I've never been a great fan of Tobe Hooper's (I find him pretty average, though I do like quite a few of the movies he's shot) so I was happily surprised to find this was a treat to watch. The thing which I was unprepared for was the stylish way that Hooper directed the movie, full of vivid and startling reds and blues. Not the usual fair for Hooper though it does add an extra element to the atmosphere of the movie, as did the constant twangy country soundtrack about the most depressing things in life.The story about a Motel owner and his crocodile. Though, it's never stated you get the feeling that Motel owner Judd may be a veteran whose seen more than his fair share of action and has returned shell-shocked and schizophrenic, as some of his rantings have this impression. Either way, this man is mentaly broken. When a runaway girl takes a room for the night he get's the idea that she's a hooker who worked at Miss Hattie's place and he doesn't like those types of girls. She ends up being the entree for the crocodile who will be well fed before the end of the night.There's not much to the story and it all takes place in or around the motel, what makes this a really watchable film is the characterisations and the actors and actresses who portray them. In particular, Neville Brand who does a brilliant job with Judd from mannerisms to ticks to different personalities when the voices start speaking to him. He was the right choice for this role and very strong within it. Another strong actress is the beautiful Carolyn Jones (of King Creole and The Addams Family fame), though it's really hard to make her out as Miss Hattie. To be honest, the cast is pretty top-notch and has the likes of a young Robert England, Mel Ferrer, and Stuart Whitman.However, there is one family that turn up at the motel and the dynamic between the mother and father is damn strange, in fact, the father's personality is downright weird. This does deter from the power of the film and it's characters, to the point of severing the link of believability with the audience.Overall though this is a film that I would recommend to everybody who likes a good psychological thriller. It is definitely one to watch with the curtains drawn and the lights turned off.

This movie is bizarre as well as creepy. "Eaten Alive" gives the meaning of making your skin crawl. You got this hotel keeper name Judd(Neville Brand) who not only runs an decrepit inn, but has a crocodile for a pet! The first person to meet their end is a prostitute named Clara(Roberta Collins) who came from a brothel to get away from a very wild customer (Robert Englund). She escaped from one bad place and into another that's far worse. Judd here's is considered a "grim reaper" with a deadly reptile. He feeds next, a father who is quite off kiltered. He goes off the deep end when his daughter Angie loses her dog to the crocodile. He does get back at Judd, only to become croc-bait. Now the mother get beaten and tied up by the madman, the daughter runs for her life underneath the hotel. Now that there's two prisoners, the victim's father and other daughter arrives and start to demand answers. Now that everyone is looking for answers, the madness has just began. Judd hacks away the victims he comes in contact with, then he feeds them to his pet. Although, he had it turn on him, costing him his right leg. There's plenty of scare factor in this movie, the crocodile was very vicious, and very deadly. Somebody must put a sign saying "DANGER! CROCODILE IN WATER, NO SWIMMING"

After being thrown out of a brothel for refusing randy redneck Buck (Robert Englund), prostitute Clara (Roberta Collins) stumbles into a run-down hotel run by lonesome weirdo Judd (Neville Brand). Upon finding out she is a prostitute, Judd forces himself on her, and when she struggles and runs away, he butchers her with a scythe and feeds her to his pet giant crocodile. A family arrive at the hotel only to have their pet dog eaten by the croc and their daughter narrowly escaping death. The bodies begin to pile up as Judd tries to protect his beloved man- eater, and when Clara's father and sister turn up, Judd must also evade being discovered by the law.Following up a horror masterpiece like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) is hardly an envious task, but Tobe Hooper decided to stay in familiar surroundings with Eaten Alive (known as Death Trap in the UK). The Deep South provides plenty of opportunities to exploit the inbred yokel stereotype, and Tobe Hooper grabs it with both hands. Chain Saw was disturbing and occasionally genuinely frightening, but it appears that it was tragically a one-off. Eaten Alive contains none of the atmosphere or anything resembling those uncomfortable dinner scene moments of Chain Saw, and instead relies on a pleasingly over-the-top performance by Brand, and a terribly fake-looking rubber croc that appears all too fleetingly.There are some likable moments. Englund's character Buck (who has the film's brilliant introductory line "My name is Buck, and I'm here to f**k!" - homaged in Tarantino's Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003)) is hilariously vile, but he is way underused. When the family arrives at the hotel, very little seems to happen. There is a murder here and there to lighten things up, but they are blandly staged. Hooper based the film on the real-life murderer Joe Ball who fed a suspected 20 women to his alligators back in the 1930's. It's a fascinating story ripe for a good film adaptation, but it is wasted by Hooper, who fails to squeeze any tension out of the proceedings.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

Tobe Hooper's 2nd film after Texas Chainsaw Massacre and a major drop - This dull, cheap piece of exploitation seems to have gained a following as other reviews on here show.In some ways I can see how as it does have an 'interesting' cast who's performances vary from good to OTT. Another reason being it's status as a Video Nasty (Why - The gore is little and the deaths (apart from Mel Ferrar's) not particually violent).But to me the plot is basic, the characters mostly irritating and as said above the Gore limited, No horror or suspense and a plastic Croc.Only watch if you want to see how bad Tobe Hooper Dropped after TCM.