What makes it different from others?

not as good as all the hype

Let's be realistic.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Larry Cohen's grisly and original take on the monster movie is very much a product of its time. This is a cold, unflinching '70s film, where every camera shot seems to take place on the corner of a regular street, inhabited by regular, hard-working guys, and the cold night air seems to give a chilly, clinical atmosphere to what's taking place on screen. IT'S ALIVE reminds me very much of early Cronenberg: think SHIVERS and RABID. This is a disturbing film that has the atmosphere of a never-ending nightmare: despite some dodgy effects and occasional campiness, for the most part the horror works.The story of a mutant baby crawling around and biting people to death sounds pretty ludicrous on the face of it. There are only so many stalk-and-slash scenarios that the director can work with, although his blurred-eye-vision tracking shots seem to have influenced Carpenter when he made HALLOWEEN. No, Cohen wisely chooses to focus on emotion and characterisation over action, and the central character is the distraught father who runs a gamut of feelings when he discovers that his baby is responsible for a hospital massacre. John P. Ryan, giving one of the all-time-great B-movie performances, excels as the clinically detached dad who discovers his paternal instincts at the film's climax.The special effects are quite poor by today's standard (the baby is played by a regular actor in close-up shots) and Cohen keeps the monster off-screen for the most part, which does help counter the general cheapness. Still, I found the baby quite eerie, thanks mainly to Rick Baker's makeup work, and the fact that it retains some humanity helps to give the film its emotional heart. Despite the low budget, IT'S ALIVE is also blessed with an absolutely fantastic soundtrack thanks to Hitchcock composer Bernard Herrmann, who goes all out to create spooky, evocative and atmospheric music. The presence of these three men (Herrmann, Ryan and Cohen) makes this film a minor classic of the period.

While sleeping peacefully in his Southern California home, public relations businessman John Ryan (as Frank Davis) is awakened by pregnant wife Sharon Farrell (as Lenore). She has gone into labor. After depositing young son Daniel Holzman (as Chris) with family friend William Wellman Jr. (son of renowned director William Wellman, as Charley), Mr. Ryan drives his wife to the hospital. Delivery of the couple's second child is difficult, to say the least. The horrific hospital incident produces a monster who terrifies Ryan's family and community..."It's Alive" is a minor miracle for Larry Cohen, who wrote, produced and directed this low-budget, sleeper classic...After a skillful career in television, Mr. Cohen began dabbling in feature films, with mixed (but interesting) results. Here, as the auteur of his film, Cohen reveals great style and structure; the latter being a big improvement over his previous "Bone" (1972). Like the legendary Alfred Hitchcock, Cohen knows what, when and how much to show. Rick Baker's makeup and special effects look amazing. Cohen gets Hitchcock's notable soundtrack composer Bernard Herrmann to score and gets great help from Ryan, who plays the baby's father to perfection.******** It's Alive (1974-07) Larry Cohen ~ John P. Ryan, Sharon Farrell, James Dixon, Daniel Holzman

A pregnant couple (well, the wife, anyway) have a baby in a hospital while leaving their son babysat by their friend. While the wife is in labor, the husband discusses with a group of other men the way urban cities have all kinds of pollutants in the air, water and food... as it turns out in this hilarious yet creepy old b-movie, the baby has been mutated somehow and kills when it gets scared, from the nurses in the delivery room to the family cat. Only the father can seek out his child and accept it despite its unnatural appearance.I think what I liked most about this movie is towards the end, when the father rescues the child. I didn't appreciate the environmental propaganda message behind the movie, and It's Alive has its flaws, but hey, what low-budget horror movie doesn't? That's what makes them so much fun to watch! The acting was fairly decent and the soundtrack was pretty good, all in all it's a great little horror movie.

The problem with this film was not really the acting. It was the story and the thing that was suppose to scare the viewers. John P. Ryan plays the lead and for some reason, I really liked his performance. He just had the look and acting to really put the film on edge. His wife is played by Sharon Farrell, who at the right time could act. But sometimes she seemed a little off. The whole story line of this film is ridiculous. Woman gives birth to a baby that is mutated and it kills people. No real back story on how it happened. Maybe it was some drugs she was taking. The baby was suppose to scare you. But how can you be scared by something that reminds you of a small monkey of some sort. Some of the other cast was pretty cheesy including the son of Ryan of Farrell, but he was young and didn't know better. There needed to be more jumping scenes also. But every time one can up, they would trigger it with the baby crying or something moving. So that way you know it was coming. The movie overall was missing a lot, including a good ending. Maybe if they added more gore, it could of been more of a cult following than what it was. But most of the gore scenes were a few deep scratches from the babies strange sloth like nails.