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

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Of all the movies in the "It's Alive" series, this entry, despite some obvious problems, is possibly the best of all three. Although the movie was primarily made for the video market (though Warner Brothers gave it a small theatrical release first), the production values beat those of the first two films by a wide margin, from an expensive look to complex camera movements. The script also has some interest, taking comic as well as serious looks at topics like fame and the legal system. And there is a really offbeat performance by Michael Moriarty that commands your attention in every scene he's in. But as I said, there are some problems. At times the movie appears to be a cut down edit from a longer version - some scenes appear to be missing, and Karen Black only appears in two very brief scenes in the first hour of the movie. However, the opposite problem happens in the last third of the movie, being too much extended and slow. Still, the movie is kooky enough to be interesting, so if you liked the first two movies, you'll likely enjoy this one.

Starring: Michael Moriarty and Karen Black.A TV actor is plagued with a mutant baby that he wants to live. The mutant babies are sent to an uninhibited island. 5 years later the washed up actor is a shoe salesman because no one will hire him, and he decides to find his baby, and make a trip to the island. Once on the island, he learns that the babies have grown up, and the baby wants to meet it's mother (a waitress played by Karen Black). Before the trip to the island this film is quite entertaining, and once on the island it becomes extremely stupid. I was entertained enough through the movie, but it gets stupider than any of the other films. It seems as though the gore and language were amped up a level. Overall it was stupid, but it's entertainment value made it on the same level as the other 2 films.My rating: ** out of ****. 94 mins. R for Language, Violence, and some Sex.

I can't possibly figure out why the movie is rated so low here on IMDb... It's a very entertaining movie and an excellent closure to Larry Cohen's wild 'monstrous infants' trilogy. It already starts out terrific with a brilliant casting job: Michael Moriarty ("The Stuff") and Karen Black ("Burnt Offerings") together as parents?? No wonder that results in murderous offspring! This quirky B-movie implements a great tempo right from the beginning, with the cliché delivery of a killer-baby in a cab, and becomes even better when the entire freakshow is replaced to a courtroom. In this particularly fantastic opening, Stephen Jarvis (Moriarty), father of a mutant-baby, defends the rights of these ugly creatures and wants to prevent that more unfortunate babies are destroyed immediately after birth. After a powerfully scripted emotional speech, he wins the case and the babies are quarantined on a secret island location, down South of Florida. Five years later, Stephen Jarvis is forced against his will to join a scientific expedition towards to island to see how the babies have developed. The expedition crew will soon find out that the former babies still have ferocious tendencies but Jarvis equally discovers that they gained telekinetic powers and that they formed a community on their own...Larry Cohen's still growing sense of black, offbeat humor is terrifically illustrated through some of the deranged plot-twists and – especially – through Moriarty's eccentric character. His sarcastic one-liners about his unsuccessful acting career or his unwanted popularity as the "father of the monster" makes this "Island of the Alive" one of Cohen's wittiest achievements to date. Also, this final chapter obviously disposed of a much larger budget as the previous installments which allows Cohen's to zoom in more on the malevolent babies and the mess they make when slaughtering. Keep your eyes open for all the ingenious little ideas Cohen adds during the trip to, and return from the island! There are too many to list, such as a side-trip to Fidel Castro's Cuba, a demented singing choir (which looks like it's spoofing "Jaws") or Jarvis' self-indulgent harassing-efforts towards a female scientist. Naturally, this movie has its flaws I can't overlook.. Maybe the finished product is a little long and some sequences should have stayed in the cutting room. Like for example a totally unrelated hunting-trip of greedy thrill-seekers to the island early in the film or a study of Karen Black's troubled love-life after giving birth to a monster. The climax is great, rewarding and makes Cohen's "It's Alive" circle complete. If you appreciate imaginative plotting and absurd horror tales, I recommend the entire It's Alive-cycle as well as every other production Larry Cohen was ever involved in.

Yes, this movie has some laughable plot implications, some over-the-top special effects, and some less than stellar acting, but all in all I found it quite enjoyable and interesting. Director/writer Larry Cohen opens with a scene in a a cab where a woman is about to have a baby. We know what is going to happen from the onset, but Cohen paces the opening scene very nicely. This sets the atmosphere of a society still being intruded on by these mutant, deadly infants that were both the subject of It's Alive! and It Lives Again!. Next, we are taken into a court room and presented with the facts of Michael Moriarity's fight to keep his baby alive despite a large group that want to see it obliterated. This scene is done quite effectively, even though Moriarity gives one of his usual, yet convincing, performances of a man that seems not to care but does(?) Anyway, I have always had problems figuring out Moriarity's motivation at times, but I think he and Cohen were going for more of a black comedy approach to this material. Thus it has dark edges to it, yet is really lighter weight material. Anyway, Moriarity convinces the court and in particular the judge, played nicely by MacDonald Carey, to come up with some alternative living accommodations for these infants - thus comes the Island of the Alive. Well, from there things go kind of down hill in terms of plot. The babies grow rapidly and we turn to five years later: Moriarity, James Dixon(again as the Lt.), and a host of scientists set off to monitor the rate of growth, etc... of the babies for government reasons. You can guess what happens from there on. The end gets very implausible but is fun and never takes itself very seriously(like the first two movies). We see a lot more of the babies here and are even given an explanation for why they are mutants. I enjoyed this one more than the second but think all three make for one of the very rare treats in horror - a horror trilogy. I also liked the whole Cuba interlude but would have loved even more a reverse of who landed on Cuba and what happened after the landing. Now that would have been a real hoot!