User reviews

A father fights for the right for his mutant child to live, the court grants that and his child plus another 4 are sent to an island to live.

It was Warners Brothers idea for a third It's Alive film, which would be shot back to back with Return to Salem's Lot. It was meant to be release straight to video with RTSL, but it got a limited theatrical release.

This film had a little bit more money than that of the 2 previous films, but this time around the film is an over the top black comedy compared to the bleak and serious tone of the first two films, which had subtle humour.

This film was far less effective in the horror and atmospheric department, but not the laughs and it's been more action packed than the previous films. Though it is a stupid and lightweight film, it was still quite fresh (with a different take on the Alive films) and enjoyable to watch… that's if you're in the right frame of mood.

Cohan has a knack of casting the right people, with reasonable performances or you can call them hammy from Karen Black playing the mother to one of the babies and James Dixon (only one in all 3) as Detective Perkins and the standout performance and scene stealer would have to be Michael Moriarty as the father. He brings a strong central character that has a weird sense of humour and goes suddenly bananas with his lunatic behaviour when the film goes along.

Not only is the casting good, but also the script is full of wit and satirical comments (like the other 2 films) on American and Cuban relations, people's emotions, Aids and the media. The pace of the film is perfect and Daniel Pearl (The Texas chainsaw massacre) brings another element with his cinematography and lighting. The score is alright and the same for the atmosphere. The effects are pretty lame, with stop motion, puppets and people in rubber costumes. Too much of the creatures are shown, making it laughable (especially the grown-up versions of the babies), but that's what makes this fun viewing.

The film seems to lose itself and becomes incredibly stupid when the grown up mutant's decide to leave the island and head back to the mainland. Some of those scenes and its humour is totally cringe-worthy, but for what its worth… It's nothing but over the top cheese, it's not great but otherwise quite amusing.

3/5

Larry Cohen returns after nearly a decade to finish off his mutant baby trilogy with mixed results. Stephen Jarvis (Michael Moriarty) battles in court for the rights of the mutant baby he had with his wife Ellen (Karen Black). The sympathetic judge orders all of the babies to be placed on an island. 5 years later, a scientific team gets together to visit the island and check the progress. Naturally, Jarvis is brought along because of his ability to communicate with the mutants.

Cohen certainly has tons of ideas with this one. This is a court room drama, KING KONG adventure, and urban chase thriller all in one. Heck, he even throws in an out of nowhere tangent where Jarvis ends up in Cuba. I would say maybe 50% of the ideas work, with the island stuff (shot in beautiful Hawaii) being the highlight. Cohen is also betrayed by the FX for the grown mutants, which look like the babies on steroids. Moriarty also gives quite a performance as the sarcastic Jarvis. There is a great cast alongside Moriarty and Black including Gerrit Graham, Laurene Landon, and director Neal Israel. Also, Cohen regular James Dixon returns in his biggest role to date as Lt. Perkins, the only character to appear in all three films (outside of the killer kids).

Stephen Jarvis is the father of the monster (where "the monster" is another bloodthirsty infant). He gets involved with a court case that ends up getting the infants sent to an isolated island. But once the judge who ordered the infants away dies, different parties want them back in the spotlight.

Many people, including my horror reviewing colleague Don Normann, really dislike this film. It is considered the weakest of the three, the least popular and I would suspect that most consider it the cheesiest. I really liked it -- this one, more than the other two, seemed to really hit on a variety of social commentaries. Writer and director Larry Cohen's strength is his social commentary. Actually, that's almost his only strength -- he has no budget, is poorly organized in his shooting schedules and writes much of his scripts on the fly (which is quite obvious).

Two of horror's icons appear here: Michael Moriarty (as Stephen Jarvis) and Karen Black (as Ellen Jarvis). Black is probably now best known to modern audiences from Rob Zombie's "House of 1000 Corpses". Moriarty, on the other hand, is a Cohen staple -- appearing in "Q" and "Pick Me Up", for example. And this happens to be one of Moriarty's better roles (he has a very unique way of delivering dialog which works here but is dreadfully awful in "Pick Me Up"). I found him to be a good lead, especially in the improvised segments (such as the singing scene).

There is a good commentary on disease (does an infected child mean an infected parent) and a really good jab at Cuban-American relations. I think Cuba's military obsession is played up a bit, but the part about them being human was a good one (and still relevant twenty years later). And the pharmaceutical company trying to destroy the infants so their drugs couldn't be blamed... very nice (and reminiscent of the Thalidomide scandal).

Lastly, once you've watched it, watch it again with audio commentary (if you get the chance). Cohen's explanations really add a new dimension to this picture, pointing out where Bob Kane's wife comes in (Kane invented Batman), how many of the parts are just Cohen's friends and how a rubber chicken ended up on a deserted island. His justification for a variety of aspects of this film really help you understand what he was trying to achieve and make you realize just how close he came to achieving it.

If you've seen the first two, you need to see this third one. Not only does it wrap up the story in a nice, neat little package, but I think it's grossly under-appreciated. Judge it for what it is -- a low-budget B-movie. With that in mind, I think you'll be hard-pressed to find another film of its kind.

Starring: Michael Moriarty and Karen Black.

A TV actor is plagued with a mutant baby that he wants to live. The mutant babies are sent to an uninhibited island. 5 years later the washed up actor is a shoe salesman because no one will hire him, and he decides to find his baby, and make a trip to the island. Once on the island, he learns that the babies have grown up, and the baby wants to meet it's mother (a waitress played by Karen Black). Before the trip to the island this film is quite entertaining, and once on the island it becomes extremely stupid. I was entertained enough through the movie, but it gets stupider than any of the other films. It seems as though the gore and language were amped up a level. Overall it was stupid, but it's entertainment value made it on the same level as the other 2 films.

My rating: ** out of ****. 94 mins. R for Language, Violence, and some Sex.

Third time was the charm of sorts for Larry Cohen. The first It's Alive film was interesting, the second I thought stupid. But in Island Of The Alive Cohen found the tone he should have used for the two preceding films and the right actor to set the tone.

Michael Moriarty and Karen Black play a parents of the latest mutant baby and Moriarty goes to court on a preventive strike to win his kid's life. He does, but it and some other mutants are placed on a Caribbean island in exile to be studied to find a solution to a growing problem.

Moriarty with his swaggering style dominates this film. The writers took special care of him with the script and he delivers their lines at his sarcastic best. The film takes a couple of real good jabs at contemporary America of the Reagan era.

Sad the film's antecedents retard its ratings. But this is clearly the best of the series. If another is done, hopefully it will be in the same vein.

Personally,I didn't see a single boom shot in the whole extravaganza.There were some shots that were incredibly out of focus,but it turned out they were deliberate choices by the filmmakers.Parts of this film are actually wickedly funny,as all horror films should be.I couldn't help thinking though while watching this film that it might have actually been quite terrifying if the babies just looked like real babies!

It's full of outrageous speeches and monologues ripe with social commentary and dark humor. The violent scenarios are so outrageous as to be funny, intentionally or otherwise. I can't always tell wether I laughing at or with Cohen's material. From Maniac Cop to The Stuff Cohen's movies question America's laws, beliefs, and habits in not so subtle ways. I do think that horror and sci-fi films have an important use as a way of getting audiences to question the way society conducts itself. At the same time I don't know if Cohen is making fun of his own film with some of the more sentimental dialogue (Cubans, then enemies of the U.S. wishing Jarvis the best) and the over the top scenes (a dying baby monster trying to Baptise itself).

How about the babies? Well they have been banished too a Jurassic Park type island where they crawl about in well done stop-animation and dispatch a bunch of hunters in gorey fashion. Unfortunately, the latter half of the film takes place after the babies have matured and the impressive little demons are replaced by silly rubber suits. For some reason they strip their victims of clothes and then wear the tattered rags. Ultimately the conclusion is less spectacular than expected and we don't get to see many close-ups of the bigger monsters for obvious reasons.

The most interesting thing about this film was seeing Golden Globe and three-time Emmy winner Michael Moriarty rant and rave about the fact that they wouldn't leave his child alone. I just can't look at Moriarity without seeing Ben Stone from "Law and Order." Seeing him on the other side arguing before Macdonald Carey (also a two-time Daytime Emmy winner for "Days of Our Lives") to save that butt-ugly child of his was hilarious.

But, it gets even funnier as he tries to save his child and, ultimately, his grandchild. He should be Parent of the Year for loving those creatures. Karen Black is his ex, the mother of the monster, and, well, you just have to see how that ends.

Making a comedy out of these things is genius.

Yes, this movie has some laughable plot implications, some over-the-top special effects, and some less than stellar acting, but all in all I found it quite enjoyable and interesting. Director/writer Larry Cohen opens with a scene in a a cab where a woman is about to have a baby. We know what is going to happen from the onset, but Cohen paces the opening scene very nicely. This sets the atmosphere of a society still being intruded on by these mutant, deadly infants that were both the subject of It's Alive! and It Lives Again!. Next, we are taken into a court room and presented with the facts of Michael Moriarity's fight to keep his baby alive despite a large group that want to see it obliterated. This scene is done quite effectively, even though Moriarity gives one of his usual, yet convincing, performances of a man that seems not to care but does(?) Anyway, I have always had problems figuring out Moriarity's motivation at times, but I think he and Cohen were going for more of a black comedy approach to this material. Thus it has dark edges to it, yet is really lighter weight material. Anyway, Moriarity convinces the court and in particular the judge, played nicely by MacDonald Carey, to come up with some alternative living accommodations for these infants - thus comes the Island of the Alive. Well, from there things go kind of down hill in terms of plot. The babies grow rapidly and we turn to five years later: Moriarity, James Dixon(again as the Lt.), and a host of scientists set off to monitor the rate of growth, etc... of the babies for government reasons. You can guess what happens from there on. The end gets very implausible but is fun and never takes itself very seriously(like the first two movies). We see a lot more of the babies here and are even given an explanation for why they are mutants. I enjoyed this one more than the second but think all three make for one of the very rare treats in horror - a horror trilogy. I also liked the whole Cuba interlude but would have loved even more a reverse of who landed on Cuba and what happened after the landing. Now that would have been a real hoot!

I am a big fan of Larry Cohen movies. So absurdly and poorly written and executed that they are hilarious. This one contains some really funny scenes. Trivia- in the shoe store Mr. Moriarty says "plunk your magic twanger froggy." This stuck in my head a very bizarre moment (actually I re-winded and puzzled over it several times) and I later found out that it is a quote from "the frogger song" released on a "pacman fever" album in the 1980s. Both before and after I found out what the reference was to I wondered what drugs the writers were on. I bought the DVD. You don't have to see the other It's Alive movies to enjoy this one. You just have to like off the wall B-movies.

Stephen Jarvis (Michael Moriarty) argues in a courtroom for the life of his mutant son. The judge mandates for the isolation of the mutant babies on an abandoned island. Five years pass, Stephen accepts the opportunity to see his child again on the island. I guess no love is greater than that of a father for his son.

Michael Moriarty's eccentric performance and Larry Cohen's direction enhance a clumsy and uninvolving script. The dark humor and social commentary on AIDS, media exploitation, abortion, and Cuba-US relations elevates the ensuing B-movie schlock and manages to make the film slightly transgressive.

Be warned, this movie is nothing more than cheesy dialogue and bad special effects. The first fifteen minutes drag and only set up the mayhem. After that, I thought the film got progressively better, but depends on the viewer's temper with Moriarty's hammy performance. The narrative structure becomes clumsy and almost meaningless (I stopped paying attention and went along for the ride). While "It's Alive III: Island of the Alive" isn't anything to praise, the film knows how to have fun.

Never before has such an atrocity been sinned upon celluloid. The acting, writing, directing and special effects are so terrifyingly laughable that I hovered on the brink on insanity as I watched the "story" unfold. The microphone bobs into shot so many times it's almost a regular character, and it has more screen presence and charisma than the rest of the cast put together. Everyone responsible in any part for this film should never be allowed to work in the motion picture industry again.

Probably the best film ever made about bad stop motion mutant babies living on an island.

An island of mutant babies! Sounds great, right? Unfortunately, in Larry Cohen's hands, it's more amusing than great, although the island setting is quite evocative. The real pity once again is Cohen's direction. Is the guy making a black comedy or a serious horror pic? I don't think he's sure. He's definitely taking every opportunity to lather in his trademark social commentary, and I don't have a problem with that, but he abuses his own premise here with sheer silliness.

The babies look like Garbage Pail Kids crossed with Party Beach monsters. They're big and they're greasy and they wear hand-me-down rags that don't fit. They still kill and they're still sympathetic tragics, but they've lost their mystery, their awe.

It's a shame the great artwork didn't reflect the movie.

"IT'S ALIVE III: ISLAND OF THE ALIVE" (1987, Cohen), along with its predecessors, captured my imagination as a kid. I loved this entry the most back then; its wild colours, comedy and titular island ignited a fire in me. Michael Moriarty and James Dixon were wildly entertaining.

Watching it now is a bit different. It's not a bad film but it does outstay its welcome for me now. The erratic editing (present in all three films by the way) and quick glimpses of the monsters become boring fast and I wish they had stayed on the Island rather than leave it so quickly.

That being said it is very funny at times, as well as creepy, but it all boils down to acting and music once again.

Wanting to rid themselves of the babies, the decision to import the mutants to an uninhabited island leads to a later expedition to study the creatures which shows that they're attempting to get back to the mainland to continue their line and must prevent them from doing so.

This was the best of the series but is still somewhat of an issue. Among the more enjoyable elements found here is the opening manner of what to do with the creatures in society which is a unique take. The exploits of the courtroom trial, which has some nice work in the ability to showcase how friendly they can be and the overall outcome of the verdict, start this off on a nice note while setting up what's going to occur with the later half. The concept of the tropical island where they're being stored away from humanity gives this a solid and nicely appealing storyline involving the continuation of the themes and ideas from the previous films coming together into the fine series of attacks shown in the final half. From the scenes of the expedition members getting wiped out to the carnage shown onboard the boat with the dead bodies and the search for the creatures back on the mainline, these here are what make this one somewhat fun. Along with the nice gore in the few kills we do get to see, these here are enough to hold this one up over its many flaws. Like the past films in the series, this one is mostly hurt by the fact that so much of this one is just not that interesting to sit through. The creatures are given the motive of wanting to return to civilization in order to seek out the mother of their conception which should be quite a fun concept to go through but instead, there's just no sympathy given for this kind of storyline here. It's just quite impossible to get into why this should matter with how this plays out and the film just never makes it over into that realm here due to the inherent stupidity of everyone in the film. The idea of a secret mission to the island without any kind of backup with a rinky-dink sort of operation and background just seems moronic, the way it carries out is quite appropriate and the whole affair is just so hum-drum that it doesn't really make any impact. As well, there's also the lame special effects here with the shoddy-looking creature suits substituting for the few shots they get on-screen as they are mostly just shown flashes of arms, claws or fangs or just done in their point-of-view so it leaves quite a distasteful feeling. Overall, these here are what hold this one down.

Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language and an attempted Rape.

It's Alive III: Island of the Alive is basically two hours of Michael Moriarity mumbling to himself and calling everyone a-holes....which is fine by me, because he's by far the best thing about this terrible movie. In a nutshell, the third movie of this franchise still sticks with the basic concept of mutant baby going on a murderous rampage at the expense of society. However, this entry relies more on the comedic timing of Michael Moriarity to carry things along. The way he creeps people out by being such a weirdo and just plain annoying people is great. Just great stuff. But method acting alone can't save bad special effects and poor editing. That said, I'm giving this movie five stars for his performance in this turkey. No more and no less.

Like Sam Fuller, Larry Cohen is an extremely underrated filmmaker who managed to make 'b-movies'which say alot more then 'a-movies'. Its Alive 3 is perhaps his most subversive and humorous film. While the surface plot involves an island of mutated babies, the film also holds commentary on abortion, the media (and how it manipulates and destroys lives) and even Cuba. All it takes to pick up on this masterpiece is an open mind...

It's Alive 3 (1987)

** (out of 4)

A court orders that all mutant babies must be sent to a deserted island. Four years later a group goes there to see how the babies have grown up. I saw bits and pieces of this years ago but this was my first time going through the whole thing and man what a bitter disappointment. Larry Cohen takes this film a lot less serious and goes over the top with things but he didn't go far enough. The thought of seeing the babies grown up was a great idea but it takes an hour for us to reach the island. When the humor does come it isn't enough so most of the time the film is just a bore.