bellino-angelo2014 After '' The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' Tobe Hooper was later regarded as one of the best directors in the horror genre in the 1970s. And ''Eaten Alive'', while it's not bad as his rating would suggest, it's worth watching.Neville Brand stars as Jud, a psychopath motel owner in the rural south, and owns an alligator as pet. The problems are: Jud has murderous impulses, and feeds his victims to his alligator! Its thrilling scenes succedd to hold your attention till the end.While panned by critics, ''Eaten Alive'' was better staged than many horrors of those years. The landscapes are nice to look at, and I personally liked the bluish fog and the surroundings of the motel. And it has a great cast for a horror: Western star Stuart Whitman as the Sheriff, an after-Morticia Carolyn Jones as a brothel owner, Mel Ferrer as the father of a dead girl who is then killed by the croc, and future horror star Robert Englund as a sex pervert.By the way, I liked it not that much, but it's still an unusual horror from the 1970s recommended especially to fans to the genre. 6 stars out of 10.

Sam Panico Texas Chainsaw Massacre co-writer Kim Henkel was inspired by Joe Ball, the Alligator Man, who owned a live alligator attraction in the 1930s. Despite being suspected of several murders, legend had it that Ball would feed the dead women to his alligators. Ball started as a bootlegger before opening his Sociable Inn in Elmendorf, Texas, which was surrounded by a pond where he'd charge people to watch him feed them live cats and dogs. After former girlfriends, barmaids and even his wife went missing, two policemen tried to question him. He pulled a gun and shot himself — either in the head or the heart. That said — there are many that believe the stories about Joe Ball to be simply Texas folklore. He did exist, though.Working under the title Death Trap (the film is also known as Horror Hotel and Starlight Slaughter), this entire film was made on a soundstage, using the Raleigh Studios pool as a swamp. This enabled Hooper to create what he called a "surrealistic, twilight world." True to form, issues with the producers took him away from the film before the shooting ended, but he had a decent relationship with the actors. Cinematographer Robert Caramico finished the direction of the film once Hooper left.This movie starts grimy and stays that way. Buck (Robert Englund in an early role) demands kinky sex from Clara Wood (Robert Collins, Matilda the Hun from Death Race 2000!), who refuses. This scene contains the line, "I'm Buck and I'm here to f," line that Quentin Tarantino used in Kill Bill.No one says no in Miss Hattie's (Carolyn Jones, who is better known as Morticia Addams!) house of women, so Clara is kicked out. One of the girls takes pity and gives her money to stay at the Starlight Hotel, a rundown motel in the swamp. There, she meets the owner, Judd (Neville Brand, famous for playing Al Capone in The Untouchables TV series and The George Raft Story), who we soon learn is a demented sex maniac. He attacks her, chasing her into the swamp where a Nile crocodile eats her. Yep — don't get too attached to anyone here. This is very Psycho territory, where bad people meet even worse ends.A couple soon arrives — Faye (Marilyn Burns, Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and Roy (William Finley, Winslow Leach from The Phantom of the Paradise), along with their daughter Angie (Kyle Richards, Lindsey Wallace from Halloween!) and dog Snoopy. Don't get attached to Snoopy, who isn't long for this world. As Angie finds a dead monkey and screams, the dog runs into the swamp where he is eaten. Roy goes to kill the gator, but is stabbed by Judd's scythe. Then, the insane motel owner ties Faye to the bed and tries to grab Angie, who hides under the porch of the building.Read more at bandsaboutmovies.com/2017/09/15/eaten-alive-1977/

quridley 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.

mungflesh There was a director called Hooper, Who wanted to create something super. He tried with 'chainsaw', But left us in awe, Then made this and delivered a pooperIts budget and set don't exist, The actors are mostly z-list. Except for Ferrer, Who almost made me care, About a movie I'd rather have missedAnd now to the loony called Judd, Who stars in this infamous dud. He murmurs and mumbles, As he shuffles and stumbles, And talks with a mouthful of mudDespite all the puffin' and wheezin', Judd did the feedin' all season. The croc in the swamp, Did chew and did chomp, On guests who were killed for no reasonAnd so if you want to discover, A movie quite unlike any other. The one thing I'll say, To keep you at bay, Is best expressed by: don't bother