IT'S ALIVE II: IT LIVES AGAIN

Larry Cohen, 1978

Starring: John P. Ryan, Frederic Forrest, Kathleen Lloyd, John Marley, Eddie Constantine, Andrew Dugan

Emboldened by the success (kind of) of IT'S ALIVE, Cohen decided to throw plot out on a limb, add a few more mutant killer babies, and hope fans would hang on for the ride. Again, color me surprised that I liked this film so much. When I saw the first one, I had my doubts, but loved it. I was sure I'd hate and/or be completely bored by the sequel. Though it's certainly more ridiculous than the first, three times the babies means three times the gore and mayhem.

Again written, produced, and directed by Cohen, IT'S ALIVE's John Ryan returns as Frank Davis soon after the events of the first film, this time as an activist seeking out families who are likely to give birth to mutant babies. He wants to help them deliver their babies in peace (away from the prying eyes of police, scientists, and the pharmaceutical companies) and give them a chance to get to know their unfortunately deformed offspring. The couples in question are taken to a private, secured facility full of scientists trying to study and help the babies. But obviously putting a bunch of mutant killer babies with razor sharp claws together is a poor choice.

I feel like I clipped my synopsis short, but so many ridiculous things happen that I don't want to give anything away. Why ruin the fun? I saw this in a theatre as part of a horror festival (Exhumed films's annual 24 hour Halloween horror fest) and I recommend you at least watch it with a group of like-minded horror and exploitation fanatics. A drive in would be best. Like most of Cohen's films, it's great fun if you're in the right mindset.

Sure, this is a sequel to a movie about killer babies, which means the audience is probably limited. It does unfortunately rehash some of the same themes/character struggles from the first film, but if you can suspend your disbelief and remember that you're watching a Larry Cohen film in the first place, everything should be fine. Also, I wouldn't recommend doing an IT'S ALIVE/IT LIVES double feature. If you space them out, you're much more likely to enjoy the second film.

The acting is about on par with the first, which is to say that it's like any '70's horror-exploitation film. The effects are easily as good as the first film and IT LIVES AGAIN is also scored by Bernard Hermann. You kind of wonder how the studio talked him into doing it twice after his usual work with Hitchcock. As far as I know this is only available on the two disc trilogy DVD, which comes with IT'S ALIVE, IT LIVES AGAIN, and IT'S ALIVE III: ISLAND OF THE ALIVE. And thanks to the power of the internet, you can also watch it right now on youtube.