IT'S ALIVE

An ordinary couple, Frank Davies and his wife Lenore, look forward to the birth of their second child. But the newborn comes out of the womb as a homicidal clawed and fanged monster that brutally slays all five nurses and doctors in the delivery room and escapes into the city to murder a few more citizens in its attempt to survive. Since there’s a city-wide manhunt to kill the monster, led by Police Lieutenant Perkins, a university official wants it kept alive for research or if dead wants the body turned over for experiments; an evil pharmaceutical rep argues it’s best to kill it and burn it to prevent possible law suits so that if it’s ever found that the defect was caused by birth control pills or anything the government might have approved through faulty testing. Frank voices indifference whether the baby lives or dies, denying that he could be the father of a monster, and signs the release form to the research group to do with his child’s body whatever.
It’s Alive perhaps sidesteps a few serious questions it raises about mutations, ecological concerns and the “right to live” issues that have become front page news in modern times, yet still is provocative and leaves one with much to think about regarding parental love and guilt, intolerance and institutional care. It’s a wacky low-grade entertaining horror film, one that also has an edge, is discomforting and surprisingly has a good blend of humor and splatter. (Dennis Schwartz)