EATEN ALIVE: TOBE STICKS WITH EXPLOITATION

In 1974 a young director by the name of Tobe Hooper unleashed upon the world one of the most disturbing, frightening films of all time, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. Having only directed one feature prior to this, an experimental sci-fi flick, Hooper set out to scare us with things we had never seen before. In fact he actually didn’t show as much as viewers think they saw, the film was that good. A year later he dipped into the horror/exploitation pool again. It might not have been quite as good but then again it did stand up well on its own.

EATEN ALIVE offers a few shock moments but those lie more in the dialogue than in the bloodletting we witnessed in TCM. The story involves a slightly insane hotel owner named Judd (Neville Brand) whose ramshackle building lies in East Texas and features a swamp just outside the front door that holds a huge crocodile he’s installed there. A great tagline might have been those who check in never check out but then Judd doesn’t always do the worst to his guests.

When a young woman leaves the local brothel with the intent to return to her home, she stops to spend the night there. But the religious zealot in Judd surfaces and after a struggle she ends up in the water with the croc. Judd seems unfazed by this and goes about his business.

A family stops to spend the night after having driven all day long. This family, Roy (William Finley), Faye (Marilyn Burns) and young Angie (Kyle Richards) leaves a lot to be desired, a perfect picture of dysfunctional. There visit begins with the pet poodle finding its way under the fence and becoming an appetizer for the croc. Angie goes into hysterics and the family takes a room where Roy seems to become totally unhinged.

The next set of guests are an older man named Harvey (Mel Ferrer) and his daughter Libby (Cristyn Sinclaire), looking to find the other daughter who left a while back. Surprise! She turns out to be the first meal we saw eaten earlier. They leave to contact the local sheriff (Stuart Whitman) for help in finding their daughter. He goes along with them to Miss Hattie’s (Carolyn Jones) place to be told she was never there.

The last set of guests to check into Judd’s hotel are Buck (Robert Englund) and Lynette (Janus Blythe). As we saw at the start of the film Buck was the reason the missing daughter left Hattie’s to begin with. He’s now moved on to the local bar floozy in hopes of a little action. With everyone in place you know the guests are going to drop off one at a time as the movie progresses.

EATEN ALIVE could have been just another drive-in movie to toss on the scrap heap of odd films that were just movies that shuffled from town to town on the outdoor screen. But Hooper tosses in some artistic merit into the film with various styles put to use. His choice of lighting in garish colors works for most scenes. The entire film was shot on a soundstage and while that’s obvious it works here. The scares aren’t like what we saw in TCM but they do exists on a much lower key here. What makes it work is the sense of total insanity caught on screen.

Brand who was nearing the end of his career does a fine job here. Both Jones and Whitman seem wasted but at the same time their personas were enough to carry them thought the roles they were given here. And when it comes to screaming children Richards seems to be at the top of the list.

This movie has had numerous releases over the years with so many people claiming to have owned the rights but this time around we get a serious presentation. Arrow Films who I have praised in the past has done an exceptional job here. Not only do fans finally get a decent looking print of the movie, the extras are as fun to watch as the movie itself. Included in the extras are:

-A 2K restoration of the film approved by Hooper

-Both blu-ray and standard DVD copies

-An isolated music and effects soundtrack

-Audio commentary tracks with co-writer and producer Martin Rustam, starts Roberta Collins, William Finley and Kyle Richards, and make-up artists Craig Reardon

-A new introduction to the film by Tobe Hooper

-Blood on the Bayou, a brand new interview with Hooper

-Gator Bait, a new interview with Janus Blythe

-Monsters and Metaphors, a new interview with Craig Reardon

-The Gator Creator, an archive interview with Hooper

-My Name is Buck, an archive interview with Robert Englund

-5ive Minutes with Marilyn Burns talking about working on the film

-The Butcher of Elmendorf: The Legend of Joe Ball, a featurette looking at the true life story the movie is based on

-Trailers for the film under the various names it was released as like Eaten Alive, Death Trap, Starlight Slaughter and Horror Hotel

-TV and radio spot

-Alternate credits

-Behind the scenes slideshow

-Still and promo material

-Audience comment cards

-A reversible sleeve featuring the original and newly commissioned artwork by Gary Pullin

-A collector’s booklet with new writing on the film by critic Brad Stevens, illustrated with original archive stills and posters

For Hooper fans this will be a must have for your collection, the same for horror fans who have long waited for a decent copy of the movie. As you can see the extras alone make it worth the price. Once again Arrow has made a classic drive-in movie worth watching all over again.

Click here to order.