"Eaten Alive" was Tobe Hooper's follow-up film following "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," but it is no where near to being in the same class as they legendary cult film. Neville Brand stars as Judd, a good old boy who runs the Starlight Hotel, a dilapidated place out on the bayou. It turns out Judd is a bit of a psychotic who like to take any of the hotel's guests who get on his bad side and serve them up to his pet crocodile from Africa. My understanding is that Hooper actually had a bigger budget for this film than on "Massacre," but the film simply misses the feeling of terror that permeated his previous film. Even though this is a more stylistic film from the director's standpoint, it is just a sub-standard horror film full of stuff we have basically seen before. Robert (Freddie Krueger) Englund has a minor role in this 1976 film playing a horny young dude, while Kyle Richards (Lindsay in the original "Halloween") plays the daughter of an ill-fated family. "Eaten Alive" was also released as "Horror Hotel" and "Murder on the Bayou." If you are into killer crocodile/alligator films, then get this and "Lake Placid" for a weekend double-feature.
Meet the Maniac and his Friend!
First off: Elite's widescreen DVD is terrific - this is the best this film is ever going to look. This semi-disappointing follow-up to Texas Chainsaw Massacre involves a lunatic who kills guests and feeds their bodies to a crocodile that lives in the next door swamp. Things are off to a slow start at the beginning (you get a lot of sleazy decor) but once Hooper cranks up the action to ram speed there are enough ladies screaming, prostitutes running, lords-a-leaping, maids-a-milking - you get the idea. The only problem is the hotel set. It looks like a cheap set. In the chase scenes, there is no camera movement - everyone just runs around in circles in one wide shot. The crocodile is not the most realistic thing ever (the victims can be seen forcing themselves into its mouth). Yet, the performances are good and the whole affair is actually very disturbing. On that note, I recommend you check into this "Horror Hotel" for a little "Starlight Slaughter" if you know what I mean.
The Killer and the Croc.
EATEN ALIVE is Tobe Hooper's 2nd movie to date, made 3 years after his previous work: THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE.
DETAILS.
Just like THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, EATEN ALIVE is yet another movie based (very loosely) on a true story. I heard it was inspired by a bar owner named Joe Ball, who kept a pool of alligators in his bar, and it was rumored that he often fed his patrons to these gators. When the police came to question him, Ball killed himself.
PLOT.
Tobe Hooper VERY loosely bases this incident in EATEN ALIVE. The story is about a deranged, nerdy person named Judd who runs a motel called Starlight in the middle of a swamp. When guests check into his motel, he murders them with a sythe and feeds their bodies to his ferocious, pet crocodile.
Neville Brand (Judd) delivers an insane performance, he's crazier than the Old Man (from TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE), but not quite as frightening and disturbing as Leather-Face. Marylin Burns even makes an appearance in here, too (she was the heroine, Sally Hardesty; also from TCM). Also, be on the lookout for Robert Englund as Buck (...) (he would later play Freddy Krueger in A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET). The crocodile effects could've used a little work though, the croc looks about as real as Barney the dinosaur.
RECOMMENDATIONS.
If EATEN ALIVE swallows you whole, should also sink your teeth into THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, FRIDAY THE 13TH, JACK FROST, JACK FROST 2: REVENGE OF THE MUTANT KILLER SNOWMAN, and PINOCCHIO'S REVENGE!
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