It's Alive

1974 "There's only one thing wrong with the Davis baby..."
5.8| 1h31m| PG| en| More Info
Released: 26 April 1974 Released
Producted By: Warner Bros. Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

Lenore Davis and her husband Frank are about to have their second child. As she gives birth, the newborn baby vanishes and leaves behind five dead bodies. It's up to the police and Frank to figure out where their mutated child has gone.

Watch Online

It's Alive (1974) is now streaming with subscription on Prime Video

Director

Larry Cohen

Production Companies

Warner Bros. Pictures

AD
AD

Watch Free for 30 Days

Stream on any device, 30-day free trial
Watch Now
It's Alive Videos and Images
View All
  • Top Credited Cast
  • |
  • Crew

It's Alive Audience Reviews

Nonureva Really Surprised!
NekoHomey Purely Joyful Movie!
KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.
Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.
GL84 Heading off to the hospital, a pregnant woman about to give birth is horrified when the ravenous, bloodthirsty mutant that was born runs wild and escapes into the city forcing the team tracking it down to realize where it's going and try to stop its mission.For the most part, this one was a rather tough one to get through. When this one works, its mainly due to the rather fun idea of the killer mutant infant running around doing the killing. The celebrated birth sequence, where the off-screen birth coincides with the scream and then rushing in to find the trail of destruction and bloodied bodies as it escaped earlier makes for a rather startling and horrifying introduction during the time of a person's life they should be exceptionally happy. That, in turn, leads to the main fun to be had with this one where it features the series of attacks committed by the creature around the neighborhood, from the short attacks on the lone woman in front of her car and the delivery person on the streets. As well, the finale where it arrives back at the house and engages in the confrontation with the family there before the stellar series of encounters in the sewer system where the group tracking it find the creature in the area which is quite chilling to add some decent enough action to the proceedings. As well as the fine makeup designed for the mutant babies, these here hold it up over it's few flaws. The biggest threat to the film overall is the bland, disjointed pacing that crops up where this one just becomes dull after a while. The fact that it starts off rather strong with the hospital attack, but then after that we have nothing until the final half of the film which is punctuated only with dry, dull scenes of the investigation going through the city trying to find the cause of the strange accident at the hospital before tying it into the rampage around the city. That leaves the film incredibly dull with very little interest or action in what's happening during this investigation as that holds this to a strict tempo which isn't all that exciting to see play out. The other flaw to be found here is the exceptionally dull issue of the lack of explanation for how the creatures appear and what they're intending to do once they're loose, as this one never gives any kind of rationale about their sudden appearance which doesn't make any sense here. These are what hold this one back overall.Rated PG: Violence, Language and themes of children-in-jeopardy.
Brian T. Whitlock (GOWBTW) Having a baby should be a symbol of joy to the family. But in this case, it's everything but joy. "It's Alive!" sounds like a Frankenstein movie rather than a baby movie. Here you have a couple who are about to have addition to their family. They have another boy, but it's born with features that would scare anyone. It's fanged and has claws. The baby boy is a born killer to say the least. It killed the doctors and nurses. And it makes it way to the home of his parents . The wife has taken fertility drugs to have the second child. The couple have decided to take action against the company responsible for the situation. The company told the couple that the baby should be killed. When the firstborn son starts to get homesick, he would see his baby brother for the first time. The mom is protective, but it still kills. The baby makes its final kill against the one responsible. Even though the terror there was over, reports of another mutant baby surfaced in another state. The baby needed love, however these babies seem to know how to survive without parental guidance. Having a baby shouldn't be scary. With now ultrasound, the nightmare can be averted. This movie is well played, and it's perfect for a stormy night. Rating 3 out of 5 stars
evanston_dad There are some interesting and even somewhat ambitious (for its genre) ideas buried in the screenplay for "It's Alive," a mutant killer baby movie from 1974, but everything about the film is so poorly executed that the ideas don't get a chance to go anywhere.Those ideas include the anxiety and loss of control that come with having a newborn baby; the disappointment parents can feel when their children don't live up to their own preconceived expectations; the rift that children can create between husbands and wives; and the general responsibility husbands and fathers feel to "fix" whatever is wrong with their families. The film reminded me a tiny bit of David Lynch's "Eraserhead": in both, a literal monster exists as a stand in for all of the psychological angst that comes with bringing a child into the world. But "It's Alive" is very poorly directed, so it's not at all scary, and, though it elicits a chuckle once in a while for how stupid it is, it's not really bad enough to land into "so bad it's good" territory either. Mostly, the audience spends its time trying to get a glimpse of this killer baby, which it never really sees in any detail (probably a wise decision on the part of the filmmakers).Grade: C-
audiohead22 I was too young to see this when it came out but vividly remember the ads and was very intrigued at the time. I'm so glad it was R-Rated and had to wait to see it. It's one of the worst horror movies ever! The acting was truly awful. The story is pathetic in every way, from the characters, to the plot development and especially the thrill factor. There's zero suspense, very little gore and even the attack scenes didn't raise my pulse one beat. It also completely lacked the proper amount of "cheese" for a good 'B' Film. Don't waste the 91 minutes of your life on this piece of junk. There are absolutely no redeeming qualities about this movie whatsoever!