, but I just don't love his movies. Later I saw It's Alive III and that was exactly the crapfest I was expecting. It's Alive III is more like the usual Cohen goofiness. It Lives Again falls somewhere in between the two. It's not nearly as good as It's Alive but it's far superior to Part III. However, I will never sit down to watch it again. It Lives Again seems to be a pointless sequel to me. John P. Ryan returns as Frank Davis and the story centers on him informing a new couple that they have a "monster" baby on the way. So Davis talks the couple (played well enough by Frederic Forrest and Kathleen Lloyd) into joining the underground and saving the mutant baby. The first part of the movie is quite compelling. Once again Cohen creates the question of whether these babies should become victims of infanticide or should they be allowed to live? Unfortunately, this time he answers the question, definitively. How can we side with the babies after they kill the sympathetic Davis character and all of the doctors who were attempting to save them? After Frank Davis dies, I hated the babies and didn't care what happened to them. No, scratch that. I wanted the evil things to die. I got my wish but I still wasn't satisfied because Cohen still tries to make them sympathetic in the end. It just didn't work. While I regard the original as a minor classic, this one is avoidable.

The happily married couple Eugène and Jody Scott are eagerly making preparations for the birth of their first baby when Frank Davies, the unfortunate father of the first monster-baby adventure, comes to their house to warn them that their child will be a malevolent creature. He succeeds in convincing the parents that the baby should be born outside the hospital, where doctors and police men are going to kill it right after leaving the womb... After a hectic escape from the authorities, Eugène and Jody flee with their to a secret observation institute where already two companions in distress are homed. Larry Cohen's successor to his own mini cult-classic "It's Alive" is a lot more appealing than I first feared! Here, even more than in the original, Cohen gives a human and dramatic angle to the story by focusing on the initially perfect family situation of the Scotts and examining this exact same relationship afterwards! The result is a touching social drama in which the monstrous baby is secondary to the agony of parents left behind! "It Lives Again" only turns into an exciting horror movie half way through, when the 3 ferocious babies break loose and start a murder spree again. Especially in this second half, Cohen proves his brilliant horror-directing skills by suggesting a whole lot...but showing little. The kids' birthday party is an excellent example of this! This sequel is less blackly humorous than the original and it looks like the gore-budget was even smaller than four years earlier. Yet, I found it more tense than the first, with some ingeniously, but simply conceived shock-images such as the babies crawling slowly under sheets. If you're a fan of cheap B-horror and if you're familiar with the other marvelous work of Larry Cohen ("The Stuff", "God Told Me To", "Maniac Cop"...) you should definitely give this a try. I'm going to check out the final chapter "Island of the Alive" soon as well and I hope it equally entertaining.

A bit of a letdown following the atmospheric, effective original. In many ways, this sequel feels like a remake: Although it's accelerated, the central conflict remains the same, and while the plot begins to veer towards the end it remains awfully familiar and predictable. The attack scenes are pretty tame while it's hard not to notice how inexpressive and stately the creature effects are throughout the movie. As with most of director Larry Cohen's movies, the acting is straightforward but effective, and the talented cast manages to rise above Cohen's rather mediocre, rushed screenplay.

It seems after the events of the first movie, a Tucson married couple named Eugene and Jody Scott (Kathleen Lloyd and Fredric Forrest) are expecting their first child. However, Frank Davies (John Ryan) who was the father of the first mutant baby in the original that was gunned down flies from LA to warn the couple about their unborn child who might suffer the same effects as his own baby before of the vast and dangerous conspiracy to murder their baby and the other unborn mutant children who are being born around the country. And thereby in mortal danger from a nationwide task force dedicated to destroying the monster infants. Despite their initial apprehension, the Scotts eventually place a tenuous trust in Davis and a group of scientists who want to help couples cope with their child as they have 3 children to study. However there is a rival group lead by Detective Lt Perkins (James Dixon) who gunned down the Davies's baby in the first movie followed by Mr Malloy (John Marley) who was the father of the Seattle baby that was mentioned in the end of the first movie.

This sequel to the 1974 box-office hit sci-fi horror shocker has Larry Cohen write-produce-direct this sequel where the first one left off. This one is quite dark and humor free as it's more on the serious side than the original! yet it is interesting and nice to see Frank Davis from the first movie back in this one played by John Ryan again. The new couple is quite annoying and some characters aren't likable outside of Frank whom ends badly in this movie out of the picture.

Still a watchable sequel no doubt.

Determined to prevent another incident, the group who battled the creatures previously spring into action when reports surface of another potential killer baby being born and bring it to an isolated study center only for one to escape which makes them try to track it down and kill it.

This was quite a dull and unnecessary sequel. One of the few things that works here is the fact that the creatures are made a focal point of the for a much longer period of time than what had happened previously. Given more of an emphasis for being there in the area this time around, with the majority of the first half consisting of them getting the information out of the group and what their intentions are which carries into the need for the security at the hospital for the birth of the creature and the resulting chaos afterward. Consisting of the abduction and eventual hostage part in the truck where it really gets even bigger with the incidents in the back part of the truck, this here is a fine start to things which is later played off nicely in the later half where the creatures are loose in suburbia and have plenty of enjoyable encounters between the creatures and the swarm hunting them down. As this provides the action with some decent gore effects, these are what hold this one down over its rather large flaws. A lot of the film's problems stem from the same issue that befell the original in that there's just not a whole of interesting things going on here. Taking the guise of a loose remake where this starts off with the creatures' birth and the eventual escape from the hospital only this time it takes far longer to get to the point of the story which here makes no sense at all. The point of keeping mutant, bloodthirsty deformed freaks alive and healthy in the manner attempted here is not only colossally irresponsible but also moronic by keeping known threats to humanity alive. The fact that we don't really get much of anything about their point to be conducting the experiments on the creatures or what they hope to learn from them at the facility which makes their mission even more problematic overall. As these here are all in disservice to the pacing here, this one is just so dull and barely interesting that it feels a lot longer than the others which makes it incredibly hard to get into this one. Added together with the unimpressive action scenes that don't really mean much of anything that happens here is interesting, this one is quite the bland and unappealing effort.

Rated PG: Violence and Language.

It's Alive 2 a.k.a It Lives Again, is the happy medium between the original It's Alive, which I find a little dull compared to the other two, and It's Alive Three Island of the Alive, which was much more violent and had a lot more profanity. But the plot to It lives again is nothing special: Affter his baby was killed, Frank Davis starts warning people who are ready to have a baby about what may happen, and what the government may try to do. He and a group of others devise a plan to help a pregnant woman and her husband (The Scotts) have their baby, despite the obvious fact that it will be a mutant. He uses a special truck with appropriate gear to do this. But when the baby kills the doctors, the team captures it, and takes it to a base with two other children to study it. But the government knows what is going on and is intent to stop it. When the three babies get lose, they run ramp-id on the base until the government kills all of them except the Scotts baby, Who kills Frank Davis when he tries to get it to safety. The Parents then offer themselves as bait, remembering what Frank said about the infants ability to find it's parents. The police waits in the area around a house that the Scotts stay in, while the baby makes it's way to them. Eventually it finds them, and they realize that the baby only wants their love, and they then care for it for a short time. But then the government group gases the house to poison the infant, and when the leader steps in, the child attacks him, and it's either shoot their own baby or let the man die. So in the end, Mr. Scott kills his own baby. It's a lot more tragic end in this movie, than in the first. Some may say, this movie isn't as good as the original, and it's probably not, but I say, go check it out, see for yourself...

John P. Ryan returns as Frank Davis, the father of the mutated baby in this, Larry Cohen's sequel to his cult favourite "It's Alive". Frank is now working with a group of people that attempt to help other mutated babies and their parents, and to prevent the tykes from eradication by the authorities. He makes contact with expectant couple Eugene (Frederic Forrest) and Jody (Kathleen Lloyd) and assists in spiriting the kid away to a special sort of clinic. But the cops catch up to them in time to have to deal with the escape of not only Eugene and Jody's offspring but two other murderous infants as well. Cohen had already made his point in the first movie about a possible effect of negative environmental changes on a developing fetus, and his story here is more a portrayal of irrational behaviour that may well annoy some viewers, as it shows how people can be in total denial, and stubbornly continue to engage in dangerous activities, hoping that history won't repeat itself. Characters also opine that maybe, just maybe, the infants have been altered as part of a new step in evolution, a common enough theme in genre fare. But, in the end, there's also the notion present that love and tenderness can temporarily keep a monster at bay. The movie is basically entertaining enough, and respectably paced, with particularly good scenes with Ryan (it's really nice to see him reprise his role) & Forrest and Forrest & John Marley, who plays a cop with a personal motivation for wanting to make the babies extinct. The Bernard Herrmann score is still very effective as well as the Rick Baker makeup effects; Cohen and company refrain from ever giving us an extended look at the babies, which can only be a good thing. The under-rated Forrest is likable as Eugene while the cute Lloyd, an actress whose career should have gone further, is similarly appealing as Jody, although some folk watching may grow tired of their vacillating on the issue of what to do with their child. Marley is very good in his role, while Andrew Duggan, Eddie Constantine, and Cohen regular James Dixon also provide solid support, and Cohen's daughter Jill Gatsby pops up in a small part. All things considered, this isn't as sharp or memorable as the first movie but not really bad either. Six out of 10.

"It Lives Again" is a very consistent sequel to the 1974 original "It's Alive". Of course it is, since both films are written, directed and produced by Larry Cohen. He picks things up after the events of the first film, by having Frank Davis (John P. Ryan) - father of the Davis monster baby which was killed at the end of the first film - visit soon-to-be parents Eugene & Jody Scott (Frederic Forest & Kathleen Lloyd). Davis suspects that their baby will be of the same mutant kind of offspring and offers his help (together with a team of doctors, operating outside the authorities' knowledge). For what they want to do, is to save the baby in order for it to live, while the authorities want to exterminate this sudden rash of mutant newborns. That in itself is an original spin on things, and one way for this sequel to differentiate itself from the original. Another thing being that there are not one but three monster babies this time. Also, this time the script expands a little further on the human drama, which wasn't a bad choice of Cohen. The concept of mutant killer babies remains as (un)convincing as it was in the first film. So does the movie's ecological/pharmaceutical message. It's just something you'll have to fly with, as both films play things with a straight face. "It Lives Again" has a slightly higher pace to the events than the original had and about the same production values, making it a worthwhile sequel that's pretty much on par with the original. At the time young SFX artist Rick Baker returned to create the killer babies (don't expect his best work here; he was only getting started). So does composer Bernard Herrmann, who delivers a tense musical score just as decent as he did on the first film. So, the outcome is simple: if you've enjoyed the first film, go ahead and enjoy this sequel. If, however, the concept of killer mutant babies doesn't appeal to you, then you shouldn't bother watching any of these three Larry Cohen films (the third one being "Island of the Alive" from 1987).

Director/writer Larry Cohen comes back with the sequel to his 1974 original marauding mutant baby flick. Expectant couple, Eugene and Jody Scott(Frederic Forrest and Kathleen Lloyd), are paid a visit by a stranger concerned about their unborn child. That stranger is Frank Davis(John P. Ryan), the father of the original razor-sharp toothed mutant tyke. A nationwide task force has been formed to destroy other monster infants; and Davis convinces the Scotts their child should be born in secret surroundings protected by an underground organization desiring to study the mutant crawling killers. Its nice that this time out we get to see more of the monster-baby in a more deliberate script. At times I think that Ryan is actually creepier than the overactive infant. Also in the cast: James Dixon, John Marley and Andrew Duggan.

After the Davis baby is destroyed, others begin to appear around the country. The second film follows a renegade group of people (including Frank Davis from the first film) who are trying to prevent the government from killing the mutant babies. But at what price? Along with Frank, we now have the Scott family: Eugene Scott (played by Frederic Forrest, best known to me as the Nazi Surplus Store Owner from "Falling Down") and Jody Scott (played by the lovely and undercast Kathleen Lloyd). And the Scott family doesn't like it when you try to kill their baby! Oh, and the makeup effects of Oscar-winning Rick Baker again.

This film picks up pretty much where the other left off, give or take a few months. Where the first one pushed the message of chemicals affecting unborn babies, this is more of a family message: parents should love their children regardless of who or what they are. If your child is a criminal or autistic, they're still your child and you should defend and love them, not let the government exterminate them.

There's also a really subtle subplot about child molestation. Although never explicitly shown, there is good reason to believe molestation is occurring between an adult and a child family member. (I won't say who, but you should notice it as hints are dropped multiple times.)

This film is paced better than the first one, and the attacks are a bit more often and slightly more gruesome (though by no means graphic). Going from a PG rating to an R was a good move, though they didn't push the rating as much as I probably would have liked. And a really strange thing happens: Frank Davis becomes known as "Frank Davis". Not "Frank", not "Mr. Davis"... but "Frank Davis" every time he is mentioned. It seems unnatural, as if somehow he is a celebrity that needs to be highlighted, like TV's Patrick Duffy or something.

Although I liked this movie better than the first one, it relies heavily on the first one to understand it, so you're really stuck having to watch both if you want to "get it". The recurring characters and source of the mutants won't make sense unless you see the original. But by all means if you liked the first one, watch the second... and if you liked this one, watch the third.

It Lives Again starts is Tuscon in Arizona where Eugene (Frederic Forrest) & Jody Scott (Kethleen Lloyd) are expecting their first child, the couple is contacted by Frank Davis (John P. Ryan) who was the father of a mutant baby & warns them that they Jody is about to give birth to another mutant baby. Frank claims that the Government have set up a team to kill all the babies at conception & that he wants to protect them, the Government extermination team is lead by the ruthless Mallory (John Marley) while Frank belongs to a small group of scientists who want to protect & study the babies. Jody gives birth to her mutant baby & goes on the run from Mallory's team, in a secluded mountaintop house Jody & Eugene learn that Frank & the scientists have two other mutant babies that they are studying & caring for...

Also known as It's Alive 2: It Lives Again just like it's predecessor It's Alive (1974) this was written, produced & directed by Larry Cohen who continues, elaborates & expands on the story & ideas of the original rather than just rehash & reuse them. A few character's return from the original It's Alive, most notably Frank Davis the father of the first mutant baby is now an activist helping to protect them & giving passionate speeches although the progression of the character is somewhat halted when he is unexpectedly killed off. The human villain here Mallory is joined by the cop Detective Perkins from the original It's Alive although he gets no such dramatic overhaul, the conflict between the two sides with those who want to protect the babies & those who just want to exterminate them is also elaborated on as entire networks are set-up to fool & evade the authorities. The scientific team feel that the babies are the next step in human evolution which is a bit of a stretch & I still have a hard time believing that so many people would just ignore the fact that these babies & brutally killing anyone they meet. Eugene & Jody are the unlucky couple this time & like the original their emotions & feelings go from utter disgust & hate to maternal love although it's less effective this time around & there's never any sensible reason given as to why the babies want to seek out their parents & kill them.

Like the original It's Alive the killer babies are only ever seen in quick flashes or brief glimpses although once again that was down to the special effect being less than special so they were mainly kept off screen. With so many things going on in the plot from crazy scientists to arguing parents to stabs at social commentary & parenting there's not much time for horror actually, It Lives Again is noticeably tamer than It's Alive with less blood, less attacks & less scares although there are a couple of amusing visual gags including an incubator encased in a steel cage & a birthday cake with a mutant babies claw print in it. A slightly more polished production than the original things are still look a little rough at times, Bernard Hermann's score was reused even though the composer had died some three years earlier.

Filmed in Tuscon & San Francisco things look a bit dated, the acting varies from John Ryan who is still good while he's alive anyway to Frederic Forrest who takes the Ryan role he played in the original who just isn't that good here.

It Lives Again is a good follow up to Cohen's break though film It's Alive that tries to expand on it's ideas rather than reuse them but in trying to do too much it doesn't quite work as well. Followed by It's Alive III: Island of the Alive (1987).

John Ryan returns in the sequel to It's Alive, and this time he is saving babies - the strange ones. He hooks up with Eugene and Jody (Frederic Forrest and Kathleen Lloyd), who about to have a baby, and somehow he knows it will be a special one.

He manages to get them away from the evil clutches of the law and John Marley, who is probably still angry about losing his horse in The Godfather. But, of course, this is only temporary, as hippie-looking Jody's mother joins the forces of evil and soon they are killing all the babies that are being saved.

It ends the same, with Eugene taking over the work of saving babies for the third film to come.

In a direct sequel to Cohen's 1974's cult favourite "It's Alive!", Forrest and Lloyd take over as a couple playing host parents to a newborn 'sacrilige' being observed along with two fellow mutant tots by a mad-dish ("perhaps theirs is the race that will be able to adapt to the future") scientist.

The script's impartial stance on the blindness of the 'authorities' against the plain stupidity of nature-tampering science, along with the excellent and affecting portrayal of parental suspended grief by the two leads, are sadly the film's only virtues.

On the back of the cult critical plaudits poured over his "God Told Me To" the previous year Cohen seems to have transformed into the Tarantino of his day by the time of this production, resulting in an overly-discerning, archly facetious parody of his original. Following a coherent and workable first 20 minutes the babies escape, characterisation fades into evanescent memory, and suspenselessly-edited sequences telegraphed as 'shock' but ending up as anything but become the order of the day.

Cohen's career subsequent to this was a pretty unambiguously hit ("Q") and miss ("Wicked Stepmother", "Return to Salem's Lot") affair. Visually it's all pretty ugly, and just like with the aforementioned Mr T it's hard to discern (ie care) whether or not the amateur slapdashness is in fact sick slickness. Hardly a gracious return to American movies for Eddie 'Lemmy Caution' Constantine, either.

for what is certainly a great premise, it's unfortunate this film is such a failure. i've never watched anything so loaded with filler. it felt like half the 90-minute run time was probably dedicated just to watching characters entering driveways and getting out of their cars. this time there's three killer babies. who cares. none of them do anything. why does Larry Cohen even bother making a movie that are this diluted. i would credit Frederic Forrest's performance as the tormented father with holding the film together .. that's if there was anything to hold together. a total waste of my time. you know what would have made the movie better? if the story took place on the titanic in an alternate universe and the babies were faster, amphibious, had spider legs, and could reproduce within seconds of being born. imagine all those stuffy aristocrats in life jackets bobbing up and down between the glaciers with spider babies attached to their necks.

"It Lives Again" is the sequel to Larry Cohen's cult classic "It's Alive".The mutant baby is back joined by two more homicidal sucklings.There are some moments of comedy in this film,unfortunately "It Lives Again" is too talky and rather dull.There is a little bit of suspense and the mutant babies look creepy.The acting is pretty good.The scene where a monstrous baby attacks his own father in a swimming pool is the highlight of the film.So if you're a fan of Larry Cohen's horror movies or you love the original you can give it a look.However if you want really trashy Z-grade horror flick about monstrous embryo check out also "The Suckling".5 out of 10.

After the monstrous killer baby of "It's Alive" terrorizes the delivery room, now, in It Lives again, it seems that there is an epidemic of these things. While the government wants nothing more than to exterminate them all, a group of scientists with compassion are trying to save, and educate the monsters, but they prove to be a bit hard to handle.

This movie could have been a great monster flick. The parallel to the abortion debate and the fact that the baby-monsters are not clearly all good or bad could have made this a significant movie. Even the stupid idea of killer babies makes for a great movie because provides an opportunity to explore the moral dilemma of what to do when children doing bad things. Unfortunately, the director failed to pull it off, and gave us a mediocre sequel. The special effects were weak, with the babies rarely shown clearly, and the characters managed to act stupidly, annoying me throughout the film. The original movie "It's Alive" is the better movie (although that also is sub-standard - but at least its funnier and unique). Still, I think that this film is worth watching for fans of off-beat horror movies.

It's been a while since I've seen a movie that kept me this off balance while watching it and trying to understand the motivations of the characters. The Scott's in particular (Frederic Forrest and Kathleen Lloyd) are alternately receptive to and then repulsed by the idea of loving a mutant monster baby. Though I haven't seen the picture that inspired this sequel, I'm pretty convinced at this point that there's no reason for me to seek out "It's Alive"; the idea that the series produced yet a third picture is even more disconcerting. In fact, I may not be able to view another film with John Marley in it the same way again, seeing as how he made this one after finding a horse's head in his bed.

It's interesting however when a movie almost forty years old brings to mind how things accepted at one time would never be broached in the same way again in more modern times. I'm thinking about that opening scene when Jody Scott (Lloyd) and Eugene (Forrest) are trying to figure out who Frank Davis (John Ryan) is at their baby shower party. Exhausting all possibilities, Mrs. Scott finally asks her husband to go find out if he's queer. Gasp!

Not really a review but some more insider info.

The nursery and delivery room scenes were filmed on the third floor Labor and Delivery wing at St. Joseph's Hospital in Tucson AZ. I worked there at the time and one of the guys from my department played "Dr. Fairchild" as the delivery room doctor.

For a while after that, we would call the switchboard and ask them to page "Dr. Fairchild" to our phone number via the overhead paging. It became an insider joke.

It was hilarious to watch them film it as the hallway where they spend a long time running with the gurney is in the East basement and actually only about 30 feet long! They just kept cutting back and forth to make it seem so long.

The elevator that the gurney is seen coming out of is the East wing basement passenger elevator and there is no way a gurney will fit in it. They just held the door open and started pulling the gurney out and filming.

The old loading dock on the North side was the site for the "Tucson Memorial Hospital" sign seen at the beginning of the movie.

They were only allowed to film for two days and then the Catholic Sisters found out what the movie was about. They then asked the production company to leave and they did the rest of the hospital scenes in a rented hotel room in Tucson.

Bill, my co-worker who played "Dr Fairchild," had a copy of the script and we kept it in the department for a long time as we thought it was hilarious that a horror film was partially filmed in a Catholic hospital.

I had to go see it when it came out and it was great fun to remember those two days when they turned the hospital upside down with their filming.

Not a great movie but it was a "Larco Production" (Larry Cohen) and we made it a point to see anything else he produced for a while.