Eaten Alive (1976)

A psychotic redneck, who owns a dilapidated hotel in rural East Texas, kills various people who upset him or his business, and he feeds their bodies to a large crocodile that he keeps as a pet in the swamp beside his hotel.

Director:

Tobe Hooper

Writers:

Alvin L. Fast, Mohammed Rustam (as Mardi Rustam)

Stars:

Neville Brand, Mel Ferrer, Carolyn Jones

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Neville Brand	...	Judd
Mel Ferrer	...	Harvey Wood
Carolyn Jones	...	Miss Hattie
Marilyn Burns	...	Faye
William Finley	...	Roy
Stuart Whitman	...	Sheriff Martin
Roberta Collins	...	Clara
Kyle Richards	...	Angie
Robert Englund	...	Buck
Crystin Sinclaire	...	Libby Wood
Janus Blythe	...	Lynette (as Janus Blyth)
Betty Cole	...	Ruby
Sig Sakowicz	...	Deputy Girth
Ronald W. Davis	...	Country Boy
Christine Schneider	...	Waitress

Storyline

Judd runs the Starlight Hotel out in some sort of swampy place and is unfortunately a few slices short of a loaf. He has a crocodile conveniently placed on the other side of the hotel's front porch railing. The croc will eat just about anything, as the hapless guests of the hotel find out soon enough. A reformed hooker, an unlucky family, and the father and sister of the hooker all suffer various rates of attrition as Judd tries to implement damage control.

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Plot Keywords:

b movie | serial killer | brothel madam | sheriff | prostitute | 

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Taglines:

You Check In Alive... But Check Out Dead!

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 May 1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

Brutes and Savages

Filming Locations:

Raleigh Studios - 5300 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$520,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mars Productions Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Loosely based on the story of Joe Ball (also known as the Bluebeard from South Texas or the Alligator Man) from Elmendorf, Texas, sometime after Prohibition ended. He owned a bar with an alligator pit serving as an entertainment attraction. Several murders of women ensued, of which Joe Ball was suspected, but it was never proven that the flesh found in the pit was human. However, Joe Ball committed suicide at his bar on September 24, 1938, when he was about to be arrested by the police in connection with the murders.

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Goofs

Right at the end of the film when the crocodile pulls Judd under the water head first, look to the left of the screen to see a scuba diver under the water who turns is clearly moving. He is obviously a safety stuntman of some sort. You can clearly see his hand and is dressed in black.

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Quotes

Buck: Name's Buck... and I'm rarin' to fuck.

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Alternate Versions

The film received notoriety in the UK after being withdrawn as a member of the infamous DPP List of video nasties. For its original UK cinema release in 1978 cuts were made to the scythe murders, the beating of Faye by Judd (as her daughter watches) and flashback images to the earlier sex scene between Buck and Clara. For the 1992 video release the film was cut by 25 secs and retained the cuts to the scythe murders and the beating of Faye, plus additional cuts to the rake murder of Clara by Judd. In 2000 the film was passed completely uncut by the BBFC.

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Connections

Featured in You Won't Stop Screaming (1998)

User Reviews

Dreadfully gruesome and crazy entertainment!

A crazy homicidal man named Judd owns a shabby hotel in the Louisiana bayou and when he receives guests he goes out of his way to murder them and feed them to his pet crocodile. Some of these unexpected guests who face this horror that awaits them ranged from a reform hooker, an unfortunate family and the hooker's father and sister who are looking for the missing girl.

Tobe Hooper (director) and Kim Henkel (co-writer) the two who brought us one of the most powerful and groundbreaking horror films of all time "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" team up again for their next independent B-grade project: the crzay exploitation piece "Eaten Alive". The film's title has been renamed plenty of times by the distributors and also it's been labelled as Hooper's lost movie. It may lack the power, raw intensity and realism that made TCM so nerve wrecking, but this gruesome horror film doesn't hold back on the shocks and sleaze of the typical low-grade horror that filled the late seventies. There's a sheer amount of gore and flashes of nudity evident compared to his previous film. Though, it does come across as more of a comic book horror because of eccentric characters and outlandish setups. The absurd plot doesn't stand out as it's basically taken right off "Psycho" and doesn't make too much sense, but the look of the film is terrific and it's high on atmosphere. The cheap sets and swampy terrain with its blankets of fog and wildlife sounds capture such a horrifying and morbid awe and there are some rather uncomfortable scenes that are sick and twisted. It's filled with adrenaline packed scenes of graphic, if comical violence of crocodile munching and graceful blood splattering involving Judd's scythe. These thrilling sequences involve a chase through the swamp, girl under the house and a sudden burst to the climax that ends with a whirlwind of sheer chaos. Another element that stands out is the rusty colour scheme, which is rather murky and dull in tone because of the lighting. These under lit sets add to the disorientating and gritty feel. An eerie and high pitch music score is rather effective, as it really nags away and makes it quite unsettling. Frantic, edgy and encroaching camera-work is achieved to great effect. We get the usual sloppy and atrocious special effects that we see in cheap b-films and the massive rubber crocodile (looks real shoddy) is no exception.

The cast gives mostly amateur performances. Though, there are some fine performances by Robert England (Freddy Kruger fame) in one of his first big screen roles as a horny local stud called Buck and when on screen he shines. Neville Brand as the mumbling and wandering Judd delivers it brilliantly. He totally captures the mentality of this crazed character. There are a lot of scenes where we just listen to the creepy Judd ramble on in a husky tone and meandering around the shadows that fill run-down hotel listening to country music and most of these sequences feel like they're dragging the pace. Marilyn Burns who also starred in "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" plays Faye the mother of the annoying family who checks in and spends most of her time being gagged and then finishes off by screaming her lungs off. Good support by Mel Ferrer and Crystin Sinclaire as the prostitute's father and sister and Stuart Whitman as Sheriff Martin. Roberta Collins and Janus Blythe also appear. The dialogue is rather bad and inane at times, but there's some added tongue-in-cheek humour.

It's definitely not in the same league of Hooper's previous effort "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre". Rather silly stuff, but amusing low-budget nastiness with good art direction and some sudden jolts of excitement.