Rating: 
Summary: Tobe Hooper follows up "TTCM" with this croc...
Review: "Eaten Alive" was Tobe Hooper's follow-up film following "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," but it is no where near to being in the same class as they legendary cult film. Neville Brand stars as Judd, a good old boy who runs the Starlight Hotel, a dilapidated place out on the bayou. It turns out Judd is a bit of a psychotic who like to take any of the hotel's guests who get on his bad side and serve them up to his pet crocodile from Africa. My understanding is that Hooper actually had a bigger budget for this film than on "Massacre," but the film simply misses the feeling of terror that permeated his previous film. Even though this is a more stylistic film from the director's standpoint, it is just a sub-standard horror film full of stuff we have basically seen before. Robert (Freddie Krueger) Englund has a minor role in this 1976 film playing a horny young dude, while Kyle Richards (Lindsay in the original "Halloween") plays the daughter of an ill-fated family. "Eaten Alive" was also released as "Horror Hotel" and "Murder on the Bayou." If you are into killer crocodile/alligator films, then get this and "Lake Placid" for a weekend double-feature.
Rating:
Summary: Tobe Hooper follows up "TTCM" with this croc...
Review: "Eaten Alive" was Tobe Hooper's follow-up film following "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," but it is no where near to being in the same class as they legendary cult film. Neville Brand stars as Judd, a good old boy who runs the Starlight Hotel, a dilapidated place out on the bayou. It turns out Judd is a bit of a psychotic who like to take any of the hotel's guests who get on his bad side and serve them up to his pet crocodile from Africa. My understanding is that Hooper actually had a bigger budget for this film than on "Massacre," but the film simply misses the feeling of terror that permeated his previous film. Even though this is a more stylistic film from the director's standpoint, it is just a sub-standard horror film full of stuff we have basically seen before. Robert (Freddie Krueger) Englund has a minor role in this 1976 film playing a horny young dude, while Kyle Richards (Lindsay in the original "Halloween") plays the daughter of an ill-fated family. "Eaten Alive" was also released as "Horror Hotel" and "Murder on the Bayou." If you are into killer crocodile/alligator films, then get this and "Lake Placid" for a weekend double-feature.
Rating: 
Summary: Eaten Alive (1976) d: Hooper, Tobe
Review: Aka: Death Trap; Starlight Slaughter; Legend of the Bayou; Horror Hotel Massacre. Not to be confused with the Jim Jones inspired film by Umberto Lenzi, [whose film Cannibal Ferox was featured in Fringe Video Issue #1], Eaten Alive is another U.K. nasty better known as Death Trap, that has been recently released on DVD. After completing the drive-in horror success Texas Chainsaw Massacre, director Tobe Hooper followed it up with a similar tale of backwoods, inbred rednecks. The plot consists of a nutty loner running a dilapidated motel (The Starlight) in the Louisiana swamps. The guests, troublesome visitors, and small puppies end up being fed to his pet crocodile, which is kept out back. Far from being "the ultimate in underbelly sleaze movies" that it was tagged upon the film's initial release, Eaten Alive comes across as more of a bad acting comic book comedy, than a video nasty. The one thing that did make the film so vile, is that Hooper chose to make one of his victims a little girl. Although never harmed either on screen or implied it is rare, even in the most brutal of films to see a child chased by a scythe-wielding maniac. Disturbing yes, but I find it strange that most typical killers have the moral aptitude not to attack a child, but a million sequels of innocent horny teenagers is fine.
Rating: 
Summary: A Classic Cheapie.
Review: As disturbing as anything I've ever seen. The transfer is not as great as it could be, but the grainy quality helps the overall impact of the film. It's just weird..... Poor snoopy.
Rating:
Summary: This is Tobe Hooper
Review: Chainsaw is the perfect horror movie, and although this is no chainsaw, it is definitley the work of the same man. This is about as good a terror film can be without being TCM. The film is never boring, the villian is ultra creepy (think drayton sawyer from TCM running a hotel), and the cinematography is perfect. I'm not exactly sure what everyones problem is with the music, it seems to fit seamlessly. Well I'm sorry folks, I just gotta say i like this one. The gator effects however do leave a little to be desired.
Rating: 
Summary: The Killer and the Croc.
Review: EATEN ALIVE is Tobe Hooper's 2nd movie to date, made 3 years after his previous work: THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. DETAILS. Just like THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, EATEN ALIVE is yet another movie based (very loosely) on a true story. I heard it was inspired by a bar owner named Joe Ball, who kept a pool of alligators in his bar, and it was rumored that he often fed his patrons to these gators. When the police came to question him, Ball killed himself. PLOT. Tobe Hooper VERY loosely bases this incident in EATEN ALIVE. The story is about a deranged, nerdy person named Judd who runs a motel called Starlight in the middle of a swamp. When guests check into his motel, he murders them with a sythe and feeds their bodies to his ferocious, pet crocodile. Neville Brand (Judd) delivers an insane performance, he's crazier than the Old Man (from TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE), but not quite as frightening and disturbing as Leather-Face. Marylin Burns even makes an appearance in here, too (she was the heroine, Sally Hardesty; also from TCM). Also, be on the lookout for Robert Englund as Buck (...) (he would later play Freddy Krueger in A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET). The crocodile effects could've used a little work though, the croc looks about as real as Barney the dinosaur. RECOMMENDATIONS. If EATEN ALIVE swallows you whole, should also sink your teeth into THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, FRIDAY THE 13TH, JACK FROST, JACK FROST 2: REVENGE OF THE MUTANT KILLER SNOWMAN, and PINOCCHIO'S REVENGE!
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing, but not terrible
Review: First off, let me warn you: this is nowhere near The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I do have to give the film credit though, as it holds up considerably well, being in the shadow of that master film. It's about a crazed redneck feeding irate motel customers to his pet crocodile (or was it alligator?), and Hooper tries for the ambience of Texas Chainsaw, and it's emotional intensity. As for how well he did, let's just say that you should put Texas Chainsaw completely out of your mind while seeing this, or you'll be very disappointed. But if you like a little backwoods horror, this one's not too bad.
Rating:
Summary: Meet the Maniac and his Friend!
Review: First off: Elite's widescreen DVD is terrific - this is the best this film is ever going to look. This semi-disappointing follow-up to Texas Chainsaw Massacre involves a lunatic who kills guests and feeds their bodies to a crocodile that lives in the next door swamp. Things are off to a slow start at the beginning (you get a lot of sleazy decor) but once Hooper cranks up the action to ram speed there are enough ladies screaming, prostitutes running, lords-a-leaping, maids-a-milking - you get the idea. The only problem is the hotel set. It looks like a cheap set. In the chase scenes, there is no camera movement - everyone just runs around in circles in one wide shot. The crocodile is not the most realistic thing ever (the victims can be seen forcing themselves into its mouth). Yet, the performances are good and the whole affair is actually very disturbing. On that note, I recommend you check into this "Horror Hotel" for a little "Starlight Slaughter" if you know what I mean.
Rating:
Summary: Apparently Tobe Hooper only had one good move in him
Review: I remember believing, once upon a time, that director Tobe Hooper parlayed the success of his cult horror film "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" into the chance to direct "Poltergeist." Now we know that Steven Spielberg had his handprints all over the latter film and that this 1976 bomb was Hooper's real follow-up to the only decent film he ever made. The plot is, pardon the expression, rather bare boned: Judd (Neville Brand) owns a dilapidated hotel out in the bayou called the Starlight Hotel. Not only is Judd psychotic, he has a hungry alligator as a pet who gets to feed on the unruly guests. Hmmm. So this is a film where innocent passersby are slaughtered by a crazy person; no new ground for Hooper here unless you think a pitchfork is significantly different from a chainsaw. Besides, the guests at this hotel might be innocent, but they are also stupid. If you daughter's dog was eaten by a giant alligator would you console her by booking a room at the nearby hotel? Judd has been back there in the bayou killing people for years apparently, but now he makes the mistake of killing the wrong person and her family comes looking for her. Hmmm. Somebody looking for their dead sister at a horror hotel; gee, that sure sounds familiar. Somehow Carolyn Jones, Mortitia on "The Addams Family," managed to be conned into this film to play the madam at the local brothel. Marilyn Burns from "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" is back to teach the new people how to scream in the film's one decent performance and you will no doubt recognize Robert Englund in the minor role of Buckthe redneck at the start of the film. The script never even addresses the question of why Judd is totally insane, which only proves that no excuse at all is worse than a really lame excuse. Even a DVD version presenting the film in the letterboxed format and including the theatrical trailer does not raise this bomb to worthy status. The fact that Hooper directed this film actually hurts it in my mind because we sure would have expected better from him. Instead he ends up being a one hit wonder. "Eaten Alive" was also passed off as "Horror Hotel," "Horror Hotel Massacre," "Murder on the Bayou," "Legend of the Bayou," "Starlight Slaughter," and, in the United Kingdom, as "Death Trap." But, a bomb by any other name...
Rating:
Summary: Hooper tries, and fails, to repeat his "Chainsaw" success
Review: In "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", Tobe Hooper managed to create a perfect mix of chaos, horror and very dark humour. In this movie he tries to do the same thing, but fails. It has some very chaotic scenes and scenes with dark humour but this movie just isn't shocking in the way that Chainsaw was.Judd is a pretty good character, somewhat similar to the Jim Siedow character in Chainsaw, but most of the things in this movie, including the plot, is not very interesting. This movie can be worth checking out for "Chainsaw" fans, but don't expect too much from it. If you're not a fan of "Chainsaw" or Tobe Hooper - don't bother.
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