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21 out of 23 people found the following review useful: Absolutely stupid, yet compulsive viewing., 4 January 2002 Author: Infofreak from Perth, Australia
Tobe Hooper's much maligned follow up to 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' isn't half as bad as it's detractors claim. While it certainly isn't as good as TCM, if viewed in the right frame of mind it's probably his second best flick. 'Death Trap' reminds me of Dario Argento's movies. Not in the subject matter, or directorial style, but in the sense that what you're seeing is a filmed nightmare, devoid of logic, but full of memorable over the top images. The sets are cheap and nasty, the acting varies from quite good to plain silly, the "plot" can basically be summed up as: people check into a seedy motel and get fed to a pet crocodile by its nutty owner, but you know what? It's still a hell of an entertaining trashy horror movie.Neville Brand ('The Ninth Configuration') gives a gonzo, almost vintage Timothy Carey-like performance as psycho scythe wielding Judd, owner of the one place in town you really don't want to check in to. Horror legend Robert Englund appears as sodomy lovin' white trash local Buck. Also on board are scream queen Marilyn Burns ('TCM', 'Helter Skelter'), cult star Roberta Collins ('Death Race 2000'), the original Morticia (Carolyn Jones), the 'Phantom Of The Paradise' (William Finley), and veterans Mel Ferrer ('The Hands Of Orlac') and Stuart Whitman ('Crazy Mama'). All this and one of the most unconvincing looking killer crocodiles ever seen on screen!Highly recommended.
16 out of 18 people found the following review useful: Tobe Hooper's 70's films still stand as his best ones! Golden horror!!, 14 June 2004 Author: Coventry from the Draconian Swamp of Unholy Souls
`The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' (of course) and `Death Trap' (less obvious already) are the only two films Tobe Hooper should be really remembered for as a horror director. They both are raw and chilling explorations of the angry rural America. The location of this film looks like a giant swampy area, homed by underdeveloped perverted rednecks and other freaks of society. Neville Brand terrifically portrays Judd, the isolated owner of the Starlight Hotel. Judd suffers a bit from the incapability to communicate with people and the guests at his hotel are doomed to die as soon as they enter his facility. He also has a pet crocodile swimming underneath the porch of his hotel, which is a pretty convenient method to get rid of human leftovers… A poor, rejected prostitute is the first to undergo Judd's murderous rituals. Her relatives soon come to search for her and are doomed as well. In the meantime, the croc feeds on some more unfortunate by passers. Although I regard this as Hooper's second best film, it doesn't come close to the power of TCM…Which kind of gives you an idea of how great I think TCM was! The settings and photography of Horror Hotel (one of the film's a.k.a's) look nasty and utterly cheap. Just as it did in TCM, this actually increases the macabre atmosphere and you constantly feel something wicked is about to happen. The characters – although pretty imaginative – aren't as convincing as the Sawyer family but they too seem to come running straight out of a freakshow as well! There's Judd of course, but also a very memorable Robert Englund who plays a retarded yokel with an obsession for anal sex. The scream-queen prototype Marilyn Burns returns as well before disappearing into actress-oblivion forever. The crocodile as well as most other horror scenery looks really cheap, but to me, this only increases the trash-fun value of this film. Highly recommended viewing as far as I'm concerned.
17 out of 22 people found the following review useful: Tragically overlooked film by Tobe Hooper, 1 October 2003 Author: Captain_Couth (sirjosephu@aol.com) from Sacramento, CA
Eaten Alive (1977) is one of the most overlooked and under-appreciated films. Maybe the critics and fans were disenchanted with it because they were probably expecting a film in the vein of first film Texas CHAINSAW MASSACRE. In many retrospects the films are similar. They both feature dying, old ways of life (privately owned slaughter houses, roadside motels with sideshow exhibits). The film's main character is Judd, the proprietor of the Starlight Hotel and Zoo. Judd is a crazed war vet with broken dreams who's haunted by ghosts from the past. Neville Brand portrays Judd with such an eerie, uncanny flair (his experiences as a decorated WWII vet gives his role an aura of authenticity). A true slice of dying Americana as only Tobe Hooper can tell.The support players are William Finley, Marylin Burns, Stuart Whitman, Mel Ferrer, Robert Englund and an unrecognizable Carolyn Jones (TV's MorticiaAddams). This film has been restored for DVD by Elite. Beware of the cheaper DVDs because they are truly ghastly.Strongly recommended
10 out of 10 people found the following review useful: A disappointing follow up to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre from Tobe Hooper., 29 August 2006 Author: BA_Harrison from Hampshire, England
Crazy old Judd (Neville Brand) is the owner of a run down hotel on the edge of a swamp that is home to a massive crocodile. The old coot, a few sandwiches short of a picnic, thinks nothing of feeding his guests to the old croc, after hacking them to death with his huge scythe.Eaten Alive, Tobe Hooper's follow up to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, was co written by Chainsaw collaborator Kim Henkel, and stars Marilyn Burns, the damsel-in-distress from the '74 horror classic. It even features a scene in which a young woman is chased through the woods by a maniac wielding a large cutting tool. However, this movie fails to capture the intense feeling of terror that Hooper delivered so well with his incredible debut; only in the closing moments of Eaten Alive does he manage anything close to the absolute horror of his first and finest film.Before that, we get a rather dreary hour and a half of loopy old Judd muttering to himself and occasionally offing the odd guest—tipping them into the water for his scaly friend to devour. The realism of Chainsaw is gone, replaced by an almost cartoonish atmosphere; the characters are mostly freakish caricatures, there is a smattering of gore, everything is swathed in garish primary-coloured light, and the old croc is as bad as one might expect from a low budget horror.Tobe also finds time to throw a few fit birds into the mix, and two of them obligingly flip their norks out (and very fine they are too).Eaten Alive is enjoyable on a trashy level, and if this had been directed by anyone other than the director of possibly the finest horror movie of all time, I wouldn't have felt quite so disappointed; but as a follow up to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Eaten Alive just didn't impress me enough.
9 out of 9 people found the following review useful: Bizarre and surreal, 12 June 2006 Author: Tikkin from United Kingdom
Eaten Alive is a truly bizarre film with an almost nightmarish quality to it. I can't say I particularly loved it, because the lack of lighting often makes it hard to see what is happening. Yet at the same time, the lack of lighting also adds to the murky atmosphere. The motel owners performance is slightly over the top and annoyed me a bit, although he does play his part very well. There are some tense and disturbing moments such as when he's chasing the two women, which are excellently done. However the claustrophobic feel of the film got a little boring in parts and made it slightly hard to follow.Overall, if you like your horror films creepy and bizarre, then this is for you. It has a similar grainy feel to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, so if you loved that then this will be right up your street.
12 out of 15 people found the following review useful: Tobe Hooper's masterpiece of rural horror!, 30 March 2001 Author: HumanoidOfFlesh from Chyby, Poland
"Eaten Alive"(1976),director Tobe Hooper's second and less successful stab at backwoods horror following the success/notoriety of his brilliant "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre"(1974)is one of the most bizarre horror movies ever made.The plot revolves around demented motel owner Judd(Neville Brand)who likes feeding his guests to his pet alligator in the swamp outside.With its gory set-pieces and gratuitous nudity,and Neville Brand's over-the-top performance as Judd "Eaten Alive" is a truly visceral experience.Great location sets:the dilapidated hotel at the edge of the swamp is so bizarre,that it may as well exist on another planet,or in some alternate insane reality.The acting is very good,Marilyn Burns once again proves that she can emote hysterically and Robert Englund is really convincing as a local-yokel Buck.The film is grainy,even ugly looking at times,so don't expect any polished crap from Hollywood.For me this the best(along with his debut of course!)Tobe Hooper's horror film.A must see for horror fans!
8 out of 8 people found the following review useful: messed up, 14 June 2006 Author: megavenganceman from Kingston, Ont, Canada
Delirious, surreal, and savage, Tobe Hooper's follow-up to his landmark debut ("Chainsaw" for those not in the know), is one of a kind while bearing the same signature stamp he left with his predecessor. A sheer unrelenting onslaught of pure madness, macabre and dark humor. Although not as entirely successful as Chainsaw, "Eaten Alive" is one messed up little drive in flick with good performances particularly by Brand as the psycho Inn keeper of "Starlight Hotel". Mumbling incoherently through most of his screen time and sputtering gibberish when audible, Neville Brand is eerily convincing. The beginning of this picture owes to Psycho in that you meet a character that you are led to believe is the (no pun intended) titular heroine but is quickly dispatched and we are left with the equally sleazy and\or oddball residents of the locale like ole' country boy Buck (Englund, who's a hoot) or that oddball couple who's dog gets chomped by the gator that lives in the swamp behind the hotel. It's that kind of movie folks so be aware what you're getting into. Creepy, oddball fun.
8 out of 10 people found the following review useful: Interesting and bizarre Hooper film....., 31 December 1998 Author: BaronBl00d (baronbl00d@aol.com) from NC
Well, if you saw The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and were impressed with director Tobe Hooper, your next move might be to view his second film Eaten Alive. I searched all over for a print and finally was lucky enough to find one and see this somewhat forgotten picture. One reason for its seemingly firm place in the ranks of oblivion is its numerous title changes. Notwithstanding all this I found the film and watched it. The film is interesting, bizarre, unbelievable, and disturbing. The setting is just a trifle too unimaginative to be taken for real as is the central character of Judd (for the most part deftly played by Neville Brand). The plot too seems to be making its viewers accept too much for granted without really giving any knowledge of why Judd is the way he is, etc... Despite these shortcomings, the film has some of the truly most horrific scenes filmed. The scene in which Judd tries in vain to goad a young girl from under his hotel out is sheer terror. Other scenes in which he dispatches some of the hotel guests are equally effective. The film has a lot more going for it than its oblivious nature would suggest. It has fine performances, an eerier setting and score, and the taught, tuned terror Tobe Hooper realized in his first great film.
6 out of 8 people found the following review useful: Not up to Texas CHAINSAW standards, but still decent., 19 May 2003 Author: capkronos (capkronos00@hotmail.com) from Ohio, USA
In Tobe Hooper's follow-up to THE Texas CHAIN SAW MASSACRE, Neville Brand is totally out of control! I could not believe my eyes seeing his twitching, nervous, maniacal, laughing psycho performance! He seems to be on some kind of high-powered drug from outer space! Thankfully, his acting is perfectly welcome in this film, where almost every bizarre character seems to be up to something devious.Neville runs a secluded Louisiana hotel on the Bayou where various people show up. He kills them off (with a scythe, pitchfork, etc.) and feeds their dead bodies to his pet crocodile. Marilyn Burns, William Finley and their daughter eventually show up in disguise and are tormented by Brand. Family members and cops show up to search for missing prostitute Roberta Collins and become victims, too.Brand hacks them up while hopping around uncontrollably and laughing with glee. Totally creepy. So is Wayne Bell's music score, which is similar to the one he did for TCM. Good make-up, lots of surprises, Hooper's direction and Brand give this film an edge over it's competition.
8 out of 12 people found the following review useful: Hooper's mediocre 'Eaten Alive' suffers from poor script and inept pacing, but Robert Englund's offbeat performance is film's only asset, 17 June 2004 Author: Michael Pilkington (mjpilkington@yahoo.com) from Richmond, CA
A crazed proprietor (Neville Brand) runs a motel located in the swampy Louisiana bayou where he keeps a pet crocodile in front of the place. For some reason, he murders unsuspecting guests with a scythe and feeds them to the always-hungry animal.Tobe Hooper's follow-up to his cult hit "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" is surprisingly disappointing, lacking suspense and atmosphere that worked in the last film. In addition, the film suffers from poor script, inept pacing and unconvincing characters. Robert (Freddy Krueger) Englund's offbeat performance as a sex-crazed hillbilly with his opening memorable line ("My name is Buck and I'm ready to f---!") is the film's only asset, but it's not enough to overcome these faults. Marilyn Burns ("The Texas Chainsaw Massacre") also stars a hapless victim (again). Also known as "Horror Hotel," "Horror Hotel Massacre," and "Death Trap." My evaluation: *½ out of ****
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