Ahh, Larry Cohen, blessed little purveyor of trashy mayhem, you outdid yourself with this movie (so much so that it sparked enough money and interest to spawn two sequels and earn you a place in the cheesy monster maker hall of fame).  The thing that interests me so much about “It's Alive,” though, is that even with the cheesy rubber monster baby, and the over-the-top acting, and the overwrought message of the film, these is enough heart and emotion in the script and the performances of the family to carry this movie out of its sleazy underpinnings and ridiculous premise and make it something truly worth watching, at least once.

First of all, who hasn't met a couple excitedly planning the arrival of a baby?  They make us want to vomit on their happiness sometimes, but they're so cute.  The husband and wife in this movie are going to the hospital to have their second child, and their excitement and joy is contagious (though we the viewers know that something horrible is going to happen to them).  Let me be clear.  This movie is famous for being cheesy and horrible and fun, so when I saw it, I was unprepared to like it as much as I did and to find so much emotional turmoil in the nightmare these poor people encounter when they go to the hospital to have their baby.  The husband and wife team (John P. Ryan and Sharon Farrell) carry this movie and make me believe and care about every step of their plight.  When you think about it, it's a terrible thing.  They go to the hospital to have a baby, their “baby” is hideously deformed and violent, killing all the doctors and nurses and escaping, and they later find out that some kind of chemical reaction from the medicines they've been taking has caused this sickening mutation, thus it's all their fault.  They have to return home without a baby, and they know that they are guilty of releasing a killer like this into the world.

The movie knows that it doesn't really have a budget, and it manages to work well with what it's got.  Aside from the few missteps when we unfortunately see the stupid looking little monster baby, the monster effects are kept in shadow, which adds a sense of mystery that's missing from the film's sequels.  The gore isn't hugely plentiful, but the aforementioned birthing scene is nasty and effective (not to mention Farrell's performance as the bewildered and terrified mother, drugged and loopy yet wanting to see her baby, not knowing what's going on as the baby kills the doctors and nurses in the room. Farrell's terror at this nightmare sequence ties everything together). The ending sequence, which takes place in a very convincing dark sewer tunnel, is worth the price of admission.  I'm not going to spoil it for you, but let's just say that actor John P. Ryan earns his
paycheck and then some during this sequence.  All in all, this movie is one that's worth checking out.  It does wonders with its small budget and creates a haunting little piece of cinematic sleaze that you won't soon forget.

It's equal parts silly and heartwarming.  You should give it a chance.