It's Alive III: Island of the Alive

Like Sam Fuller, Larry Cohen is an extremely underrated filmmaker who managed to make 'b-movies'which say alot more then 'a-movies'. Its Alive 3 is perhaps his most subversive and humorous film. While the surface plot involves an island of mutated babies, the film also holds commentary on abortion, the media (and how it manipulates and destroys lives) and even Cuba. All it takes to pick up on this masterpiece is an open mind...

An island of mutant babies! Sounds great, right? Unfortunately, in Larry Cohen's hands, it's more amusing than great, although the island setting is quite evocative. The real pity once again is Cohen's direction. Is the guy making a black comedy or a serious horror pic? I don't think he's sure. He's definitely taking every opportunity to lather in his trademark social commentary, and I don't have a problem with that, but he abuses his own premise here with sheer silliness. The babies look like Garbage Pail Kids crossed with Party Beach monsters. They're big and they're greasy and they wear hand-me-down rags that don't fit. They still kill and they're still sympathetic tragics, but they've lost their mystery, their awe. It's a shame the great artwork didn't reflect the movie.

It's Alive 3 (1987) ** (out of 4) A court orders that all mutant babies must be sent to a deserted island. Four years later a group goes there to see how the babies have grown up. I saw bits and pieces of this years ago but this was my first time going through the whole thing and man what a bitter disappointment. Larry Cohen takes this film a lot less serious and goes over the top with things but he didn't go far enough. The thought of seeing the babies grown up was a great idea but it takes an hour for us to reach the island. When the humor does come it isn't enough so most of the time the film is just a bore.

Third time was the charm of sorts for Larry Cohen. The first It's Alive film was interesting, the second I thought stupid. But in Island Of The Alive Cohen found the tone he should have used for the two preceding films and the right actor to set the tone. Michael Moriarty and Karen Black play a parents of the latest mutant baby and Moriarty goes to court on a preventive strike to win his kid's life. He does, but it and some other mutants are placed on a Caribbean island in exile to be studied to find a solution to a growing problem. Moriarty with his swaggering style dominates this film. The writers took special care of him with the script and he delivers their lines at his sarcastic best. The film takes a couple of real good jabs at contemporary America of the Reagan era. Sad the film's antecedents retard its ratings. But this is clearly the best of the series. If another is done, hopefully it will be in the same vein.