Harockerce What a beautiful movie!

TeenzTen An action-packed slog

SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.

azathothpwiggins Ultra-schlock god, Larry Buchanan's IT'S ALIVE starts off like any home movie, filmed by anyone's half-crazed uncle, complete w/ nonsensical narration rivaling that found in THE BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS! A car cruises along, as the Sterns, a bickering husband and wife, take in the sights. A windshield wiper squeaks along w/ the music. Here, Larry is just showing off, easily outdoing the opening scene from MANOS: THE HANDS OF FATE! Oh no! Hell awaits, as our travelers arrive at an old house in the middle of nowhere. Their hosts, an angry farmer named Greely (Bill Thurman) and his downtrodden wife, Bella (Annabelle Weenick- DON'T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT). Before they know it, Greely takes the Sterns into his secret cave (I kept expecting ZONTAR to materialize any second!), and horror upon horror erupts! Or something like that. Never trust crusty old farmers! They usually have more than just farming on their minds! Listen in abject terror, as Greely explains the circle of life! What is this foul tiller of the soil up to? Dear lord! There's mad science afoot! Can some hideous, inhuman mutation be far off? As Buchanan movies go, IT'S ALIVE has some charming touches: #1- Norman Stern (Corveth Ousterhouse) is one of the most annoying, insufferably snarky characters in sub-sludge cinema history! #2- A bloated Tommy Kirk and his prehistoric biology lesson! #3- An incredible, impossible monster! Picture a man-sized Kermit The Frog w/ fangs, and you get the idea! Oh yes, as this movie blunders on, like any thunder lizard, try to stay out of its way! Too late! Eeeeeaaaggghh!!... P.S.- Nothing can possibly prepare your soul for Bella's interminable trip down memory lane!...

BA_Harrison I'm a sucker for a crappy monster movie, but even I have my limits; 'It's Alive!', a made for TV effort from schlockmeister Larry Buchanan, goes beyond those limits and then some...Bill Thurman plays Greely, owner of a back-road menagerie whose most unusual attraction is a prehistoric monster (also played by Thurman) that is kept hidden in a cave and fed on unsuspecting passers-by. When married couple Leilla and Norman Sterns (Shirley Bonne and Corveth Ousterhouse) take a wrong turn and wind up at Greely's place, they soon find themselves added to the monster's menu, along with unfortunate paleontologist Wayne (Tommy Kirk). Greely's petrified housekeeper Bella (Annabelle Weenick) is their only hope of escape, but can they convince the woman to risk her life to help?With a really bad rubber monster and an amazingly OTT performance from Thurman (a master of the maniacal laugh), this could have been an unintentionally funny piece of Z-grade trash, but the dreary script, wooden acting from everyone else, and utterly lifeless direction from Buchanan ensures that no-one is laughing. Technically shoddy from start to finish, this is a real test of patience, the worst parts being a prolonged flashback filmed with no sound, but given a dreadful voice-over by Weenick, and a slow-motion chase scene through the woods. 80 minutes have rarely seemed so long.

michaeldukey2000 Larry Buchannan makes Ed Wood look like Preston Sturges but to his credit he conned his way into making more films and having them bought and seen on late night than Wood ever dreamt of.If you've seen Zontar The Thing From Venus or Curse Of THe Swamp Creature you've basically seen the monster in one form or another since they're all culled from the same suit. One has a top fin,one doesn't,one is just a mask and hands and another is a full suit. Although the creature here is supposed to be a dinosaur man you don't get the feeling that it's supposed to be twenty feet tall until the mad farmer tells you it's twenty feet tall.As others have stated this is solely a flick for those that are into cinematic badness and seeing every monster movie possible no matter what.The flashback scenes of torture with the chasing and the whistle wake ups are indeed a hilarious highlight.The nominal star of the picture,Tommy Kirk is devoid of his child star perkiness which coasted him through the mousketeer and beach party days and plays his part with aa annoying monotone that clearly shows the depression and alcoholism setting in for good.There are about ten minutes of good chuckles in the film but it's really not worth watching without the bots or drunken pals to riff on it unless you're really bored.Be warned,that if you absolutely have to see the monster in action,it doesn't show up until the final three minutes and then it's kaput!If you gotta see one Larry Buchannan picture go with The Eye Creatures or Goodbye Norma Jean. He died just recently at the beginning of 2007

vampi1960 its alive!not to be confused with Larry Cohen's;its alive about the mutant baby.is a bizarre low budget movie about a reptile loving farmer (bill Thurman)who has a tourist trap in the south with snakes and lizards.and something he keeps in a cave,a bizarre monster that looks like one of the creatures from horror of party beach minus the sausages. well some travelers happen along(tommy kirk,Shirley bonne)and stumble on the demented farmers secret.i saw this on TV very late at night as a teen and found it kind of creepy and unsettling,now i watch it and find it very funny and silly.it was made by Larry Buchanan who did many remakes of roger corman and American international pictures.this was one of the better ones.bill Thurman starred in all of Buchanan's monster films.i have to say this movie is so bad its good.the monster is hilarious.i believe this was done on a ultra low budget.5 out of 10.