Texas-based schlockmeister Larry Buchanan strikes again with another no-budget monsterpiece, this time about a bunch of unwary travelers imprisoned by a madman in a cave with a monster in it. All the Buchanan trademarks are there-no plot, inane dialogue that is dubbed into films that were shot silent to save money, the same monster suit he used in several other movies, but what makes this film stand out for me are two things: first that it must be the absolute low point of Tommy Kirk's eclectic career-even though his character does manage to survive a gunshot wound to the chest simply by putting a handkerchief on it and bravely soldiering on-and secondly the fact that I watched this maybe 5 times on the Saturday night creature feature (It was the 70's in Southern Illinois, what can I say?) before I realized that the monster was supposed to be 50 feet tall! The same shot shown about 4 times of it walking through a tunnel and one really horrible forced-perspective shot offer no clue as to its actual size! Worth seeing one time for bad-movie completists only.
Review of It's Alive!
