13 Nights of Shocktober: Eaten Alive

 by A.J.

Night 8: Creature Feature Night

Meet The Maniac And His Friend

Eaten Alive

The career of director Tobe Hooper consists of films you’ve certainly heard of (the landmark 1974 horror film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), films that sound familiar (Lifeforce), and films you might never have heard of, like his follow up to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Eaten Alive. I doubt anyone would argue that Eaten Alive is scarier or more intense than Chainsaw, but it is very difficult to watch at times. This is the kind of sleazy and grimy low budget movie that will make your skin crawl. What’s to like?...What's not to like?

The opening seconds let you know what is in store. The very first words spoken are “My name is Buck. I’m rarin’ to fuck,” said by none other than a young Robert Englund over an extreme close up of a his crotch as he undoes his jeans. The reluctant sex worker responds, “Let’s just get it over with.” What follows is an attempted rape. The movie does not become any more pleasant. The sex worker, Clara (Roberta Collins), quits the brothel and ends up at an isolated hotel run by local yokel, Judd (Neville Brand), a puritanical psychopath who ends up killing and feeding her to the crocodile that lives in the swamp right next to the hotel. Other characters arrive for various reasons including Clara’s father Harvey (Mel Ferrer) and sister, Libby (Crystin Sinclaire), who are searching for her. A quarrelling husband and wife, Ray and Faye (Marilyn Burns), with their very young daughter, Angie, and dog named Snoopy also stop at the hotel. There is something off about the couple and Ray (William Finley) proves to be about as mentally unstable as Judd. 

There is no real protagonist. Libby and Faye are not so much passive characters as they are barely written. The town sheriff allows the brothel to operate and makes vague come-ons to Libby. Harvey disowned Clara causing her to run away in the first place. The closest we get to a hero is attempted rapist and all around troublemaker Buck, who looks around after hearing a child scream for help, but he only does this because the woman he is in bed with insists.

So much about this movie is off putting, but that is part of its appeal–though I will of course admit that for some it may be off putting entirely and that is okay too. A big element that takes the edge off and keeps things entertaining in spite of the unpleasantness on screen is the low budget and stylized look. The run down hotel and pier are obviously a set. Fog and mist straight out of old horror movies covers the seams of the sets and crocodile effects. If the crocodile looks fake that only helps. It is up to the actors to sell the killer croc, who needs victims brought to it–not unlike a later Tobe Hooper movie also featuring Robert Englund, The Mangler. The exterior of the hotel is almost always bathed in red light that at first I thought came from a neon sign but actually comes from nothing but the film itself. It helps build the hellish atmosphere. The overacting is another element that adds camp and takes the edge off the horror. Neville as Judd reminded me of Stephen King’s classic overacting in "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill" segment of Creepshow (1982). 

The hard lines that I must bring up that may make the movie too much are: 1) the dog is eaten by the crocodile almost immediately 2) Angie, a small child, is in danger for most of the movie; there are scenes of a scythe wielding chasing after her and the crocodile chases after her too. She is too young to be clever but Judd is pretty dumb and seems to just forget about her when she hides under the hotel.

There is not enough of an ethos for Eaten Alive to qualify as “dark” but like many grindhouse exploitation movies, it is entertaining in spite of and because of its low elements.

Eaten Alive is available to stream for free on Tubi and Plex.