Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

Console best movie i've ever seen.

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

classicsoncall It's been a while since I've seen a movie that kept me this off balance while watching it and trying to understand the motivations of the characters. The Scott's in particular (Frederic Forrest and Kathleen Lloyd) are alternately receptive to and then repulsed by the idea of loving a mutant monster baby. Though I haven't seen the picture that inspired this sequel, I'm pretty convinced at this point that there's no reason for me to seek out "It's Alive"; the idea that the series produced yet a third picture is even more disconcerting. In fact, I may not be able to view another film with John Marley in it the same way again, seeing as how he made this one after finding a horse's head in his bed.It's interesting however when a movie almost forty years old brings to mind how things accepted at one time would never be broached in the same way again in more modern times. I'm thinking about that opening scene when Jody Scott (Lloyd) and Eugene (Forrest) are trying to figure out who Frank Davis (John Ryan) is at their baby shower party. Exhausting all possibilities, Mrs. Scott finally asks her husband to go find out if he's queer. Gasp!

Scott LeBrun John P. Ryan returns as Frank Davis, the father of the mutated baby in this, Larry Cohen's sequel to his cult favourite "It's Alive". Frank is now working with a group of people that attempt to help other mutated babies and their parents, and to prevent the tykes from eradication by the authorities. He makes contact with expectant couple Eugene (Frederic Forrest) and Jody (Kathleen Lloyd) and assists in spiriting the kid away to a special sort of clinic. But the cops catch up to them in time to have to deal with the escape of not only Eugene and Jody's offspring but two other murderous infants as well. Cohen had already made his point in the first movie about a possible effect of negative environmental changes on a developing fetus, and his story here is more a portrayal of irrational behaviour that may well annoy some viewers, as it shows how people can be in total denial, and stubbornly continue to engage in dangerous activities, hoping that history won't repeat itself. Characters also opine that maybe, just maybe, the infants have been altered as part of a new step in evolution, a common enough theme in genre fare. But, in the end, there's also the notion present that love and tenderness can temporarily keep a monster at bay. The movie is basically entertaining enough, and respectably paced, with particularly good scenes with Ryan (it's really nice to see him reprise his role) & Forrest and Forrest & John Marley, who plays a cop with a personal motivation for wanting to make the babies extinct. The Bernard Herrmann score is still very effective as well as the Rick Baker makeup effects; Cohen and company refrain from ever giving us an extended look at the babies, which can only be a good thing. The under-rated Forrest is likable as Eugene while the cute Lloyd, an actress whose career should have gone further, is similarly appealing as Jody, although some folk watching may grow tired of their vacillating on the issue of what to do with their child. Marley is very good in his role, while Andrew Duggan, Eddie Constantine, and Cohen regular James Dixon also provide solid support, and Cohen's daughter Jill Gatsby pops up in a small part. All things considered, this isn't as sharp or memorable as the first movie but not really bad either. Six out of 10.

Vomitron_G "It Lives Again" is a very consistent sequel to the 1974 original "It's Alive". Of course it is, since both films are written, directed and produced by Larry Cohen. He picks things up after the events of the first film, by having Frank Davis (John P. Ryan) - father of the Davis monster baby which was killed at the end of the first film - visit soon-to-be parents Eugene & Jody Scott (Frederic Forest & Kathleen Lloyd). Davis suspects that their baby will be of the same mutant kind of offspring and offers his help (together with a team of doctors, operating outside the authorities' knowledge). For what they want to do, is to save the baby in order for it to live, while the authorities want to exterminate this sudden rash of mutant newborns. That in itself is an original spin on things, and one way for this sequel to differentiate itself from the original. Another thing being that there are not one but three monster babies this time. Also, this time the script expands a little further on the human drama, which wasn't a bad choice of Cohen. The concept of mutant killer babies remains as (un)convincing as it was in the first film. So does the movie's ecological/pharmaceutical message. It's just something you'll have to fly with, as both films play things with a straight face. "It Lives Again" has a slightly higher pace to the events than the original had and about the same production values, making it a worthwhile sequel that's pretty much on par with the original. At the time young SFX artist Rick Baker returned to create the killer babies (don't expect his best work here; he was only getting started). So does composer Bernard Herrmann, who delivers a tense musical score just as decent as he did on the first film. So, the outcome is simple: if you've enjoyed the first film, go ahead and enjoy this sequel. If, however, the concept of killer mutant babies doesn't appeal to you, then you shouldn't bother watching any of these three Larry Cohen films (the third one being "Island of the Alive" from 1987).

gavin6942 After the Davis baby is destroyed, others begin to appear around the country. The second film follows a renegade group of people (including Frank Davis from the first film) who are trying to prevent the government from killing the mutant babies. But at what price? Along with Frank, we now have the Scott family: Eugene Scott (played by Frederic Forrest, best known to me as the Nazi Surplus Store Owner from "Falling Down") and Jody Scott (played by the lovely and undercast Kathleen Lloyd). And the Scott family doesn't like it when you try to kill their baby! Oh, and the makeup effects of Oscar-winning Rick Baker again.This film picks up pretty much where the other left off, give or take a few months. Where the first one pushed the message of chemicals affecting unborn babies, this is more of a family message: parents should love their children regardless of who or what they are. If your child is a criminal or autistic, they're still your child and you should defend and love them, not let the government exterminate them.There's also a really subtle subplot about child molestation. Although never explicitly shown, there is good reason to believe molestation is occurring between an adult and a child family member. (I won't say who, but you should notice it as hints are dropped multiple times.) This film is paced better than the first one, and the attacks are a bit more often and slightly more gruesome (though by no means graphic). Going from a PG rating to an R was a good move, though they didn't push the rating as much as I probably would have liked. And a really strange thing happens: Frank Davis becomes known as "Frank Davis". Not "Frank", not "Mr. Davis"... but "Frank Davis" every time he is mentioned. It seems unnatural, as if somehow he is a celebrity that needs to be highlighted, like TV's Patrick Duffy or something.Although I liked this movie better than the first one, it relies heavily on the first one to understand it, so you're really stuck having to watch both if you want to "get it". The recurring characters and source of the mutants won't make sense unless you see the original. But by all means if you liked the first one, watch the second... and if you liked this one, watch the third.