It's Alive III: Island of the Alive (1987)

The mutant babies have been placed by court order on a deserted island. Appalled by the cycnicism and exploitation of the children by the legal system and the media, the man responsible for... See full summary »

Director:

Larry Cohen

Writers:

Larry Cohen, Larry Cohen (based on characters created by)

Stars:

Michael Moriarty, Karen Black, Laurene Landon

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Moriarty	...	Jarvis
Karen Black	...	Ellen
Laurene Landon	...	Sally
James Dixon	...	Lt. Perkins
Gerrit Graham	...	Ralston
Macdonald Carey	...	Judge Watson
Neal Israel	...	Dr. Brewster (as Neal Isreal)
Art Lund	...	Dr. Swenson
Ann Dane	...	Dr. Morrell
William Watson	...	Cabot
C.L. Sussex	...	Hunter
Patch Mackenzie	...	Robbins
Rick Garia	...	Tony
Carlos Palomino	...	First Cuban
Tony Abatemarco	...	Second Cuban

Storyline

The mutant babies have been placed by court order on a deserted island. Appalled by the cycnicism and exploitation of the children by the legal system and the media, the man responsible for them leads an expedition to the island to free them.

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Plot Keywords:

island | mutant | mutant baby | baby | punctuation in title | 

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Taglines:

They do something worse than kill. They multiply.

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

May 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Island of the Alive

Filming Locations:

Hawaii, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Larco Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min 91 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Larry Cohen indicated this film was the first in a back-to-back two-picture deal with A Return to Salem's Lot and using the same crew. Michael Moriarty appears in both films.

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Goofs

When the woman is being assaulted under the pier a creature kills the gangsters attacking her. The first criminal to get killed gets his neck broken before being tossed aside. While he's getting his neck broken you can see his mustache and stubbly beard. When he gets tossed onto the beach his stunt double has a different hair style and no facial hair at all. They reuse the same shot of this stunt fall about 20 seconds later to represent a different punk getting beaten up.

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Quotes

Stephen Jarvis: You know, you're very beautiful. Maybe it's the environment, but you turn me on. And I could turn you on, too. You've seen my kid, haven't you? That's just a glimpse of the animal in me.

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Connections

Follows It's Alive (1974)

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Soundtracks

"If I Told You"
Written by David Shapiro and Lauri Riley
Performed by David Shapiro
© 1986 Seven Stones Songs

User Reviews

Michael Moriarty unleashed!

Larry Cohen returns after nearly a decade to finish off his mutant baby trilogy with mixed results. Stephen Jarvis (Michael Moriarty) battles in court for the rights of the mutant baby he had with his wife Ellen (Karen Black). The sympathetic judge orders all of the babies to be placed on an island. 5 years later, a scientific team gets together to visit the island and check the progress. Naturally, Jarvis is brought along because of his ability to communicate with the mutants.

Cohen certainly has tons of ideas with this one. This is a court room drama, KING KONG adventure, and urban chase thriller all in one. Heck, he even throws in an out of nowhere tangent where Jarvis ends up in Cuba. I would say maybe 50% of the ideas work, with the island stuff (shot in beautiful Hawaii) being the highlight. Cohen is also betrayed by the FX for the grown mutants, which look like the babies on steroids. Moriarty also gives quite a performance as the sarcastic Jarvis. There is a great cast alongside Moriarty and Black including Gerrit Graham, Laurene Landon, and director Neal Israel. Also, Cohen regular James Dixon returns in his biggest role to date as Lt. Perkins, the only character to appear in all three films (outside of the killer kids).