It Lives Again and Island Of The Alive

Do you like the sequels? Well, for the most part, they suck, I think we can all agree on that, can't we? But, if you're like me (and God help you if you are!!), then you're going to watch them anyway. I guess it's an off-shoot of my collecting gene, I've got to complete the set! Well, most of the time, the sequels don't live up to the original, but in the case of the It's Alive sequels, they do...almost.

The first sequel, It's Alive 2: It Lives Again, pretty much picks up where the original left off. Frank Davis (who was Davies in the original) is searching for more of the mutant babies and trying to save them before the government can get there to kill them. Apparently, the government is contacting doctors who have pregnant patients and having them secretly test them for the 'It's Alive' syndrome! If the mother is going to have a mutant, then a task force is sent in when the mother goes into labor to make sure that the baby is killed before it can escape, like it did in the first movie. After his change of heart, at the end of the original, Frank is trying to save as many mutant babies as he can, why? We're not really sure, I guess it's just a humanitarian kind of thing. This movie reminded me a lot of the end of Escape From The Planet Of The Apes. The government is trying to catch and kill the mutant babies, a small group of humanitarians are trying to save them and it's a mad race to see who will be first! Where this first sequel goes right is basically the same as the original, it doesn't try to over-reach itself with special effects. The babies were obviously difficult to make at that time, so instead of putting some half-assed thing of screen, most of the time we only hear the mutant killer babies. And when we do see them, it's either from a distance or only a quick glimpse, so it still works. This first sequel gets a solid three cigars, for picking up from the first movie and then having a strong story with a strong ending!





The third movie isn't that lucky! Made in 1987, as part of a deal with writer/director Larry Cohen to do the sequel to Salem's Lot. It's Alive 3: Island Of The Alive features a lot of the cast from the Salem's Lot sequel. This sequel features Michael Moriarty as the father of one of the mutant babies who is in court fighting for the right of his child to NOT be killed by the government. For those Law And Order fans out there, it's fun to see Michael so young and on the other side of the court...but that's a different story! Well, Mike wins his court-room battle and his killer mutant baby is taken with several others to a deserted island where they will be allowed to live out their killer mutant lives. Now, how babies, even killer mutant babies, as supposed to survive on an island with nothing on it, doesn't seem to worry the government too much, so it's kind of like a killer mutant baby Guantanamo. Shortly after the babies are stranded, we see a rich guy, and we know he's a rich guy because he's wearing expensive hunting clothes and has a helicopter. And this rich guy has decided to wipe out the killer mutant babies. Why you ask? Well, it turns out he's a rich drug company executive and his drugs are what caused the killer mutation! This is the first time we've heard any kind of explanation as to why these babies are mutated. I guess, it's like an 80s version of 'crack babies'! Well, five years pass and some scientists decide that they'd like to see how those killer mutant exiles are doing, so off we go with Mike in tow, mostly because he's an 'expert', although he's working in a shoe store after the five years has passed, I guess in his spare time he's been studying killer mutations. Well, once on the Island where the babies were stranded, the babies, now the size of grown ups, even though they're only five, begin killing everyone, except Mike. Now, don't think they don't kill Mike because he's all warm and fuzzy, they need someone to work the boat they came on, because, like those dudes on Lost, the killer mutant babies just want off the damned island! Well, once at sea, the babies apparently figure out how to work the boat after all, and they throw Mike overboard on a door, and it's at this point that a weird, weird movie, gets weirder! The babies are heading for Florida, where Mike's ex-wife and the mother of one of the killer mutant babies lives, and Mike ends up drifting off to Cuba. The babies reach a local boardwalk and begin stalking their mother, and in the process fight your standard issue 80s gang...you know, there's the one with the Mohawk, the one with the leather vest, and then there's the leader, who has a couple of earrings and no sleeves on his shirt, you've seen them, they did a bunch of movies in the 80s! Well, for some reason, the Cubans bring Mike to Florida, and in record time I might add, and Mike starts looking for his ex, to save her. This movie ends with a "titanic" battle between the police and the killer mutant 5 year olds, which is neither titanic nor much of a battle! It seems that the babies have stated having babies and they want their grandma to take care of it, because they're all dying from measles. So, we've now gone from Escape From The Planet Of The Apes into War Of The Worlds territory, with very little transition. Island Of The Alive feels like a thrown together movie that was made because they could sell it to the drive-ins of the time as a second feature! It has none of the originality or the heart of the first two, and it forgot that less is more and we actually see the mutant babies this time, first as stop motion animation and then as guys in giant killer mutant baby paper mache heads! It's truly awful and for that I give it a lonely, un-lit half a cigar!





So, if you liked the first It's Alive, go ahead and check out It's Alive 2: It Lives Again, but unless you've got waaaaayyy too much time on your hands, keep off the beaches of It's Alive 3: Island Of The Alive! And until next time when I'll explain where killer mutant babies come from (here's a hint, there's a killer mutant stork involved), remember that the best movies are bad movies!!