Product DescriptionRestored and Remastered The Starlight, a decrepit hotel run by Judd (Neville Brand), receives few customers. Perhaps it's the remote location in the Texas bayous. Perhaps it's the owner's violent mood swings. Or perhaps it's the man-eating crocodile in the backyard. But one dark steamy night finds the Starlight visited by a runaway prostitute (Roberta Collins, Death Race 2000), a young couple (Marilyn Burns and William Finley) and their child (Kyle Richards, Halloween), a dying father and his daughter (Mel Ferrer and Crystin Sinclaire), and sex-obsessed Buck (Robert Englund, A Nightmare on Elm Street), all of whom will experience an unforgettable night of terror at the hands of Judd and his pet croc. A raw, violent, and bizarre portrayal of madness run amok in rural America, Eaten Alive was director Tobe Hooper's follow-up to the international hit, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Dark Sky Films proudly presents this two-disc special edition which features a brand new transfer from long-lost vault materials and never-before-seen bonus features. Bonus Features Include:
Feature-length audio commentary w/ producer Mardi Rustam, actors Roberta Collins, William Finley and Kyle Richards, & make-up artist Craig Reardon
"The Gator Creator: Tobe Hooper"
"My Name is Buck: Robert Englund
"The Butcher of Elmendorf: The Legend of Joe Ball"
"5ive Minutes with Marilyn Burns"
Theatrical Trailers (x7)
TV Spots (x2)
Radio Spots (x2)
Still Gallery Slideshow (motion)
Alternate Credits and Title Sequences (x2) - Actors: Tracey Adams, Janus Blythe, Neville Brand, Marilyn Burns, Robert Englund
- Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
- Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
- Format: Color, Widescreen, Anamorphic, NTSC
- Language (Original Language): English
- Language (Original Language): Spanish
- Language (Original Language): French
- Region Code: 1
- Release Date: 2007-09-25
- Running Time: 91 minutes
- Theatrical Release Date: 1976
Customer ReviewsReviewed on 2008-06-22  
Good Director, Very Bad Movie
This is one of the worst horror movies I can remember watching, and I have watched a lot of them over the years, and I want those 90 minutes back. I won't go into a detailed analysis, because the movie doesn't deserve one.
The movie is supposedly based on the true story of a hotel owner who had an alligator as an attraction and where several women were murdered, though it was never proven he fed them to the alligator.
I watched it because it was directed by Tobe Hooper (this was his follow-up to Chainsaw). The other notable horror connections are Robert Englund in his first significant role (listen for his first line at the beginning) and Marilyn Burns (from Chainsaw).
What can you expect from this movie? A hotel owner that mumbles incoherently to no one for most of the movie, bad dialogue, bad special effects (though Steve Martin would be proud of the scythe killing), and the worst music ever contained in a horror movie. Are you getting the picture yet? It's bad!
I only watched the movie itself on cable, so the DVD special features may be worth watching, but there is no way in hell this movie rates 4 or 5 stars. Do not waste money buying or renting this movie! You have been warned. |  | Reviewed on 2008-06-21
You Will Learn To Despise Country Music
The amazing thing that jumped out at me while watching EATEN ALIVE was that Tobe Hooper made this AFTER he made THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. This movie definitely looks like a debut: it's horrible.
Everything that worked in TEXAS CHAINSAW doesn't work here. It looks and sounds horrible. The sets are cheap and the story--what story there is--drags along. Marilyn Burns appears to spend her entire part of the movie tied to a bed. In one long scene--a very long scene--a mother squirms and bounces and tries to scream through her gag in one room of a house. A couple tries to get busy (a young Robert Englund!) in another room. And under the house is a crying little girl trying to elude the psycho and then his fake-looking alligator. All of this noise is drowned out by a radio blasting terrible Country music. I've never been a big fan of Country music...but I really hated it after enduring this movie. (That it switched to Mariachi music for the finale didn't help).
I've never really known what to think about Tobe Hooper. I thought THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE was a classic in horror films. EATEN ALIVE is pure drive-in dreck, amateurish and lame. FUNHOUSE was fifth-rate slasher crap. I'd also read that Hooper, although his name is still on POLTERGEIST, had very little to do with it (stylistically, that movie has Steven Spielberg all over and I'd read that he actually finished the picture).
I caught this on the Independent Film Channel or the Sundance Channel as part of a "grindhouse" retrospective. I remember watching awful movies like this at the extinct drive-in movies theatres of the 70s or cut-to-ribbons on local Monster Chiller Horror Theatre shows. It's laughable how Sundance and IFC elevate such rotten movies to snobbish "grindhouse classic" status.
But I'm curious how a lousy flick like this gets 2-Disc Special Edition treatment. What on earth could be on it to justify that?
Ten times zero...is still zero. | | Reviewed on 2008-05-17
The Grin Reaper...
Warning: This is NOT THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE! Nope, EATEN ALIVE isn't TCM, nor is it supposed to be. This movie has elements not found in Tobe Hooper's first film offering. EATEN ALIVE contains actual blood, nudity, and is more exploitative than TCM. It also has a far less serious approach. Judd (Neville Brand) is a self-righteous, homicidal maniac who sees himself as judge, jury, and executioner of those he convicts of being unclean / sinful. The guilty are slain, either by scythe or Judd's handy pet alligator (or both)! Judd also has a serious problem w/ his temper. He just cannot control it! This all leads to multiple murder, and some entertaining, gruesome moments. The Starlight hotel becomes a funhouse / slaughterhouse when some of the guests get uppity and Judd has his hands full trying to contain them. Marilyn Burns (TCM) does her usual screaming, squirming, and running. Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger himself!) is annoying, yet good as Buck. Carolyn Jones (House Of Wax, Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, "The Addams Family") is the crusty old madame, Hattie. Stuart Whitman plays the sheriff. Mel Ferrer is the ill-fated dad of the first victim. All things considered, EATEN ALIVE is a fun movie that never takes itself seriously. Enjoy... | | Reviewed on 2008-02-26
The Bates Motel in the Swamp
Judd is insane; he owns the Startlight Hotel in a swamp. He feeds his guests to his pet crocodile. After the success of "Jaws," Tobe Hooper tried his hand at directing a creature feature, "Eaten Alive." This movie is very similar to "Psycho." Early in the film, Judd repeatedly strikes a young prostitute with a rake, stabbing her numerous times. While she is still breathing, he throws her off the front porch railing. The crocodile rises up from the water and gobbles her up. Just as in "Psycho," her sister, and also her father, come by the hotel looking for her.
This movie is very intense, from its bloody beginning to its bloody ending. Though not as provocative as Tobe`s "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," it manages to serve its purpose at being a terrifying and gruesome movie.
"Eaten Alive" would've fared better if it had been filmed on location rather than the obvious sound stage. The crocodile was extremely unrealistic. In fact, there were several scenes where it looked like a miniature version was used in lieu of a life-size one. Look closely at the scene where Snoopy the dog is about to be devoured.
There are big name stars in this movie such as Mel Ferrer and Carolyn Jones, but they are underused. Marilyn Burns from "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" spends much of her time tied to a bed. A young Robert Englund, who played Freddy Krueger in "A Nightmare on Elm Street," plays Buck, an oversexed, troublemaking redneck.
If you like movies about alligators and crocodiles on the rampage, rent or buy Tobe Hooper's "Crocodile." It is definitely more entertaining than "Eaten Alive. In "Crocodile," a group of teens are relentlessly pursued by a crocodile because one of them is unknowingly carrying her eggs. The body count is high. There are numerous mutilations as the teens are killed one by one. Who will live and who will die?
| | Reviewed on 2008-01-29
Neville Brand makes this movie.
Eaten Alive (Tobe Hooper, 1977)
Hooper and Henkel, the team who brought you The Texas Chain Saw Massacre in 1974, returned three years later with their second feature, Eaten Alive. This one, too, is loosely based on a true story (that of Joe Ball, the Texas Bluebeard), but unlike TCM, which quite deservedly has gained classic status over the years, this one has faded into obscurity. And, sure, it's not a great movie, but then neither was TCM. In its way, Eaten Alive is just as riveting.
Much of that has to do with Neville Brand, who plays Judd, the psychotic hotel owner who enjoys cutting up his guests and feeding them to his pet gator. Brand's performance is one you just can't look away from. He's unnerving in his portrayal of a psychopath whose social veneer is so thin it's almost nonexistent. He's helped out by a surprisingly stellar cast for such a low-budget effort. While Hooper and Henkel fell back on some old standbys from their Texas Chainsaw days (most notably Marilyn Burns), the rest of the main cast is all sorts of star-studded. Brand is joined by Mel Ferrer (as a concerned father seeking his missing daughter, the first victim), Sisters's William Finley (perhaps the best role in the film other than Brand's, as the father of a family who checks into the hotel-- he's almost as nuts as Judd), Stuart Whitman (the county sheriff), Robert Englund, The Hills Have Eyes' Janus Blythe, The Addams Family's Carolyn Jones, and a host of others. There's a good bit of decent-to-fine acting in this flick, which has the same appealingly low-budget look and feel as Texas Chainsaw, not surprisingly, and a godawful sappy-country soundtrack which is credited to Hooper and Texas Chainsaw sound guy Wayne Bell. How fun can you get?
This one's a lot of fun, and deserve to be a great deal less obscure than it is. Rent with abandon, my minions! ***
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