A re-watch for me of the follow up to Tobe Hooper's debut effort, "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" ("TCM"), and is set in some un-named Southern USA/"bayou" town, where there's a hotel run by a war veteran called Judd (Neville Brand). Brand's guests at the Starlight Hotel tend not to survive their stay here for too long - from the first guest we see (a runaway from the local brothel), his guests end up being victims both to himself and a rather large crocodile, who lives in the depths of a whole heap of water next to the hotel. Other guests include a family of three (the wife/mother being Marilyn Burns from "TCM"), and the father and sister of the "missing" brothel runaway. One of the regular guests is a self-styled local "gigolo" (Robert Englund), who immediately raises the ire of Judd. As the bodies pile up, the police become involved, but to little success or intervention. Judd, in a bid to "save" her, ties Burns to the bed, and then a long chase sequence begins where Burn's daughter hides away in the crawlspace of the hotel, with Judd on her tail. Burns is eventually freed by Englund's one-night stand (Englund himself meets his end at the hands of the crocodile), and after a frenzied "chase" sequence, Judd himself finally meets his fate at the hands of the killer croc.
It would appear that director Tobe Hooper was trying to re-create the atmosphere of madness and hysteria that permeates the whole of "TCM", but he largely unsucccessful in his endeavours. The film is shot with a curious flat feel to it, and the print I viewed is rather dark in places. "Eaten Alive" seems to have been filmed all on studio sets (even the outdoor scenes), and this adds to a sense of artificiality to this film. the script (co-written by Kim Henkel ("TCM") and producer Mardi Rustam) emphasises the surface terror aspect, whilst being very low on psychological horror. The characterisations tend to be a tad on the cliched side, and Marilyn Burns' attempts to resurrect her "victim" role in "TCM", but with significantly diminishing returns. The crocodile in "Eaten Alive" is distinctly rubbery-looking, and the scenes where said croc attacks Judd's victims fail to convince at all.
On the positive side, the "found sound" score (co-composed by Wayne Bell and Tobe Hooper) is very impressive, and Robert Englund (in an early role) is convincing as the sleazy, repellent Buck. Neville Brand's Judd is entertaining and enticing as well - he veers between incoherent nutty ramblings and nutso scenery-chewing. Carolyn Jones (best known for being Morticia Addams in "The Addams Family") is also good as the unlikeable brothel madam. There are also appearances by genre stalwart Stuart Whitman, and also veteran actor Mel Ferrer (who also appeared later in the atrocious and racist "Cannibal Ferox").
"Eaten Alive" seems to be imbued with the atmosphere that permeated the classic EC Comics stable, and there are moments where a sense of dread and panic are evoked. However, for too much of "Eaten Alive", the temptation to go into "shock" mode is too much temptation for Hooper to resist, and the film really falls down here. Incidentally, this film is one that Hooper has always been less-than-keen to discuss: he had many behind the scenes rows with US schlock-meister Rustam, and Hooper has essentially distanced himself from the film. The pattern of producer interference and general fallouts has plagued Hooper's career ever since.
"Eaten Alive" certainly has its moments, and is quite an enjoyable film in its own way, but it really has none of the power and effectivess of the seminal "TCM". See this film if you know about "TCM", otherwise do go and watch Hooper's debut film instead.
Notes: "Eaten Alive" was released in the UK under the re-titling of "Death Trap", and had a (cut) cinema UK release in 1978. An uncut version of this film was later released by the Vipco label in the early 1980's, and "campaigner" Mary Whitehouse took violent exception to this film (despite never having seen it). "Death Trap" was successfully prosecuted several times under Section 2 of the Obscene Publications Act on video during the "video nasties" period, and was subsequently withdrawn in due course. "Death Trap" was finally re-issued by Vipco in 2000 in a cut version (around 30 seconds cut?), and there has never been a subsequent uncut release of this film in the UK.