Eaten Alive' is known as Death Trap' in the United Kingdom and thus I shall be using this alternate title in reference to the film.
Judd (Neville Brand), a deranged southern psychopath, runs the Starlight Hotel and even keeps a pet crocodile in the swamp next to it. The guests of this hotel soon learn about Judd's eccentricities and discover (to their own dismay) that the crocodile will eat just about anything.
Tobe Hooper's follow up to the immensely successful The Texas Chain Saw Massacre' (1974) is a slow and dull failure of a movie lacking all the charm and intrigue that TCM possessed. Whereas TCM was a near-perfect exercise in psychological terror, Death Trap' is here to provide all the `goodies' (gore) that TCM, despite its title, only ever implied. Instead, we are left with an often unintentionally hilarious and downright feeble horror outing from a director who, in my opinion, lives off the reputation he has garnered for just a couple of films. This film is certainly not one of them. Accomplished stars of the big screen are paraded across the film in short roles in a desperate attempt to give Death Trap' some sort of cinematic credibility, most notably Neville Brand in the leading role and previous Oscar-Nominee Stuart Whitman (The Mark (1961)) as the Sheriff. There is also an appearance from a pre-Nightmare on Elm Street' Robert Englund in the role of Buck. Incidentally, the character of Buck is one of the few highlights in this otherwise abysmal movie. If anything, one cannot really complain about the performances from the main cast even if half of Neville Brand's dialogue was completely incoherent.
The story itself is basic. People show up at the hotel, get dispatched for one reason or another and then along come the next group of people. While horror (particularly during this time period) is not predominantly famed for any sort of intricate storyline, for a film such as this to work requires an adequate building of tension/suspense and a lot to happen. Unfortunately, Death Trap' fails on both counts. There is so little that happens in this movie that it becomes nigh on impossible to actually remain interested and although the `money shots' are in general worth watching, the rest of the film falls flat on its face. Sadly, attempts to build up tension fail as well due to the overly predictable nature of the work and the long, drawn out process in which suspense is attempted. Tobe Hooper is certainly no Alfred Hitchcock and this is certainly no Psycho' (1960).
Fans of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre' are better skipping over this one as this is a shadow of the ability shown by director Tobe Hooper. In fact, one should probably skip over a few and go straight to The Funhouse' (1981) (which is a masterpiece compared to Death Trap') or the Spielberg/Hooper co-production of Poltergeist' (1982). Death Trap' unfortunately had some potential but failed to deliver on virtually every opportunity. To sum up, Death Trap' is a distinctly slow and dull production that could not really be saved by a couple of good scenes and some credible acting performances. My rating for Death Trap' 4/10.
Judd (Neville Brand), a deranged southern psychopath, runs the Starlight Hotel and even keeps a pet crocodile in the swamp next to it. The guests of this hotel soon learn about Judd's eccentricities and discover (to their own dismay) that the crocodile will eat just about anything.
Tobe Hooper's follow up to the immensely successful The Texas Chain Saw Massacre' (1974) is a slow and dull failure of a movie lacking all the charm and intrigue that TCM possessed. Whereas TCM was a near-perfect exercise in psychological terror, Death Trap' is here to provide all the `goodies' (gore) that TCM, despite its title, only ever implied. Instead, we are left with an often unintentionally hilarious and downright feeble horror outing from a director who, in my opinion, lives off the reputation he has garnered for just a couple of films. This film is certainly not one of them. Accomplished stars of the big screen are paraded across the film in short roles in a desperate attempt to give Death Trap' some sort of cinematic credibility, most notably Neville Brand in the leading role and previous Oscar-Nominee Stuart Whitman (The Mark (1961)) as the Sheriff. There is also an appearance from a pre-Nightmare on Elm Street' Robert Englund in the role of Buck. Incidentally, the character of Buck is one of the few highlights in this otherwise abysmal movie. If anything, one cannot really complain about the performances from the main cast even if half of Neville Brand's dialogue was completely incoherent.
The story itself is basic. People show up at the hotel, get dispatched for one reason or another and then along come the next group of people. While horror (particularly during this time period) is not predominantly famed for any sort of intricate storyline, for a film such as this to work requires an adequate building of tension/suspense and a lot to happen. Unfortunately, Death Trap' fails on both counts. There is so little that happens in this movie that it becomes nigh on impossible to actually remain interested and although the `money shots' are in general worth watching, the rest of the film falls flat on its face. Sadly, attempts to build up tension fail as well due to the overly predictable nature of the work and the long, drawn out process in which suspense is attempted. Tobe Hooper is certainly no Alfred Hitchcock and this is certainly no Psycho' (1960).
Fans of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre' are better skipping over this one as this is a shadow of the ability shown by director Tobe Hooper. In fact, one should probably skip over a few and go straight to The Funhouse' (1981) (which is a masterpiece compared to Death Trap') or the Spielberg/Hooper co-production of Poltergeist' (1982). Death Trap' unfortunately had some potential but failed to deliver on virtually every opportunity. To sum up, Death Trap' is a distinctly slow and dull production that could not really be saved by a couple of good scenes and some credible acting performances. My rating for Death Trap' 4/10.