It Lives Again starts is Tuscon in Arizona where Eugene (Frederic Forrest) & Jody Scott (Kethleen Lloyd) are expecting their first child, the couple is contacted by Frank Davis (John P. Ryan) who was the father of a mutant baby & warns them that they Jody is about to give birth to another mutant baby. Frank claims that the Government have set up a team to kill all the babies at conception & that he wants to protect them, the Government extermination team is lead by the ruthless Mallory (John Marley) while Frank belongs to a small group of scientists who want to protect & study the babies. Jody gives birth to her mutant baby & goes on the run from Mallory's team, in a secluded mountaintop house Jody & Eugene learn that Frank & the scientists have two other mutant babies that they are studying & caring for...
Also known as It's Alive 2: It Lives Again just like it's predecessor It's Alive (1974) this was written, produced & directed by Larry Cohen who continues, elaborates & expands on the story & ideas of the original rather than just rehash & reuse them. A few character's return from the original It's Alive, most notably Frank Davis the father of the first mutant baby is now an activist helping to protect them & giving passionate speeches although the progression of the character is somewhat halted when he is unexpectedly killed off. The human villain here Mallory is joined by the cop Detective Perkins from the original It's Alive although he gets no such dramatic overhaul, the conflict between the two sides with those who want to protect the babies & those who just want to exterminate them is also elaborated on as entire networks are set-up to fool & evade the authorities. The scientific team feel that the babies are the next step in human evolution which is a bit of a stretch & I still have a hard time believing that so many people would just ignore the fact that these babies & brutally killing anyone they meet. Eugene & Jody are the unlucky couple this time & like the original their emotions & feelings go from utter disgust & hate to maternal love although it's less effective this time around & there's never any sensible reason given as to why the babies want to seek out their parents & kill them.
Like the original It's Alive the killer babies are only ever seen in quick flashes or brief glimpses although once again that was down to the special effect being less than special so they were mainly kept off screen. With so many things going on in the plot from crazy scientists to arguing parents to stabs at social commentary & parenting there's not much time for horror actually, It Lives Again is noticeably tamer than It's Alive with less blood, less attacks & less scares although there are a couple of amusing visual gags including an incubator encased in a steel cage & a birthday cake with a mutant babies claw print in it. A slightly more polished production than the original things are still look a little rough at times, Bernard Hermann's score was reused even though the composer had died some three years earlier.
Filmed in Tuscon & San Francisco things look a bit dated, the acting varies from John Ryan who is still good while he's alive anyway to Frederic Forrest who takes the Ryan role he played in the original who just isn't that good here.
It Lives Again is a good follow up to Cohen's break though film It's Alive that tries to expand on it's ideas rather than reuse them but in trying to do too much it doesn't quite work as well. Followed by It's Alive III: Island of the Alive (1987).
Also known as It's Alive 2: It Lives Again just like it's predecessor It's Alive (1974) this was written, produced & directed by Larry Cohen who continues, elaborates & expands on the story & ideas of the original rather than just rehash & reuse them. A few character's return from the original It's Alive, most notably Frank Davis the father of the first mutant baby is now an activist helping to protect them & giving passionate speeches although the progression of the character is somewhat halted when he is unexpectedly killed off. The human villain here Mallory is joined by the cop Detective Perkins from the original It's Alive although he gets no such dramatic overhaul, the conflict between the two sides with those who want to protect the babies & those who just want to exterminate them is also elaborated on as entire networks are set-up to fool & evade the authorities. The scientific team feel that the babies are the next step in human evolution which is a bit of a stretch & I still have a hard time believing that so many people would just ignore the fact that these babies & brutally killing anyone they meet. Eugene & Jody are the unlucky couple this time & like the original their emotions & feelings go from utter disgust & hate to maternal love although it's less effective this time around & there's never any sensible reason given as to why the babies want to seek out their parents & kill them.
Like the original It's Alive the killer babies are only ever seen in quick flashes or brief glimpses although once again that was down to the special effect being less than special so they were mainly kept off screen. With so many things going on in the plot from crazy scientists to arguing parents to stabs at social commentary & parenting there's not much time for horror actually, It Lives Again is noticeably tamer than It's Alive with less blood, less attacks & less scares although there are a couple of amusing visual gags including an incubator encased in a steel cage & a birthday cake with a mutant babies claw print in it. A slightly more polished production than the original things are still look a little rough at times, Bernard Hermann's score was reused even though the composer had died some three years earlier.
Filmed in Tuscon & San Francisco things look a bit dated, the acting varies from John Ryan who is still good while he's alive anyway to Frederic Forrest who takes the Ryan role he played in the original who just isn't that good here.
It Lives Again is a good follow up to Cohen's break though film It's Alive that tries to expand on it's ideas rather than reuse them but in trying to do too much it doesn't quite work as well. Followed by It's Alive III: Island of the Alive (1987).