I don't think I'm too far off in my guess that the creators of this movie had seen 'MANOS' THE HANDS OF FATE and thought to themselves, "Hey, I could do better than that!" The very basic plot is similar (tourists take a wrong turn and are trapped in an isolated house where very strange things are happening), and other elements are almost lifted directly from 'MANOS' (the opening drive through meandering back roads and the quizzical "THE END?" at the film's conclusion immediately come to mind). However instead of Torgo (who watches the house while The Master is away), we have Mr. Greely, proprietor of a small roadside reptile zoo and caverns. His pride and joy is a prehistoric monster he apparently discovered (and befriended) in the caverns. He apparently becomes unhinged when a brand new main highway diverts tourists away from his roadside attraction. From there he kidnaps unsuspecting tourists and traps them in his cave, with the goal of ultimately feeding them to his prehistoric creature. Also on hand is a meek, subservient woman named Bella, a vacationing schoolteacher who fell into Greely's trap two years earlier (although in a flashback we see her driving the current year's model Chevy Impala... continuity alert!!!!!). She then succumbs to Greely by helping him lure tourists into his trap. The "prehistoric monster" is a sight to behold (green rubbery skin and ping-pong ball eyes), and mercifully its screen time is relatively brief. Although said monster is quite laughable, the movie does have its genuinely creepy moments, mainly coming from Greely terrorizing Bella shortly after her arrival; the extremely low budget feel of the movie actually provides a pretty good chill effect to Greely's deranged actions towards Bella. Aside from that though, this is one of those cheesy, corny and hokey flicks that is perfect for a late-night bad movie festival.
Review of It's Alive!
