Wednesday, October 15, 2014

It's Alive 2: It Lives Again (1978)

Director: Larry Cohen

Writer: Larry Cohen

Composer: Bernard Herrmann

Starring: Frederic Forrest, Kathleen Lloyd, John P. Ryan, John Marley, Andrew Duggan, Eddie Constantine, James Dixon, Dennis O'Flaherty, Melissa Inger, Jill Gatsby, Bobby Ramsen, Glenda Young, Lynn Wood

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The 'It's Alive' Baby is back... Only now there are three of them.

Plot: A terrifying look at an ill-fated couple who become the parents of an inhuman infant.



My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again? Probably not.

Having John Marley in your movie automatically makes it better.  Period.  On the other hand, Frederic Forrest (who I usually dig) has moments of WTF in his role that had me wondering why.  Bernard Herrmann's score from IT'S ALIVE (1974) is being reused.   He died the year after that picture but the score was good so why not use it again?  It works.  I liked how this isn't just more of the same (although it sometimes is) and it's a neat continuation of the first film which delves into a much bigger world as to why these mutant babies are being born and tying it into a government conspiracy.  At least Cohen tried to do something more interesting than have a mutant baby on the loose.  I've got the three movie set from Warner Bros. that has two extras - a commentary by Cohen and the anamorphic widescreen teaser trailer for the film.  Even though this flick wasn't quite as good as the first one, it's a worthy effort.  I'm already lowering my expectations for part 3, ISLAND OF THE ALIVE (1987), which sounds campy as hell.


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