It's Alive
Short description
It's Alive centres on Lenore and Frank Davis, a married couple who already have a young son and are preparing for a second child. What arrives in the delivery room is not an ordinary infant but a deformed, violent creature. It kills the doctors and nurses present at the birth and escapes from the hospital, leaving Frank and the police to track it down as it moves through the surrounding area and claims more victims. Part of the horror lies in how easily the baby is startled, since fear seems to trigger its attacks.
Larry Cohen wrote, produced and directed the film, his second feature after Black Caesar and the one that began a trilogy he saw through himself. John P. Ryan plays Frank Davis and Sharon Farrell plays Lenore, with Andrew Duggan, Guy Stockwell, James Dixon and Michael Ansara in supporting roles. The film runs 91 minutes and was released by Warner Bros. Pictures and Larco Productions, taking about 7 million dollars worldwide.
It's Alive holds a 6 out of 10 film critics' rating from 23 reviews, close to its 6 out of 10 on TMDB from 228 votes, while on IMDb it sits at 5.8 out of 10 from around 9,700 votes. A later remake returned to the same premise.
What's left behind the scenes
- Director Larry Cohen drew the monstrous creature as he envisioned it: with a huge forehead and prominent veins, and gave the drawing to special effects artist Rick Baker. The Star Child from "2001: A Space Odyssey" (Stanley Kubrick, 1968) and a wolf served as inspiration.
- Filming and editing of "It Lives!" took place concurrently with work on Larry Cohen's other film – "Black Caesar" (1973). As a result, many members of the cast and crew worked on both films seven days a week without a break.
- For close-up shots, Rick Baker created a full-size head of the mutant baby, a pair of gloves, and a costume, which was worn by his then-girlfriend, and later wife, Elaine Alexander.
- Victor Tsoi was mistakenly listed among the actors on the film’s poster. In reality, Vyacheslav Tsoi, a namesake of the singer, appeared in the film.
- The film is based on Saltykov-Shchedrin's novel "The History of One Town".
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
