El monstruo está vivo III: La isla de los horrores

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.

IT'S ALIVE III: ISLAND OF THE ALIVE opens with the infamous "taxi cab delivery" scene. Then, it shifts to a courtroom, where a man named Stephen Jarvis (Michael Moriarty) is fighting for the life of his caged, mutant son. The judge spares the creature, and the titular island is made into a sort of sanctuary for the killer offspring.

Of course, it's not long before it all goes terribly wrong, resulting in bloody death. It seems that the "kids" have a plan of their own. Writer / Director Larry Cohen finishes off his trilogy with the weaker, less entertaining of the films, though there are some effective parts, such as the "baby hunt".

Moriarty is good, sort of replacing John P. Ryan as the concerned parent, and the wonderful Karen Black co-stars as Jarvis' estranged wife, Ellen...

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!

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.

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.