'It's Alive' is your average mutant killer baby movie

DVD cover

You’d be hard pressed to find anyone who would say that Larry Cohen’s “It’s Alive” is their favorite horror movie of all-time. I’m sure there’s someone out there who would say it. Maybe a couple of people. But for most fans of the genre, “It’s Alive,” the story of a mutated baby on a killing spree, is a strange, unintentionally hilarious film worthy of a slot on late night public access TV. It’s the kind of movie that when you hear there’s a remake in the works, you don’t question it in anger, but utter confusion about who in their right mind would greenlight such a project.

Lenore Harker (Bijou Phillips) is preparing to have her first child. She drops out of college and moves in with her boyfriend Frank (James Murray) and his handicapped little brother. Although Lenore is only six months pregnant, her child has grown to term and has to be removed via cesarean section. As soon as the umbilical cord is cut, chaos ensures, leaving every doctor and nurse present dead and the operating room covered in blood. With little police investigation, Lenore and Frank are allowed to take their newborn home. They start finding various small animals torn apart around their house, before the bloodthirsty baby turns its attention to humans.

Yes, it’s a completely ridiculous story. “It’s Alive” isn’t the kind of movie that non-horror fans are going to give a chance, simply because the plot sounds so absurd. Quite frankly, they shouldn’t. It's not made for all audiences. It’s made for a very specific sect of viewers who will most likely complain about it being a remake, but end up watching it anyway. Now, if that sect of people gives “It’s Alive” a chance, what they’re in store for is a watchable film.

There is nothing overly special about this movie, but there is nothing really terrible about it either. It’s a middle of the road offering remade from a bizarre cult classic. Bijou Phillips gives a varied performance. Some scenes she’s genuine, while others she’s flat out annoying. The rest of the cast turn out performances typical of those you’d find in bigger budget straight-to-video fare.

Director Josef Rusnak presents a well put together film that moves along at a steady enough pace to keep the viewer’s interest, although the film does drag a little in the last twenty minutes. One thing that can be said for sure is Rusnak’s direction in this remake is far better than Cohen’s in the original. If you combined the acting and script from the first with the direction found in 2009’s “It’s Alive,” I would have questioned why there wasn’t a theatrical run for this film.

In short, horror fans shouldn’t rejoice about or revolt against this latest remake. Rather, they should just take it at face value and try to enjoy it. Hey, it’s better than both the sequels to the original, “It Lives Again” and “Island of the Alive,” if that means anything.

I know. It doesn’t.

“It’s Alive” is now available on DVD.