It's Alive III: Island of the Alive

Plot synopsis:
This film is set years after the first two. The movie begins with the scene of a woman going into labour in a cab. It is raining at night and the cab driver in panic runs out to get a police officer to help. As the officer goes to deliver the baby he asks the driver to call for an ambulance from a public phone. When the driver comes back, he sees the mutant baby killing the officer and the mother. Next, the movie jumps to the scene inside a church where the corpse of the dead mutant baby is found. From here on the main plot of the movie gradually builds up. First, the courtroom drama where Judge Watson (Macdonald Carey) decides that Jarvis' mutant baby and four other mutant babies who are under the government custody be quarantined in some remote deserted island. Second, scenes of how Jarvis (Michael Moriarty) faces his life after the courtroom drama. Third, the incursion to the island of the mutant babies by the pharmaceutical company's boss, Cabot (William Watson) and a few of his people to kill the babies so that his company can manufacture again the drug which resulted in these mutant babies, but under a different label. In the end, all of them are killed and eaten by the mutant babies who have grown bigger while the helicopter pilot is killed on board the helicopter when he tries to escape and the helicopter explodes in mid-air crashing into the sea. Fourth, Lieutenant Perkins (James Dixon) informs Jarvis personally that they have been recruited by Dr. Swenson (Art Lund) to join him and his team in an expedition to the mutant babies' island. The expedition ended in disaster with only Perkins and Jarvis being left alive. Finally, Perkins is left alone on the island while Jarvis, his mutant son, the other grown mutants and a new infant mutant leave the island in the sailing ship which brought Jarvis to the island for Florida. In Cape Vale, Florida, Jarvis' mutant son gets to meet his mother, Ellen (Karen Black) with his female mate and leave their infant child with her before they die from measles.

Tags: cult, satire, violence

Review:
A father fights for the right for his mutant child to live, the court grants that and his child plus another 4 are sent to an island to live.It was Warners Brothers idea for a third It's Alive film, which would be shot back to back with Return to Salem's Lot. It was meant to be release straight to video with RTSL, but it got a limited theatrical release.This film had a little bit more money than that of the 2 previous films, but this time around the film is an over the top black comedy compared to the bleak and serious tone of the first two films, which had subtle humour.This film was far less effective in the horror and atmospheric department, but not the laughs and it's been more action packed than the previous films.
Though it is a stupid and lightweight film, it was still quite fresh (with a different take on the Alive films) and enjoyable to watch that's if you're in the right frame of mood.Cohan has a knack of casting the right people, with reasonable performances or you can call them hammy from Karen Black playing the mother to one of the babies and James Dixon (only one in all 3) as Detective Perkins and the standout performance and scene stealer would have to be Michael Moriarty as the father.
He brings a strong central character that has a weird sense of humour and goes suddenly bananas with his lunatic behaviour when the film goes along.Not only is the casting good, but also the script is full of wit and satirical comments (like the other 2 films) on American and Cuban relations, people's emotions, Aids and the media.
Too much of the creatures are shown, making it laughable (especially the grown-up versions of the babies), but that's what makes this fun viewing.The film seems to lose itself and becomes incredibly stupid when the grown up mutant's decide to leave the island and head back to the mainland.
Larry Cohen returns after nearly a decade to finish off his mutant baby trilogy with mixed results.
Stephen Jarvis (Michael Moriarty) battles in court for the rights of the mutant baby he had with his wife Ellen (Karen Black).
Cohen is also betrayed by the FX for the grown mutants, which look like the babies on steroids.
Also, Cohen regular James Dixon returns in his biggest role to date as Lt. Perkins, the only character to appear in all three films (outside of the killer kids)..
Actually, that's almost his only strength -- he has no budget, is poorly organized in his shooting schedules and writes much of his scripts on the fly (which is quite obvious).Two of horror's icons appear here: Michael Moriarty (as Stephen Jarvis) and Karen Black (as Ellen Jarvis).
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!.
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?
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.
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.
While the surface plot involves an island of mutated babies, the film also holds commentary on abortion, the media (and how it manipulates and destroys lives) and even Cuba.
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.
Starring: Michael Moriarty and Karen Black.A TV actor is plagued with a mutant baby that he wants to live.
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).
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..
Unfortunately, in Larry Cohen's hands, it's more amusing than great, although the island setting is quite evocative.
He's definitely taking every opportunity to lather in his trademark social commentary, and I don't have a problem with that, but he abuses his own premise here with sheer silliness.The babies look like Garbage Pail Kids crossed with Party Beach monsters.
Relocating the goings on to a tropical island gives Cohen many opportunities for gorgeous photography and he doesn't miss a chance to highlight his movie's breathtaking visual look.
Cohen also benefits from improved special effects, which look crude to modern eyes but at least allowed the director to expand the internal mythology of his series..
to do another sequel to his landmark thriller "It's Alive", Larry Cohen responded with this tale set several years after the events of the first two movies.Only five of the murderous mutant babies remain, and after Stephen Jarvis (frequent Cohen star Michael Moriarty), a failed actor and father to one of them, makes a case for the kids to be spared, they are taken to a deserted tropical isle.
Stephen is asked to tag along.Kudos to Cohen for not keeping this *completely* predictable (not that much time is actually spent on the island), and for using this opportunity to make some pointed commentary on things like abortion, the AIDS epidemic, and the way that people will heartlessly exploit human interest stories for the sake of a few bucks.
Also, "Island of the Alive" possesses one thing that some genre movies just don't have: an ability to make an emotional connection to the characters.The performances are better than you might ordinarily see in such fare.
Co-starring are Karen Black ('Trilogy of Terror') as Stephens' ex-wife, James Dixon (another Cohen repertory player again reprising his role of Lt. Perkins), Gerrit Graham ("Used Cars") as a grandstanding attorney, Patch Mackenzie ("Graduation Day") as his opposing counsel, the incredibly sexy Laurene Landon ("Maniac Cop") as a prostitute, film director Neal Isreal ("Bachelor Party") and Art Lund ("Black Caesar") as scientists, and William Watson ("The Mack") as the head of a pharmaceutical company.The haunting musical theme by Bernard Herrmann ("Psycho") is once again utilized, with good new music by Laurie Johnson ("Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter").
Daniel Pearl ("The Texas Chain Saw Massacre") handles cinematography duties, and it's a real change of pace to see Cohen tackling a production that actually looks like it had a decent budget.
Some viewers may be disappointed with the effects, but Cohen never holds on these shots for too, too long, and he does serve up some pretty entertaining gore.Overall, a nice conclusion to this initial trilogy, and followed in 2008 by a remake of the original movie.Seven out of 10..
Wanting to rid themselves of the babies, the decision to import the mutants to an uninhabited island leads to a later expedition to study the creatures which shows that they're attempting to get back to the mainland to continue their line and must prevent them from doing so.This was the best of the series but is still somewhat of an issue.
The concept of the tropical island where they're being stored away from humanity gives this a solid and nicely appealing storyline involving the continuation of the themes and ideas from the previous films coming together into the fine series of attacks shown in the final half.
Stephen Jarvis (Michael Moriarty) argues in a courtroom for the life of his mutant son.
The judge mandates for the isolation of the mutant babies on an abandoned island.
I guess no love is greater than that of a father for his son.Michael Moriarty's eccentric performance and Larry Cohen's direction enhance a clumsy and uninvolving script.
The dark humor and social commentary on AIDS, media exploitation, abortion, and Cuba-US relations elevates the ensuing B-movie schlock and manages to make the film slightly transgressive.Be warned, this movie is nothing more than cheesy dialogue and bad special effects.
This film has got on your face dead pan humour, with good acting by the entire cast, especially Michael Moriarty who is perfect in his portrayal of Jarvis.
Of all the movies in the "It's Alive" series, this entry, despite some obvious problems, is possibly the best of all three.
Decent Fun. It's Alive 3 (1987) ** (out of 4) A court orders that all mutant babies must be sent to a deserted island.
Larry Cohen takes this film a lot less serious and goes over the top with things but he didn't go far enough.
The thought of seeing the babies grown up was a great idea but it takes an hour for us to reach the island.
Director/Script: Larry Cohen, Cast: Michael Moriarty, Karen Black, James Dixon This is, of course, the last film in the 'Its Alive' trilogy by Larry Cohen.
By this third film,they have multiplied and several couples are producing these mutant demon babies.
This film starts out in court with the father of one of the babies.
Director/writer Larry Cohen opens with a scene in a a cab where a woman is about to have a baby.
Next, we are taken into a court room and presented with the facts of Michael Moriarity's fight to keep his baby alive despite a large group that want to see it obliterated.
This scene is done quite effectively, even though Moriarity gives one of his usual, yet convincing, performances of a man that seems not to care but does(?) Anyway, I have always had problems figuring out Moriarity's motivation at times, but I think he and Cohen were going for more of a black comedy approach to this material.
Anyway, Moriarity convinces the court and in particular the judge, played nicely by MacDonald Carey, to come up with some alternative living accommodations for these infants - thus comes the Island of the Alive.
This time around a court order has forced all the deformed, mutant, babies to be transported to an isolated island.
This ranks down their with other such Larry Cohen films such as "The Stuff" and "A Return to Salem's Lot".
It's a very entertaining movie and an excellent closure to Larry Cohen's wild 'monstrous infants' trilogy.
In this particularly fantastic opening, Stephen Jarvis (Moriarty), father of a mutant-baby, defends the rights of these ugly creatures and wants to prevent that more unfortunate babies are destroyed immediately after birth.
Five years later, Stephen Jarvis is forced against his will to join a scientific expedition towards to island to see how the babies have developed.
The expedition crew will soon find out that the former babies still have ferocious tendencies but Jarvis equally discovers that they gained telekinetic powers and that they formed a community on their own...Larry Cohen's still growing sense of black, offbeat humor is terrifically illustrated through some of the deranged plot-twists and  especially  through Moriarty's eccentric character.
His sarcastic one-liners about his unsuccessful acting career or his unwanted popularity as the "father of the monster" makes this "Island of the Alive" one of Cohen's wittiest achievements to date.
Keep your eyes open for all the ingenious little ideas Cohen adds during the trip to, and return from the island!
Like for example a totally unrelated hunting-trip of greedy thrill-seekers to the island early in the film or a study of Karen Black's troubled love-life after giving birth to a monster.
Whether for good or bad, Larry Cohen's mutant baby sage continues.
The government is closer to eliminating them when a father (Michael Moriarty) of one of the babies gathers a group to protest in mass the wholesale demise of the mutants.
It's Alive III: Island of the Alive starts in court as state prosecutor argues that the mutant babies that are being born across the US should be killed at birth & are not human, mutant baby father Stephen Jarvis (Michhael Moriarty) manages to convince the court that the babies have feelings & should be allowed to live.
Judge Milton Watson (Macdonald Carey) rules in favour of Jarvis & the babies right to live but orders them all to be placed on an isolated island away from humanity so they cannot hurt anyone & that the location be kept secret.
Five years later & Jarvis is contacted by cop Lt. Perkins (James Dixon) who has agreed to go to the island with a team of Government funded scientists to study the babies & how they have adapted, as a father of one of the mutant babies they want Jarvis to accompany them which he also agrees to.
Once at the island the team discover that the babies have grown up remarkably quickly, have telepathic powers & have started breeding amongst themselves...Executive produced, written & directed by Larry Cohen this was the third entry in his It's Alive trilogy, the first It's Alive (1974) is generally considered to be a strong film while it's sequel It Lives Again (1978) expanded upon the original's themes without being quite as good which leaves It's Alive III: Island of the Alive as probably the weakest of the three films in my opinion & I have now seen all three in the space of three days.
The script here seems rushed, the film jumps from one random subplot to another, from the court case to Jarvis being rejected by a woman because he's the mutant babies father to a hunting expedition on the island to the scientific research team to a bizarre scene in Cuba to an ending where the mutant baby wants to find it's mother the film as a whole never quite gels together with the various strands of the plot dangling around without nothing to tie them together.
It's Alive III: Island of the Alive just seems like a lazy film, it just seems like Cohen had various ideas but didn't quite know how to knit them together so he would just put one idea into the script, get bored with it & have another idea & go with that one instead forgetting about the previous one.
Once again the babies are barely seen, this time around there's stop-motion animation & we see them grown up but like when they are babies it's just quick flashes of what they look like.The island scenes were apparently filmed in Hawaii but the editing is still choppy & it does look a little cheap at times.
The acting varies, Michael Moriarty is always watchable but he puts in a crazy performance here, from mumbling to himself to singing songs while on the open sea to various sarcastic one-liners to sexual harassment of female scientists.It's Alive III: Island of the Alive is the weakest of the three It's Alive films, that's all there is to it really.
It is the Isle of Mute and the inhabitants are Mutants ***** SLIGHT SPOILERS *****Anyway you get the drift , I live on an island and I come across mutants all the time so I was going to relate to a film dealing with mutant babies being confined and I wasn`t disappointed by what I saw .
ISLAND OF THE ALIVE is a very entertaining bad taste horror comedy , maybe not a classic like Peter Jackson`s BAD TASTE but still fairly good as the film opens with a woman giving birth in a New York taxi cab and a cop trying to shoot the new born baby , while the next scene features the knowingly stupid line " It took four bullets before it died - That`s some baby " , and of course there`s scenes of the mutant killer babies ( Done by stop frame animation , none of this CGI rubbish )going on killing sprees , and I haven`t even mentioned Michael Moriarty doing a great Al Bundy impression .
The killer babies are back, and this time they are sent to an abandoned island so they can no longer be a threat to humanity, and vice versa.
It sounds like a great idea, but too much of the movie does not take place on said island.
The cast includes Cohen's go-to-guy, Michael Moriarty, and the always hammy Karen Black.
best in the series but still average at best it's got a hammy script and it gets a tad ridiculous in the finale but Director Larry Cohen keeps it fairly amusing with quirky humor and a decent pace but as i said it gets a bit too ridiculous and silly.
and the effects are terrible the baby's look like puppets and are laughable however there is plenty of blood shed and a somewhat cool ending to help.
The Acting is Good Michael Moriarty is great as usual he is always so goofy and over the top but it lots of fun to watch and is an underrated actor he did great here!.