Terror in the Aisles 5: Killer Children Triple Feature

Well another Terror in the Aisles is knocked off the list, this time around it was children in horror and it was at the Brew ‘n View theater… also known as The Vic. On the movie list they had It’s Alive with Larry Cohen in person to talk about his film, The Children and the Chicagoland debut of Paul Solet’s Grace. It was my first time seeing Grace so I came to this event just to see this film and to see It’s Alive on the big screen.

As usual, they began to play vintage trailers or what they call ‘Trailer Trash.’ The first half was a bunch of road movies; Road Warrior and Mad Max… of which had Mel Gibson thrown in there. They showed “classics” such as The Lost World from the 60s and the hysterical Mighty Pecking Man. If I remember, I think Quentin Tarantino re-released the film but I’m not sure.

The Q&A with Larry Cohen was a little boring but it was somewhat interesting to know that It’s Alive was shunned from ever hitting the big screen in America, even though it was HUGE in India and North Africa. It wasn’t until Larry decided to pimp it out in Chicago and after the Executives were fired from the studio did he finally get it out in the public. It was a box office success! He regaled his time that he had with composer Bernard Hermann and how they became friends and just general chitchat about the film.

It’s Alive

I always thought this was a pretty disturbing and pretty scary movie, especially to those living in the 70s. ‘Course nowadays most people would laugh at it because of the cheesy effects and the fact that you don’t see anything. But that’s what I like about this movie, it really takes the old saying, “the less you see, the scarier it is” and uses it to its advantage. Even though you do see the baby in the shadows, the rest is up to your imagination.

The Children

After seeing this again, I think I’m less of a fan of it. I’m a huge fan of the editing and the movie had its creepy parts but I think the sound design was a little over the top, there was a lot of screaming for no reason and I think it was trying to be Kubrickian… on par with The Shining but it didn’t work. I might watch it again just to get a good standpoint on the film but as of right now I think it’s a very mediocre film.

Grace

I love this film. I think what really worked for me was that it’s one of those slow-burn movies that relies on a heavy amount of atmosphere. The score, the lighting, the mood, the interaction each character has and the way the actors carry out their actions. It’s so soft and somber but at the same time it’s creepy. This is where the movie really succeeds… not that it didn’t succeed in other parts. It gives me a whole new look at breastfeeding and zombie babies.

Overall, it wasn’t a bad time at the Brew ‘n View but I think it could have been better. The sound was the biggest problem because it wasn’t setup right and it was so loud that all the people in the movies sounded like they were speaking with peanut butter in their mouths. However, after seeing this triple feature I know realize that I don’t want kids for a while.