It's Alive! (1969 film)

'It's Alive!'
Directed by	Larry Buchanan
Written by	Richard Matheson (story "Being") (uncredited) Larry Buchanan (uncredited)
Produced by	Larry Buchanan (producer) Edwin Tobolowsky (associate producer)
Starring	See below
Cinematography	Robert B. Alcott
Edited by	Larry Buchanan
Release date	1969
Running time	80 minutes
Country	USA
Language	English
Budget	Unknown

'It's Alive!' is a 1969 American film directed by Larry Buchanan. It is about a mad farmer who tries to feed a stranded couple to a dinosaur he keeps in a cave. Its tagline is: "Trapped In a Cave of Terror!" It was filmed in the Ozark Mountain area of northern Arkansas and Tennessee. The monster suit that was used to portray the dinosaur was used in another one of Buchanan's older films called Creature of Destruction. A parody was made of 'It's Alive!' by Caribou Productions in 2005. It was titled It's Really Something.

Plot

Norman and Leela Sterns are newlyweds who are trying to drive from their home in New York to Los Angeles. However, they become lost and are eventually stranded in rural countryside. They meet a friendly paleontologist named Wayne Thomas (Tommy Kirk). Wayne suggests that they visit the nearest farm that could give them some gasoline. When they visit the farm, they find it is led by a strange farmer named Greely. Greely is actually insane, but the unsuspecting couple do not discover this until later. He introduces Norman and Leela to his "wife" named Bella. Then, he shows them his "zoo", which has everyday animals such as turtles, rattlesnakes, a monkey, and some coyotes. Greely then shows Norman and Leela his prized possession, an 80-foot-tall (24 m) prehistoric aquatic dinosaur known as a Manosaurus in a cave. Greely traps them in a prison-like cell he has built in the cavern and prepares to feed them to the dinosaur. Wayne Thomas arrives and is knocked out and imprisoned as well. Norman escapes the cell and tries to overpower Greely, knocking his pistol out of his hand. Norman grabs the pistol and attempts to shoot the monster and Greely, but the monster kills and eats Norman before he can do so. Bella then arrives and reveals that she is not Greely's wife, and that the truth is: he kidnapped her, starved her, beat her, and tormented her until her will was so broken that she gave up and did whatever he told her to do. Wayne convinces Bella to join sides with them, and as he remembers that he has some paleontology digging dynamite in his car, Wayne tells Bella to sneak upstairs and bring back a couple of sticks of dynamite. Greely suspects Bella of scheming, and drugs the coffee she is bringing to them behind her back. Leela and Wayne drink the coffee and are drugged. However, Wayne hides the dynamite under the bed. As they are trying to set off the dynamite after they broke out of their cell, Greely tracks them down and gives Leela one last chance to join him in the house and become his servant, or be fed to the monster. Greely spots his pistol laying on the floor at the foot of the stairs, and shoots Wayne, but Wayne kicks Greely in the face and knocks him unconscious. Seeing the dynamite on the floor, Bella lights the fuse and explains to the now-recovered Greely that she plans to blow the place up in order to put an end to the monster and Greely. Greely grabs his pistol and shoots her in the chest. However, before she dies, the dynamite ignites, causing the cavern to collapse on the monster and Greely. The final shot shows Wayne and Leela implying that they will forget the whole thing ever happened as they walk to the car and drive off. It is hinted that they will have a relationship. The end card shows the words: The End?

Cast

• Tommy Kirk as Wayne Thomas, the main hero of the film. He is Leela's love interest.
• Shirley Bonne as Leilla Sterns, Norman's wife, she falls in love with Wayne after Norman is killed. She is the second survivor of the film. She is also the film's first heroine.
• Bill Thurman as Greely, the mad farmer who discovered the monster and kept it in his cave. At first, he fed the monster cattle and coyotes, but soon he started feeding it people. The monster developed a taste for humans after that. As he is obviously crazy, he captures people and holds them captive and eventually feeds them to his monster. He is the film's primary villain besides the monster. He also plays the monster.
• Annabelle Weenick as Bella, a timid woman who was captured and forced to wed Greely and assist him to feed stranded motorists to his dinosaur. In the end, she succeeds in destroying the monster and Greely, although she too was killed. She is the second heroine of the film.
• Corveth Ousterhouse as Norman Sterns, Leela's whiny and controlling husband. He is eventually killed and eaten by the dinosaur.

External links

• 'It's Alive!' at IMDb
• 'It's Alive!' is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive
• http://www.monstershack.net/sp/index.php/its-alive-1969/
• http://www.obscurehorror.com/horror813.html