La Vengeance des monstres

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.

Starring: Michael Moriarty and Karen Black.

A TV actor is plagued with a mutant baby that he wants to live. The mutant babies are sent to an uninhibited island. 5 years later the washed up actor is a shoe salesman because no one will hire him, and he decides to find his baby, and make a trip to the island. Once on the island, he learns that the babies have grown up, and the baby wants to meet it's mother (a waitress played by Karen Black). Before the trip to the island this film is quite entertaining, and once on the island it becomes extremely stupid. I was entertained enough through the movie, but it gets stupider than any of the other films. It seems as though the gore and language were amped up a level. Overall it was stupid, but it's entertainment value made it on the same level as the other 2 films.

My rating: ** out of ****. 94 mins. R for Language, Violence, and some Sex.

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!

Third time was the charm of sorts for Larry Cohen. The first It's Alive film was interesting, the second I thought stupid. But in Island Of The Alive Cohen found the tone he should have used for the two preceding films and the right actor to set the tone.

Michael Moriarty and Karen Black play a parents of the latest mutant baby and Moriarty goes to court on a preventive strike to win his kid's life. He does, but it and some other mutants are placed on a Caribbean island in exile to be studied to find a solution to a growing problem.

Moriarty with his swaggering style dominates this film. The writers took special care of him with the script and he delivers their lines at his sarcastic best. The film takes a couple of real good jabs at contemporary America of the Reagan era.

Sad the film's antecedents retard its ratings. But this is clearly the best of the series. If another is done, hopefully it will be in the same vein.

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.