It's Alive
DVD cover
Directed byJosef Rusnak
Screenplay by
Based onIt's Alive
1974 film
by Larry Cohen
Produced byMarc Toberoff
Robert Katz
Starring
CinematographyWedigo von Schultzendorff
Edited by
  • Alain Jakubowicz
  • Patrick McMahon
Music byNicholas Pike
Distributed byMillennium Films
Release date
  • April 20, 2009 (2009-04-20)
Running time
80 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1,035,267 [1]

It's Alive is a 2009 American science fiction horror film directed by Josef Rusnak. It is a remake of the 1974 film of the same name written and directed by Larry Cohen. Bijou Phillips stars as a mother who has a mutant baby which kills anyone when scared. The film was released on April 2, 2009 as a direct-to-video and received mostly negative reviews upon release. Criticizing the films pace and the CGI effect for the baby but over the years the film was later praised for it's cast, the music and it's ending that many viewers deemed it to be shocking and tragic. Later in 2020-2021 Millenium films lost rights to It's Alive which caused the film to taken be down especially on digital download. The movie is currently out of print and there's no announcement or any plans for a rerelease.

Plot

In Albuquerque, New Mexico, Lenore Harker leaves college to have a baby with her architect boyfriend, Frank. After discovering the baby has doubled in size in just a month, doctors extract the baby by caesarian section. After the doctor cuts the umbilical cord, the newborn baby Daniel goes on a rampage and slaughters the surgical team in the operating room. He afterwards crawls onto his mother's belly and falls asleep. Lenore and Daniel are found on the operating table, the room covered in blood. Lenore has no memory of what happened.

After questioning by the police, Lenore want leave and take Daniel home. Authorities arrange for a psychologist to help her regain her memory of the delivery. Soon, Daniel bites Lenore when she feeds him, revealing his taste for blood.

Daniel begins to attack small animals and progresses to killing adult humans when he is scared. One of his victims is the therapist who came to Lenore and Frank's house who wants to try hypnosis on Lenore but she refuses. She asks the therapist to leave. Lenore refuses to accept that her baby is a cannibalistic killer. Frank comes home from work to find Lenore sitting in the baby's room, but Daniel is not in his crib. The electricity goes off. Frank goes to check the fuse and at the same time searches for Daniel in the basement. Then he finds himself locked in. Daniel kills Marco, the police officer who came with Sergeant Perkins. Perkins finds Frank in the basement. As Perkins and Frank search for Daniel, Daniel suddenly attacks Perkins cause him to accidentally shoot the gas which cause the explosion killing him in the process. While Lenore heard the noise, she finally stand up and begin looking for Daniel. Frank tricks Daniel to enter the trash can and captures him in the process. He takes him far away to the house now setting on fire. While Lenore calling out Frank and Daniel, he kept continuing screaming as Frank brings his gun about to shoot him. But cannot bring himself to shoot him as Daniel begins to cry. While Daniel continue crying, Frank was hesitating to open the lid. As Frank opens the trash can, thought Daniel died from lack of oxygen but Daniel leaps out of the trash can and attacks Frank.

Lenore finds Frank injured, she apologizes Frank for everything that happened to them. But then Daniel cries can be heard, Lenore finds Daniel and she brings him into the burning house. Going inside the baby room and sit on a rocking chair as she sings him to sleep. Frank and Chris watch helplessly as the house burns to the ground with Lenore and Daniel inside.

Cast

Production

Shooting began in Sofia, Bulgaria, in March 2007.[2]

Release

The film was released straight-to-DVD in the United States on October 6, 2009. It is available in both rated and unrated editions. The film had theatrical release in the Philippines in August 2009.[3] Outside the US, it grossed $957,897.[4]

Reception

Gareth Jones of Dread Central rated it 3/5 stars and wrote, "Don’t go into It's Alive expecting a genuinely good movie (let's face it, neither was the original), but do expect to be entertained."[5] Brian Orndorf of DVD Talk rated it 1.5/5 stars and wrote that the film "lacks suspense or even basic waves of dread".[6]

Not all reviews of the film were negative. HorrorFreakNews.com awarded the film 3 out of 5 stars, writing, "It’s Alive intelligently shifts conventional scary movie making. Moreover, the movie cleverly pushes the viewer to focus on the evil incarnated by the child."[7]

Larry Cohen, the director of the 1974 original, was interviewed on December 21, 2009, regarding the remake and commented : "It's a terrible picture. It's just beyond awful. ... I would advise anybody who likes my film to cross the street and avoid seeing the new enchilada."[8]

References

  1. ↑ "It's Alive".
  2. ↑ Kay, Jeremy (2007-05-06). "Rusnak's It's Alive remake starts shooting in Bulgaria". Screen Daily. Retrieved 2016-10-29.
  3. ↑ "Red Band Trailer Debut for 'It's Alive' Remake! | | Bloody DisgustingBloody Disgusting". Bloody-disgusting.com. 10 September 2009. Retrieved 2012-07-17.
  4. ↑ "It's Alive". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2016-10-29.
  5. ↑ "It's Alive (2009)". Dread Central. 2009-09-03. Retrieved 2016-10-29.
  6. ↑ Orndorf, Brian (2009-09-30). "It's Alive (2009)". DVD Talk. Retrieved 2016-10-29.
  7. ↑ Abdellahi, Mohamed. "It's Alive! (2009) Review". HorrorFreakNews.com. Mohamed Abdellahi. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  8. ↑ Layne, Bryan (21 December 2009). "Larry Cohen Interview". Films in Review. Archived from the original on 15 October 2013. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
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