'80s Roulette: IT'S ALIVE III - ISLAND OF THE ALIVE

Larry Cohen wraps up his horror trilogy with the weirdest entry so far

I have every single movie released in the United States on a hard drive and once a week, I’m going to hit shuffle and review whatever film comes up first.

Welcome to ‘80s Roulette!

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MAY 8, 1987

It’s Alive III: Island of the Alive
Michael Moriarty, Karen Black, Laurene Landon, James Dixon, Gerrit Graham, Macdonald Carey, Neal Israel, Art Lund, Ann Dane, William Watson, C.L. Sussex, Patch Mackenzie, Rick Garia, Carlos Palomino, Tony Abetemarco, Gladys Portugues, Joanne Lara, Bobby Ramsen, Jill Gatsby, Kevin O’Connor, John Woehrle, Lauri Riley, Marilyn Staley, Mitchell Edmonds, Elizabeth Sanders, Richard Duggan, Steven Alan Green, Katlheen Conway, Lynda Clark, Dan Rycerz, Edward Shils, Charles Vandergrift III, Jackie Swanson, Katja Crosby, Paul Stader Jr.
cinematography by Daniel Pearl
music by Laurie Johnson
screenplay by Larry Cohen
based on characters created by Larry Cohen
produced by Paul Stader
directed by Larry Cohen
Rated R
1 hr 35 mins

Many years after the first mutant birth, an entire island of mutant babies has been created, and one of the parents leads an expedition to visit the place.

While The Stuff feels like Larry Cohen unleashed, it was not a success, and he found himself struggling to get his next film set up. He bounced around LA for several years, pitching project after project with no takers. At one point, he ended up at Warner Bros. trying to get a remake of House of Wax off the ground. The studio had no interest, but they did have a video division cranking out titles and they knew Cohen was a guy who could get things made cheap and quick. He negotiated a deal for two movies, both based on earlier movies, and Cohen got to work diving back into the world of one of his biggest hits. The result was such a wacko treat that the studio ended up giving the film a theatrical run before they sent it home.