I really want to make fun of "It's Alive" for a lot of reasons but I can't tell if there is real social commentary being attempted or if it's just accidental. Was the mutant baby caused by birth control? One of the characters made a comment about pollution hinting that that may be the cause of deformities? Whatever the message was it wasn't exactly well executed. "It's Alive" had a definite TV-movie-of-the-week vibe to it. I thought the editing was sloppy and at times it was jarring. The score was provided by Bernard Herrmann. I really love Herrmann's music but in this movie it just doesn't work. First there was too much music. Second there were smaller moments when Herrmann's score was appropriate but they were outnumbered by the times the music was loud and swelled to levels that just brought me out of the movie. I liked the tunes themselves but they usually didn't fit in the context of what was occurring on screen. The thing that bothered me most was during the entire run time we never get a good look at the mutant child. I do like the slow reveal of horror but there eventually has to be a payoff a money shot where we get to see what everyone on-screen is gasping and screaming about. But in this movie it just never comes. We see the mutant in the shadows in the flash of a squad car's siren etc. but it's never revealed. The most effective scene in the movie is the birth of the mutant. It's very chaotic and a little unnerving but that's the high point. From there the movie nearly grinds to a halt. I'll bet that this story must have really been different even shocking for audiences back in 1974. Today though it's seems pretty dated. But hey...it's now a cult classic.

The basic, first level, story is just incredibly stupid: A new born baby, directly out if its mother’s womb, starts killing people and then knows somehow who his father and brother are without ever meeting them … But there is more to this movie. First, the acting is pretty good for this type of movie. And then there are a number of second level subjects that make it more than the stupid first level story: - Freedom of press vs right to privacy. - How to deal with an abnormal baby as parents and as a society. - Parental love vs the common good. While all of those subjects are for sure treated better in other movies, they still give this movie a bit more depth than the initial storyline indicates. Decent entertainment with relatively few horror elements.

The concept is fun, a newborn killer. However it suffers from really low budget, so the thing is never really seen, nor are the kills or the victims. What's left is a kinda hunt though actually it's just the baby killing people on his way to home. Since they don't show it, they could have developed it a bit. We don't even know if it's killing for defence, fear or to feed. It is not only able to kill, it seems to also be very intelligent, but we never really know the extent of its abilities. It's not clear what the father saw that changed his mind and made him [spoiler]try to save it in the last moments[/spoiler]. But at this point, [spoiler]he already shot it and it killed his friend[/spoiler]! Also, after he just [spoiler]throws it at someone, why isn't he arrested, that was attempted murder at least, and actual murder through the cops that all shot the guy like crazy[/spoiler]. Not clear whether it's suggesting that the monster comes from pollution or big pharma, though it clearly shows they are bad guys. Could have been a bit more incisive on this.

John P. Ryan takes command of this movie about a mutant killer infant. You read that right. No spoiler. That's the premise. Creepy sound effects are really what carries this one and while the out of its mind premise sounds just crazy enough on paper to be fun, it is dragged down with a very grounded script that really examines what could happen if this nutso event would occur. Utterly bizarre. Slow pacing hurt the overall film, but it has truly earned its cult status. 4/10