User reviews

Delirious, surreal, and savage, Tobe Hooper's follow-up to his landmark debut ("Chainsaw" for those not in the know), is one of a kind while bearing the same signature stamp he left with his predecessor. A sheer unrelenting onslaught of pure madness, macabre and dark humor. Although not as entirely successful as Chainsaw, "Eaten Alive" is one messed up little drive in flick with good performances particularly by Brand as the psycho Inn keeper of "Starlight Hotel". Mumbling incoherently through most of his screen time and sputtering gibberish when audible, Neville Brand is eerily convincing. The beginning of this picture owes to Psycho in that you meet a character that you are led to believe is the (no pun intended) titular heroine but is quickly dispatched and we are left with the equally sleazy and\or oddball residents of the locale like ole' country boy Buck (Englund, who's a hoot) or that oddball couple who's dog gets chomped by the gator that lives in the swamp behind the hotel. It's that kind of movie folks so be aware what you're getting into. Creepy, oddball fun.

Eaten Alive is a truly bizarre film with an almost nightmarish quality to it. I can't say I particularly loved it, because the lack of lighting often makes it hard to see what is happening. Yet at the same time, the lack of lighting also adds to the murky atmosphere. The motel owners performance is slightly over the top and annoyed me a bit, although he does play his part very well. There are some tense and disturbing moments such as when he's chasing the two women, which are excellently done. However the claustrophobic feel of the film got a little boring in parts and made it slightly hard to follow.

Overall, if you like your horror films creepy and bizarre, then this is for you. It has a similar grainy feel to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, so if you loved that then this will be right up your street.

A crazy homicidal man named Judd owns a shabby hotel in the Louisiana bayou and when he receives guests he goes out of his way to murder them and feed them to his pet crocodile. Some of these unexpected guests who face this horror that awaits them ranged from a reform hooker, an unfortunate family and the hooker's father and sister who are looking for the missing girl.

Tobe Hooper (director) and Kim Henkel (co-writer) the two who brought us one of the most powerful and groundbreaking horror films of all time "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" team up again for their next independent B-grade project: the crzay exploitation piece "Eaten Alive". The film's title has been renamed plenty of times by the distributors and also it's been labelled as Hooper's lost movie. It may lack the power, raw intensity and realism that made TCM so nerve wrecking, but this gruesome horror film doesn't hold back on the shocks and sleaze of the typical low-grade horror that filled the late seventies. There's a sheer amount of gore and flashes of nudity evident compared to his previous film. Though, it does come across as more of a comic book horror because of eccentric characters and outlandish setups. The absurd plot doesn't stand out as it's basically taken right off "Psycho" and doesn't make too much sense, but the look of the film is terrific and it's high on atmosphere. The cheap sets and swampy terrain with its blankets of fog and wildlife sounds capture such a horrifying and morbid awe and there are some rather uncomfortable scenes that are sick and twisted. It's filled with adrenaline packed scenes of graphic, if comical violence of crocodile munching and graceful blood splattering involving Judd's scythe. These thrilling sequences involve a chase through the swamp, girl under the house and a sudden burst to the climax that ends with a whirlwind of sheer chaos. Another element that stands out is the rusty colour scheme, which is rather murky and dull in tone because of the lighting. These under lit sets add to the disorientating and gritty feel. An eerie and high pitch music score is rather effective, as it really nags away and makes it quite unsettling. Frantic, edgy and encroaching camera-work is achieved to great effect. We get the usual sloppy and atrocious special effects that we see in cheap b-films and the massive rubber crocodile (looks real shoddy) is no exception.

The cast gives mostly amateur performances. Though, there are some fine performances by Robert England (Freddy Kruger fame) in one of his first big screen roles as a horny local stud called Buck and when on screen he shines. Neville Brand as the mumbling and wandering Judd delivers it brilliantly. He totally captures the mentality of this crazed character. There are a lot of scenes where we just listen to the creepy Judd ramble on in a husky tone and meandering around the shadows that fill run-down hotel listening to country music and most of these sequences feel like they're dragging the pace. Marilyn Burns who also starred in "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" plays Faye the mother of the annoying family who checks in and spends most of her time being gagged and then finishes off by screaming her lungs off. Good support by Mel Ferrer and Crystin Sinclaire as the prostitute's father and sister and Stuart Whitman as Sheriff Martin. Roberta Collins and Janus Blythe also appear. The dialogue is rather bad and inane at times, but there's some added tongue-in-cheek humour.

It's definitely not in the same league of Hooper's previous effort "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre". Rather silly stuff, but amusing low-budget nastiness with good art direction and some sudden jolts of excitement.

Tobe Hooper's much maligned follow up to 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' isn't half as bad as it's detractors claim. While it certainly isn't as good as TCM, if viewed in the right frame of mind it's probably his second best flick. 'Death Trap' reminds me of Dario Argento's movies. Not in the subject matter, or directorial style, but in the sense that what you're seeing is a filmed nightmare, devoid of logic, but full of memorable over the top images. The sets are cheap and nasty, the acting varies from quite good to plain silly, the "plot" can basically be summed up as: people check into a seedy motel and get fed to a pet crocodile by its nutty owner, but you know what? It's still a hell of an entertaining trashy horror movie.

Neville Brand ('The Ninth Configuration') gives a gonzo, almost vintage Timothy Carey-like performance as psycho scythe wielding Judd, owner of the one place in town you really don't want to check in to. Horror legend Robert Englund appears as sodomy lovin' white trash local Buck. Also on board are scream queen Marilyn Burns ('TCM', 'Helter Skelter'), cult star Roberta Collins ('Death Race 2000'), the original Morticia (Carolyn Jones), the 'Phantom Of The Paradise' (William Finley), and veterans Mel Ferrer ('The Hands Of Orlac') and Stuart Whitman ('Crazy Mama'). All this and one of the most unconvincing looking killer crocodiles ever seen on screen!

Highly recommended.

`The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' (of course) and `Death Trap' (less obvious already) are the only two films Tobe Hooper should be really remembered for as a horror director. They both are raw and chilling explorations of the angry rural America. The location of this film looks like a giant swampy area, homed by underdeveloped perverted rednecks and other freaks of society. Neville Brand terrifically portrays Judd, the isolated owner of the Starlight Hotel. Judd suffers a bit from the incapability to communicate with people and the guests at his hotel are doomed to die as soon as they enter his facility. He also has a pet crocodile swimming underneath the porch of his hotel, which is a pretty convenient method to get rid of human leftovers… A poor, rejected prostitute is the first to undergo Judd's murderous rituals. Her relatives soon come to search for her and are doomed as well. In the meantime, the croc feeds on some more unfortunate by passers. Although I regard this as Hooper's second best film, it doesn't come close to the power of TCM…Which kind of gives you an idea of how great I think TCM was! The settings and photography of Horror Hotel (one of the film's a.k.a's) look nasty and utterly cheap. Just as it did in TCM, this actually increases the macabre atmosphere and you constantly feel something wicked is about to happen. The characters – although pretty imaginative – aren't as convincing as the Sawyer family but they too seem to come running straight out of a freakshow as well! There's Judd of course, but also a very memorable Robert Englund who plays a retarded yokel with an obsession for anal sex. The scream-queen prototype Marilyn Burns returns as well before disappearing into actress-oblivion forever. The crocodile as well as most other horror scenery looks really cheap, but to me, this only increases the trash-fun value of this film. Highly recommended viewing as far as I'm concerned.

The reason this movie has twenty alternate titles is because Tobe Hooper and the film's distributors wanted to combat the terrible word-of-mouth that would inevitably arise once the film was shown to unsuspecting audiences. That's how bad this movie is--even its creators were ashamed of it.

Don't ask me what Tobe Hooper was thinking with this movie. One of these days I'll track him down and ask him about it. "Hey Tobe, why did you think we wanted to see a movie with Robert Englund as a sodomy-obsessed nutcase and a filty, rundown hotel with an obvious psychopath for a proprietor and a random, fake-looking alligator?" Maybe Hooper was drunk on the success of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Maybe he was just drunk. I don't know. But this seriously has to be one of the worst, most unbearable films of all time.

In TCM you could sorta believe what was going on. Here we have what is probably the worst, least inviting hotel on the planet, but somehow people keep showing up and checking in. Are you people crazy? Just freakin' LOOK at that place! And look at the crazy guy with a scythe who runs it! And look at the giant alligator in the diseased swamp out front! Gee, honey, this place looks nice...

For some reason the sky is red throughout almost the entire film. Is it supposed to be on Mars?

Well, if you saw The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and were impressed with director Tobe Hooper, your next move might be to view his second film Eaten Alive. I searched all over for a print and finally was lucky enough to find one and see this somewhat forgotten picture. One reason for its seemingly firm place in the ranks of oblivion is its numerous title changes. Notwithstanding all this I found the film and watched it. The film is interesting, bizarre, unbelievable, and disturbing. The setting is just a trifle too unimaginative to be taken for real as is the central character of Judd (for the most part deftly played by Neville Brand). The plot too seems to be making its viewers accept too much for granted without really giving any knowledge of why Judd is the way he is, etc... Despite these shortcomings, the film has some of the truly most horrific scenes filmed. The scene in which Judd tries in vain to goad a young girl from under his hotel out is sheer terror. Other scenes in which he dispatches some of the hotel guests are equally effective. The film has a lot more going for it than its oblivious nature would suggest. It has fine performances, an eerier setting and score, and the taught, tuned terror Tobe Hooper realized in his first great film.

The crazy dirtbag manager of a rundown hotel in east Texas (Neville Brand) threatens his clients if they upset him and feeds them to his pet croc. The cast includes notables like Mel Ferrer, Stuart Whitman, Carolyn Jones and a young Robert Englund.

Despite the presence of the croc, "Eaten Alive" (1976) is more of a slasher flick than crocogator horror (the croc is strictly peripheral, not to mention unconvincing). This was Tobe Hooper's follow-up to his unexpected hit "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (1974) wherein he borrows the plot of "Psycho" (1960). Unfortunately, he spectacularly fumbles the ball.

The surreal style, sets and cast are all good, but there's a lack of confidence in the execution: The flick's full of nonsensical actions, meanderings and padding. Hooper tried to make up for it by exploiting the women with lots of raunch & nudity, but "Chainsaw Massacre" proved that a slasher didn't need this to be effective.

Janus Blythe stands out in the feminine department as Lynette, as does Roberta Collins as Clara. Marilyn Burns (Faye) and Crystin Sinclaire (Libby) are also noteworthy.

Thankfully, Hooper moved on to much better productions, like "Salem's Lot" (1979), "The Funhouse" (1981) and "Crocodile" (2000).

The film runs 1 hour, 31 minutes, and was shot at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood, CA.

GRADE: C-/D+

Toby Hooper's follow up to his classic Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) was this atmospherically bizarre horror oddity.

Deep in the swamps, a crazed hotel owner is keeping a monster crocodile in his yard and occasionally feeding offensive people to it!

As with Texas Chainsaw Hooper gives this film lots of spooky atmosphere, but he really puts it into over-drive with Eaten Alive. The story is a bit disturbing and far more gruesome than Texas Chainsaw. The characters that parade through this film range from back-woods yokels to warped weirdos! Hooper gives the whole movie a kind of garish and bleak style that adds all the more to its off-beat weirdness.

The cast is good, Neville Brand makes for an especially convincing madman. Horror fans will see lots of familiar faces in the cast - Marilyn Burns (Texas Chainsaw Massacre), William Finley (Sisters), Robert Englund (Elm Street movies), Janus Blythe (The Hills Have Eyes), and young Kyle Richards (Halloween).

While Eaten Alive doesn't reach the nightmarish heights of some of Hoopers other films, it is a good B horror picture. For those looking for a twisted horror film it will more than suffice!

*** out of ****

I always thought that Tobe Hooper got lucky with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and never did anything great after that, with the exception of Poltergeist though, most people would argue that Spielberg was the true director of that one. This movie isn't up there with those two but it still is a great entry from Hooper. I was genuinely creeped out at times and i really enjoyed it the whole way through.

This is Robert Englund's first horror picture and he does a great job. The other actors were good with a couple exceptions. The story was good, and I really like the idea of it. The direction is also good but some of the editing seems a little iffy. All in all, I think this deserves to go down in horror history.

Check this one out if you're a horror/exploitation fan and you shouldn't be disappointed. It took me by surprise.

In Tobe Hooper's follow-up to THE Texas CHAIN SAW MASSACRE, Neville Brand is totally out of control! I could not believe my eyes seeing his twitching, nervous, maniacal, laughing psycho performance! He seems to be on some kind of high-powered drug from outer space! Thankfully, his acting is perfectly welcome in this film, where almost every bizarre character seems to be up to something devious.

Neville runs a secluded Louisiana hotel on the Bayou where various people show up. He kills them off (with a scythe, pitchfork, etc.) and feeds their dead bodies to his pet crocodile. Marilyn Burns, William Finley and their daughter eventually show up in disguise and are tormented by Brand. Family members and cops show up to search for missing prostitute Roberta Collins and become victims, too.

Brand hacks them up while hopping around uncontrollably and laughing with glee. Totally creepy. So is Wayne Bell's music score, which is similar to the one he did for TCM. Good make-up, lots of surprises, Hooper's direction and Brand give this film an edge over it's competition.

Before M. Night Shamaylan started making horribly inadequate movies after the superior "Sixth Sense" Tobe Hooper twenty years earlier was following up his cult masterpiece "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" with the dull and moronic "Eaten Alive". Neville Brand is Judd a mentally unstable owner of one of the most uninviting hotels on Earth. Why anyone of sound mind would want to stay here is beyond me. The soundstage it was filmed on doesn't help with its constant red horizon surrounding the place. None the less wary travelers attempt to brave the night there and are treated to being either skewered with a scythe, witch is a very inefficient murder weapon of choice personally, fed to Judd's pet crocodile or, just for the ladies, beaten and tied up. Why Judd does all this is never addressed as it seems everyone with a pulse draws his ire. I would assume that some of his guests had to live beforehand otherwise he wouldn't be in business very long. It is impossible to watch this without comparing this to Texas Chainsaw Massacre and realizing how woefully inept this is as a follow-up film. The scary thing about Leatherface is the fact that you can tell that this grotesque lifestyle is all he knows and will ever know. Judd comes off as a cranky old man very much in need of a nap. The cast is forgettable as Mel Ferrer stars in his first of two movies titled "Eaten Alive" and Robert Englund makes his film debut as Buck who like to fu......fornicate. I've had scarier nights at a Holiday Inn.

A crazed proprietor (Neville Brand) runs a motel located in the swampy Louisiana bayou where he keeps a pet crocodile in front of the place. For some reason, he murders unsuspecting guests with a scythe and feeds them to the always-hungry animal.

Tobe Hooper's follow-up to his cult hit "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" is surprisingly disappointing, lacking suspense and atmosphere that worked in the last film. In addition, the film suffers from poor script, inept pacing and unconvincing characters. Robert (Freddy Krueger) Englund's offbeat performance as a sex-crazed hillbilly with his opening memorable line ("My name is Buck and I'm ready to f---!") is the film's only asset, but it's not enough to overcome these faults. Marilyn Burns ("The Texas Chainsaw Massacre") also stars a hapless victim (again).

Also known as "Horror Hotel," "Horror Hotel Massacre," and "Death Trap."

My evaluation: *½ out of ****

Boy what a mess this movie was.Tobe Hooper's follow up to the great "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" is just plain bad.The more Hooper films I see the more I'm convinced he just lucked out with "TCM" cause everything else I've seen by him pretty much blows chunks.

A crazy motel owner living in the backwoods on the edge of a swamp keeps his pet gator happy,which he claims is a croc for some reason, by a continuous supply of fresh meat.This motel owner runs around waving what I took to be a wheat hook,or whatever you call one of those things that Death is always seen carrying.The crazy hotel owner, called Judd ,just can't compare to the sinister chainsaw waving Leatherface and that may be the problem----everything Hooper ever does will be compared to "TCM".

But with this picture comparison to "TCM" isn't the big problem.The big problem is this picture sucks even if you didn't know anything about Hooper and "TCM".The script is just horrible.I was trying to figure out what a couple who had stopped by the hotel were talking about after they got to their room and I never could catch on to it.It was like they were talking in code---a sentence never connected to the one before or after it.Maybe Hooper was trying to create an eerie disjointed feel but most of the script was just nonsensical ramblings from Judd or some of the other characters.And Hooper didn't seem to know what to do with Judd a lot of the time.....he just sort of ambled around the lobby of the motel and dusted while people upstairs and outside were screaming and yelling.

The soundtrack,if you can call it that,was the radio in the motel lobby that stayed on during the entire movie...it played generic sounding country music that was probably made up for the picture so no royalties would have to be paid.The result was a steady stream of boring droning stereotypical country songs about cowboys and lost loves by people who couldn't really sing if their life depended on it.For me ,as a music lover, this generic lazy-ass approach to something so constantly used in the film was almost the worst thing about this movie.

But the special effects were bad too.The croc was a big plastic looking piece of junk mostly hid by bad lighting and black swamp water.The whole pic was cursed by bad lighting and grainy looking film,those things gave "TCM" some of it's aura,here they were just cheapo looking and annoying.The whole set itself looked worse than the fake island sets used on "Gilligan's Island".But this little junky run down motel setting out in the swamp was a busy place nonetheless just like "Gilligan's Island" was.You'd think this place was in downtown New York by the amount of people passing through.

The only redeeming thing about this pic was a couple of topless chicks we get to see near the end of this mess.I guess by then Hooper had realized that the crappy mess he had so far was a stinker and his last ditch effort to save this disaster was some boobage.

Didn't work,the bad lighting mostly ruined those too (or four), i should say.

A crazed motel owner murders his guests and feeds them to his pet crocodile in Eaten Alive. It begins with a young girl who is prostituting for the first time. She realizes quickly that she isn't cut out for that lifestyle when a guy named Buck (Robert Englund) gets rough with her. She is thrown out of the brothel and heads to the rundown motel. When Judd the motel manager discovers that she was working as a prostitute, he flips out and murders her, then disposes her body by throwing it to the crocodile in the swamp surrounding the shack. Things get hairy for Judd when that girl's family (as well as other motel guests) arrive and start snooping around.

Tobe Hooper directed this film, and he of course did Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Eaten Alive has a lot of the same elements from that film mixed with Hitchcock's Psycho. Neville Brand plays the crazed psychopath Judd to perfection. He is manic and verbally erratic at almost all times, it's really unsettling. When he chases some of the women around in the tight corners of the motel, it's really intense. Hooper was just a marvellous director. The Judd character reminds me a lot of Jim Siedow's character (The Old Man/Drayton Sawyer) from the first two 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' films. There are also parts that are so strange like the father of the little girl who completely loses his mind after seeing his little dog eaten by the crocodile. Normally I would be wondering what the hell those scenes were all about but, in Eaten Alive, EVERYTHING happening is crazy, strange and off-beat.

I loved seeing Robert Englund before his Freddy Krueger days, he did a fine job in this film. Marilyn Burns from 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' has a lead role playing pretty much the same character as Sally from that film, and does a terrific job as well. Overall Eaten Alive is a gritty disgusting but intense horror film. The craziness from Judd the motel manager really takes away from the horror of the giant crocodile moving around in the swamp. Watching this movie, you'd almost rather face the croc than Judd!

Where the film fails is at tying up loose ends and explaining why Judd was so crazed. And why did no one in the town catch onto his strange behaviour? I find it hard to believe that the prostitute at the beginning was his first victim. Nevertheless, I recommend Eaten Alive to horror fans. It's very intense and brutal, with some gore as well.

7/10

I wish I could say anything positive about this movie but I can't. I like quirky movies about the South and turned this one on for that reason, but bad acting, cheap sets, and a weak story all add up to bad. This movie is pretty pitiful, even for grind house.

A Psychopath (Neville Brand), who has a crocodile living in the front yard of his motel. This Psychopath is been feeding his pet crocodile to the periodically guest, who upset this Psychopath. Especially when they are upset of the management of his bayou hotel.

Directed by Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 1 & 2, Poltergeist, Salem's Lot) made a truly garishly stylized, unrelentingly bizarre film. Brand's interesting performance keeps this extremely flawed film worth watching. Also the film has a good cast like:Mel Ferrer, Carolyn Jones, Marilyn Burns, William Finley, Staurt Whitman, Janus Blythe, Kyle Richards and a young Robert Englund. Which Englund has the film's best line in the opening scene. It is worth a look, if you are a fan of Hooper's work or the love of strange cinema. (***/*****).

This video nastie is not Robert Englund's first film, but it is close. He is a young buck, named Buck, that jumps on anything he can.

It is director Tobe Hooper's third film, done right after Texas Chainsaw Massacre. He gives us something weird, yet compelling. It was initially banned in Britain, where it went under the name Death Trap (there are a lot of other names). It was released there in 2000 with no cuts.

I imagine they initially objected to the death of Snoopy. It was painful for me to watch also, Funny how you can watch a crocodile/alligator chomp down on a human, but to see a cute little dog in it's jaws can be disturbing.

Neville Brand was Judd, the owner of the Starlight Motel. I really never could figure out his problem. He just went around babbling all the time, making absolutely no sense, and throwing people to the croc.

Oscar-nominee Stuart Whitman was the sheriff; and William Finley, who we will see again in Hooper's Funhouse, was a strange man that was given to delusions and barking.

Fortunately, all those who gave us a view of their chest treasures managed to avoid the croc. Too bad for Snoopy, but I was thankful for that.

Yes, this is the first movie made by Tobe Hooper after The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and no it is not half as scary or well-made. Hooper was not a big shot after TCM because it wasn't a Hollywood franchise or a legendary movie yet. So he's hired with TCM writer Kim Henkel to basically make a ripoff of their own movie, since both creators got robbed selling Chainsaw. More bad luck comes to Hooper as the producers want a different style of film, closer to Carrie or Psycho. Hooper leaves the film during filming and a good 1/4th of the film is filmed by his DP (who can't direct a lick). Also factor in the shabby budget.

So "Eaten Alive" could've been something close to TCM but turns out a mess that has very little of Hooper's vision in it. Its still very interesting and creepy. There's a queasy atmosphere thanks to the surreal set, noisy sound design and freaky acting. Whats left of Henkel's script is abstract and very in touch with TCM. The film sinks thanks to some boring office and bar scenes plus lame slasher chase sequences thrown in to make the story more standard. The entire film is edited poorly. But Hooper's scenes are very good even in this choppy presentation. Unfortunately TCM2 had more of Eaten Alive in it than TCM.

‘Eaten Alive' is known as ‘Death Trap' in the United Kingdom and thus I shall be using this alternate title in reference to the film.

Judd (Neville Brand), a deranged southern psychopath, runs the Starlight Hotel and even keeps a pet crocodile in the swamp next to it. The guests of this hotel soon learn about Judd's eccentricities and discover (to their own dismay) that the crocodile will eat just about anything.

Tobe Hooper's follow up to the immensely successful ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre' (1974) is a slow and dull failure of a movie lacking all the charm and intrigue that TCM possessed. Whereas TCM was a near-perfect exercise in psychological terror, ‘Death Trap' is here to provide all the `goodies' (gore) that TCM, despite its title, only ever implied. Instead, we are left with an often unintentionally hilarious and downright feeble horror outing from a director who, in my opinion, lives off the reputation he has garnered for just a couple of films. This film is certainly not one of them. Accomplished stars of the big screen are paraded across the film in short roles in a desperate attempt to give ‘Death Trap' some sort of cinematic credibility, most notably Neville Brand in the leading role and previous Oscar-Nominee Stuart Whitman (The Mark (1961)) as the Sheriff. There is also an appearance from a pre-‘Nightmare on Elm Street' Robert Englund in the role of Buck. Incidentally, the character of Buck is one of the few highlights in this otherwise abysmal movie. If anything, one cannot really complain about the performances from the main cast even if half of Neville Brand's dialogue was completely incoherent.

The story itself is basic. People show up at the hotel, get dispatched for one reason or another and then along come the next group of people. While horror (particularly during this time period) is not predominantly famed for any sort of intricate storyline, for a film such as this to work requires an adequate building of tension/suspense and a lot to happen. Unfortunately, ‘Death Trap' fails on both counts. There is so little that happens in this movie that it becomes nigh on impossible to actually remain interested and although the `money shots' are in general worth watching, the rest of the film falls flat on its face. Sadly, attempts to build up tension fail as well due to the overly predictable nature of the work and the long, drawn out process in which suspense is attempted. Tobe Hooper is certainly no Alfred Hitchcock and this is certainly no ‘Psycho' (1960).

Fans of ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre' are better skipping over this one as this is a shadow of the ability shown by director Tobe Hooper. In fact, one should probably skip over a few and go straight to ‘The Funhouse' (1981) (which is a masterpiece compared to ‘Death Trap') or the Spielberg/Hooper co-production of ‘Poltergeist' (1982). ‘Death Trap' unfortunately had some potential but failed to deliver on virtually every opportunity. To sum up, ‘Death Trap' is a distinctly slow and dull production that could not really be saved by a couple of good scenes and some credible acting performances. My rating for ‘Death Trap' – 4/10.

Eaten Alive (1977) is one of the most overlooked and under-appreciated films. Maybe the critics and fans were disenchanted with it because they were probably expecting a film in the vein of first film Texas CHAINSAW MASSACRE. In many retrospects the films are similar. They both feature dying, old ways of life (privately owned slaughter houses, roadside motels with sideshow exhibits). The film's main character is Judd, the proprietor of the Starlight Hotel and Zoo. Judd is a crazed war vet with broken dreams who's haunted by ghosts from the past. Neville Brand portrays Judd with such an eerie, uncanny flair (his experiences as a decorated WWII vet gives his role an aura of authenticity). A true slice of dying Americana as only Tobe Hooper can tell.

The support players are William Finley, Marylin Burns, Stuart Whitman, Mel Ferrer, Robert Englund and an unrecognizable Carolyn Jones (TV's Morticia

Addams). This film has been restored for DVD by Elite. Beware of the cheaper DVDs because they are truly ghastly.

Strongly recommended

A psychotic redneck (Neville Brand) who owns a dilapidated hotel in the backwater swamps of Louisiana kills various people who upset him or his business, and he feeds their bodies to a large crocodile that he keeps as a pet in the swamp beside his hotel.

This film is very loosely based on the story of 1930s serial killer Joe Ball from Elmendorf, Texas. He owned a bar with an alligator pit serving as an entertainment attraction. Several murders of women ensued, and flesh was later found in the pit.

According to makeup artist Craig Reardon, cinematographer Robert Caramico directed several scenes due to creative differences between Tobe Hooper and the films' producers. I would love to have this confirmed by anyone else associated with the film. Hooper mixes sex and violence like few others and for that reason I would still have to say this is ultimately his vision... but this is not the only film where Hooper's direction came under question (Poltergeist).

The cast is excellent, with Mel Ferrer, Robert Englund as an anal rapist, and Hooper veteran Marilyn Burns. Englund's line, "Name's Buck..." became inspiration for Tarantino's "Kill Bill"... William Finley ("Phantom of the Paradise") is here. And Kyle Richards ("Halloween"). And, of course, we have World War II hero Neville Brand...

Roberta Collins plays a good lead, and she proudly acknowledges this is the only horror film she had done (apparently not counting "Saturday the 14th"). Despite being in some other cult films (like "The Big Birdcage" with Pam Grier and "Death Race 2000"), she may not be well-known to horror fans, which is a shame. Take in her performance and her very odd character, as she is sadly no longer with us.

Sure, this movie has cheesy alligator effects, and the sets look like the Third World, but everything is still somehow effective and it is an enjoyable flick for horror buffs. If you are a fan of Hooper and have not seen this one, see it. You just cannot top the classics. I recommend picking up the Dark Sky version. While the film is still gritty, they did a fine job of cleaning it up -- other companies have put an almost unwatchable VHS transfer on DVD.