| Eaten Alive | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Tobe Hooper |
| Written by | Kim Henkel Alvin L. Fast Mardi Rustam |
| Produced by | Alvin L. Fast Larry Huly Robert Kantor Mardi Rustam Mohammed Rustam Samir Rustam |
| Starring | Neville Brand Mel Ferrer Carolyn Jones Marilyn Burns |
| Cinematography | Robert Caramico |
| Edited by | Michael Brown |
| Music by | Wayne Bell Tobe Hooper |
Production company | Mars Productions Corporation |
Release date |
|
Running time | 91 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Eaten Alive (known under various alternate titles, including Death Trap, Horror Hotel, and Starlight Slaughter, and stylized on the poster as Eaten Alive!) is a 1976 American horror film directed by Tobe Hooper,[1] and written by Kim Henkel, Alvin L. Fast, and Mardi Rustam.
The film stars Neville Brand, Mel Ferrer, Carolyn Jones, Roberta Collins, Robert Englund, William Finley, Marilyn Burns, Janus Blythe, and Kyle Richards. Brand plays a psychotic hotel proprietor in a Southern bayou,[a] who feeds those who upset him to a large crocodile that lives in a swamp beside the hotel.
Although the film did not receive a warm reception when it was released, it has gained a cult following in its time, and with The Texas Chain Saw Massacre from 1974, Eaten Alive helped Hooper advance in his career, allowing him to direct his first major studio film, The Funhouse, in 1981.[7]
- ^ Jane, Ian (October 11, 2007). "Eaten Alive: 2-Disc Special Edition". DVD Talk.
- ^ Martin, Mick; Porter, Marsha (1996). Video Movie Guide 1997. Ballantine Books. p. 319. ISBN 978-0345406422.
The owner of a run-down Louisiana motel kills whoever wanders into his corner of the swamp, with the aid of a large, hungry alligator.
- ^ Graham, Allison; Monteith, Sharon, eds. (2011). The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, Volume 18: Media. University of North Carolina Press. p. 71. ISBN 978-0807834015.
Hooper followed Chain Saw with the crude, similarly nightmarish Eaten Alive (1977), in which Judd (Neville Brand), the scythe-wielding proprietor of a Louisiana bayou hotel, fed his guests to his pet crocodile.
- ^ "Eaten Alive Blu-ray + DVD". Arrow Video. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
Deep in the Louisiana bayou sits the ramshackle Starlight Hotel, destination of choice for those who like to check in but not check out!
- ^ Muir, John Kenneth (2009). Eaten Alive at a Chainsaw Massacre: The Films of Tobe Hooper. McFarland & Company. p. 18. ISBN 978-0786444618.
To wit: [Eaten Alive] was set in a sleazy, dirtbag hotel in Florida. Hooper had grown up in the hotel business, even spending some of his youth in neighboring Louisiana, so one has to wonder if he was remembering a particularly unpleasant period from his youth, or merely turning his experience with regional hotels to his cinematic advantage.
- ^ Woofter & Dodson 2021, p. 107: "Released two years after The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), Eaten Alive centers on a war veteran named Judd who manages a rundown Florida hotel called the Starlight."
- ^ Wilson, Dave J. (20 October 2016). "Retrospective: Eaten Alive (1976) – 40 Years Later". Dread Central. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).