Le Crocodile de la mort

Tobe Hooper's much maligned follow up to 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' isn't half as bad as it's detractors claim. While it certainly isn't as good as TCM, if viewed in the right frame of mind it's probably his second best flick. 'Death Trap' reminds me of Dario Argento's movies. Not in the subject matter, or directorial style, but in the sense that what you're seeing is a filmed nightmare, devoid of logic, but full of memorable over the top images. The sets are cheap and nasty, the acting varies from quite good to plain silly, the "plot" can basically be summed up as: people check into a seedy motel and get fed to a pet crocodile by its nutty owner, but you know what? It's still a hell of an entertaining trashy horror movie.

Neville Brand ('The Ninth Configuration') gives a gonzo, almost vintage Timothy Carey-like performance as psycho scythe wielding Judd, owner of the one place in town you really don't want to check in to. Horror legend Robert Englund appears as sodomy lovin' white trash local Buck. Also on board are scream queen Marilyn Burns ('TCM', 'Helter Skelter'), cult star Roberta Collins ('Death Race 2000'), the original Morticia (Carolyn Jones), the 'Phantom Of The Paradise' (William Finley), and veterans Mel Ferrer ('The Hands Of Orlac') and Stuart Whitman ('Crazy Mama'). All this and one of the most unconvincing looking killer crocodiles ever seen on screen!

Highly recommended.

Well, if you saw The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and were impressed with director Tobe Hooper, your next move might be to view his second film Eaten Alive. I searched all over for a print and finally was lucky enough to find one and see this somewhat forgotten picture. One reason for its seemingly firm place in the ranks of oblivion is its numerous title changes. Notwithstanding all this I found the film and watched it. The film is interesting, bizarre, unbelievable, and disturbing. The setting is just a trifle too unimaginative to be taken for real as is the central character of Judd (for the most part deftly played by Neville Brand). The plot too seems to be making its viewers accept too much for granted without really giving any knowledge of why Judd is the way he is, etc... Despite these shortcomings, the film has some of the truly most horrific scenes filmed. The scene in which Judd tries in vain to goad a young girl from under his hotel out is sheer terror. Other scenes in which he dispatches some of the hotel guests are equally effective. The film has a lot more going for it than its oblivious nature would suggest. It has fine performances, an eerier setting and score, and the taught, tuned terror Tobe Hooper realized in his first great film.

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.

Eaten Alive is a truly bizarre film with an almost nightmarish quality to it. I can't say I particularly loved it, because the lack of lighting often makes it hard to see what is happening. Yet at the same time, the lack of lighting also adds to the murky atmosphere. The motel owners performance is slightly over the top and annoyed me a bit, although he does play his part very well. There are some tense and disturbing moments such as when he's chasing the two women, which are excellently done. However the claustrophobic feel of the film got a little boring in parts and made it slightly hard to follow.

Overall, if you like your horror films creepy and bizarre, then this is for you. It has a similar grainy feel to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, so if you loved that then this will be right up your street.

A crazy homicidal man named Judd owns a shabby hotel in the Louisiana bayou and when he receives guests he goes out of his way to murder them and feed them to his pet crocodile. Some of these unexpected guests who face this horror that awaits them ranged from a reform hooker, an unfortunate family and the hooker's father and sister who are looking for the missing girl.

Tobe Hooper (director) and Kim Henkel (co-writer) the two who brought us one of the most powerful and groundbreaking horror films of all time "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" team up again for their next independent B-grade project: the crzay exploitation piece "Eaten Alive". The film's title has been renamed plenty of times by the distributors and also it's been labelled as Hooper's lost movie. It may lack the power, raw intensity and realism that made TCM so nerve wrecking, but this gruesome horror film doesn't hold back on the shocks and sleaze of the typical low-grade horror that filled the late seventies. There's a sheer amount of gore and flashes of nudity evident compared to his previous film. Though, it does come across as more of a comic book horror because of eccentric characters and outlandish setups. The absurd plot doesn't stand out as it's basically taken right off "Psycho" and doesn't make too much sense, but the look of the film is terrific and it's high on atmosphere. The cheap sets and swampy terrain with its blankets of fog and wildlife sounds capture such a horrifying and morbid awe and there are some rather uncomfortable scenes that are sick and twisted. It's filled with adrenaline packed scenes of graphic, if comical violence of crocodile munching and graceful blood splattering involving Judd's scythe. These thrilling sequences involve a chase through the swamp, girl under the house and a sudden burst to the climax that ends with a whirlwind of sheer chaos. Another element that stands out is the rusty colour scheme, which is rather murky and dull in tone because of the lighting. These under lit sets add to the disorientating and gritty feel. An eerie and high pitch music score is rather effective, as it really nags away and makes it quite unsettling. Frantic, edgy and encroaching camera-work is achieved to great effect. We get the usual sloppy and atrocious special effects that we see in cheap b-films and the massive rubber crocodile (looks real shoddy) is no exception.

The cast gives mostly amateur performances. Though, there are some fine performances by Robert England (Freddy Kruger fame) in one of his first big screen roles as a horny local stud called Buck and when on screen he shines. Neville Brand as the mumbling and wandering Judd delivers it brilliantly. He totally captures the mentality of this crazed character. There are a lot of scenes where we just listen to the creepy Judd ramble on in a husky tone and meandering around the shadows that fill run-down hotel listening to country music and most of these sequences feel like they're dragging the pace. Marilyn Burns who also starred in "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" plays Faye the mother of the annoying family who checks in and spends most of her time being gagged and then finishes off by screaming her lungs off. Good support by Mel Ferrer and Crystin Sinclaire as the prostitute's father and sister and Stuart Whitman as Sheriff Martin. Roberta Collins and Janus Blythe also appear. The dialogue is rather bad and inane at times, but there's some added tongue-in-cheek humour.

It's definitely not in the same league of Hooper's previous effort "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre". Rather silly stuff, but amusing low-budget nastiness with good art direction and some sudden jolts of excitement.