It's Alive

"There's only one thing wrong with the Davis baby..."

1974 1h 31m EN

😐

6.0

MID

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

5.8

IMDB

★6.0TMDB · 233●72Metacritic★5.8IMDB · 9,274

HorrorScience Fiction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

The Davises are expecting a baby, which turns out to be a monster with a nasty habit of killing people whenever scared. And it's easily scared.

“There's only one thing wrong with the Davis baby...”

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Cast

John P. Ryan
Frank Davis
Sharon Farrell
Lenore Davis
Andrew Duggan
The Professor
Guy Stockwell
Bob Clayton
James Dixon
Lt. Perkins
Michael Ansara
The Captain
Robert Emhardt
The Executive
William Wellman Jr.
Charley

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Larry Cohen
Writers: Larry Cohen
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.5M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $7M — a 14.2× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

52 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "It's Alive Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Larry Cohen, shot by Fenton Hamilton. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Bernard Herrmann. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Peter Honess shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

John P. Ryan and Sharon Farrell and Andrew Duggan carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Larry Cohen directs. Fenton Hamilton behind the camera. Bernard Herrmann scores. Peter Honess cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $0.5M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Grossed $7M — a 14.2× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
352 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Part of the "It's Alive Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5Directed by Larry Cohen, shot by Fenton Hamilton. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Bernard Herrmann. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Peter Honess shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8John P. Ryan and Sharon Farrell and Andrew Duggan carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "There's only one thing wrong with the Davis baby...".
10IMDB entry: tt0071675 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 8 themes, including "baby", "pregnancy", "mutant", "homicidal baby".

The technical file

Cinematography: Fenton Hamilton
Original score: Bernard Herrmann
Editing: Peter Honess
Production design: Pat Somerset
Makeup / hair: Rick Baker
Runtime: 91 min · 1h 31m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $500,000
Box office: $7,100,000
Return: 1420% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: It's Alive (1974)
Metacritic: 72/100
IMDB rating: 5.8/10 · 9,274 votes
MPAA: PG

Awards

1 win & 1 nomination total

Part of

It's Alive Collection

It's Alive is a 1974 American horror film written, produced, and directed by Larry Cohen. In the film, a couple's infant child turns out to be a vicious mutant monster that kills when frightened. Notable talents involved in the movie were Bernard Herrmann who composed the score (noted for his work on many films of Alfred Hitchcock) and Rick Baker for makeup and puppet effects. The film was followed by two sequels, It Lives Again (1978) and It's Alive III: Island of the Alive (1987) and a remake, It's Alive (2008).