Le Crocodile de la mort

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.

Delirious, surreal, and savage, Tobe Hooper's follow-up to his landmark debut ("Chainsaw" for those not in the know), is one of a kind while bearing the same signature stamp he left with his predecessor. A sheer unrelenting onslaught of pure madness, macabre and dark humor. Although not as entirely successful as Chainsaw, "Eaten Alive" is one messed up little drive in flick with good performances particularly by Brand as the psycho Inn keeper of "Starlight Hotel". Mumbling incoherently through most of his screen time and sputtering gibberish when audible, Neville Brand is eerily convincing. The beginning of this picture owes to Psycho in that you meet a character that you are led to believe is the (no pun intended) titular heroine but is quickly dispatched and we are left with the equally sleazy and\or oddball residents of the locale like ole' country boy Buck (Englund, who's a hoot) or that oddball couple who's dog gets chomped by the gator that lives in the swamp behind the hotel. It's that kind of movie folks so be aware what you're getting into. Creepy, oddball fun.

I always thought that Tobe Hooper got lucky with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and never did anything great after that, with the exception of Poltergeist though, most people would argue that Spielberg was the true director of that one. This movie isn't up there with those two but it still is a great entry from Hooper. I was genuinely creeped out at times and i really enjoyed it the whole way through.

This is Robert Englund's first horror picture and he does a great job. The other actors were good with a couple exceptions. The story was good, and I really like the idea of it. The direction is also good but some of the editing seems a little iffy. All in all, I think this deserves to go down in horror history.

Check this one out if you're a horror/exploitation fan and you shouldn't be disappointed. It took me by surprise.

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.

`The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' (of course) and `Death Trap' (less obvious already) are the only two films Tobe Hooper should be really remembered for as a horror director. They both are raw and chilling explorations of the angry rural America. The location of this film looks like a giant swampy area, homed by underdeveloped perverted rednecks and other freaks of society. Neville Brand terrifically portrays Judd, the isolated owner of the Starlight Hotel. Judd suffers a bit from the incapability to communicate with people and the guests at his hotel are doomed to die as soon as they enter his facility. He also has a pet crocodile swimming underneath the porch of his hotel, which is a pretty convenient method to get rid of human leftovers… A poor, rejected prostitute is the first to undergo Judd's murderous rituals. Her relatives soon come to search for her and are doomed as well. In the meantime, the croc feeds on some more unfortunate by passers. Although I regard this as Hooper's second best film, it doesn't come close to the power of TCM…Which kind of gives you an idea of how great I think TCM was! The settings and photography of Horror Hotel (one of the film's a.k.a's) look nasty and utterly cheap. Just as it did in TCM, this actually increases the macabre atmosphere and you constantly feel something wicked is about to happen. The characters – although pretty imaginative – aren't as convincing as the Sawyer family but they too seem to come running straight out of a freakshow as well! There's Judd of course, but also a very memorable Robert Englund who plays a retarded yokel with an obsession for anal sex. The scream-queen prototype Marilyn Burns returns as well before disappearing into actress-oblivion forever. The crocodile as well as most other horror scenery looks really cheap, but to me, this only increases the trash-fun value of this film. Highly recommended viewing as far as I'm concerned.