1977’s Eaten Alive is the movie Tobe Hooper made two years after Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and it’s being re-released on DVD now alongside another tricked-out DVD version of that aforementioned horror classic, and in the shadow of a big screen prequel from New Line. Plotwise, this thinly imagined Psycho knock-off is little more than a derisible piece of classic-era slasher mayhem, but — notably for genre buffs — it does replace Diamond Entertainment’s horribly substandard transfer and full-frame release of several years back.

Set deep in the Texas bayou, amidst the dankest of whorehouses and bars, sits the decrepit Starlight Hotel. Owned and operated by lonely war veteran Judd (Stalag 17’s Neville Brand, oozing maniacal intensity), it receives few visitors. That could be because of the remote backwoods location, or maybe it’s Judd’s violent mood swings. Or maybe it’s the giant alligator in the half-moat that snakes from the backyard around to the front porch. Who knows…

Regardless, you know from frame one of a movie like this that things aren’t going to end well, for pretty much everyone involved. Among those that get caught up in Judd’s web are Clara (Death Race 2000’s Roberta Collins), a runaway prostitute from the nearby town; a strange young couple, Faye (Marilyn Burns) and Roy (William Finley) and their ward; a dying father (Mel Ferrer) and his nubile daughter (Crystin Sinclaire); and a sex-starved local yokel named Buck (a youngish Robert England), who delivers the same rhyming, introductory line of evocative-kitsch dialogue that Quentin Tarantino would nip for use in Kill Bill, Vol. 1.

Packaged in a regular Amray case, Eaten Alive is presented in 1.85:1 format, with Dolby digital and 2.0 mono audio mixes. Bonus features include a brief featurette with new video interview footage from Robert Englund recounting his participation in the movie, a still photo gallery and theatrical trailers, among other tidbits. The worthy supplemental distraction in the midst of all this rather craptacular execution comes in the form of a fascinating and careening cobbled together audio commentary track from producer/co-writer Mardi Rustam, make-up artist Craig Reardon (who recounts his first occupational brush with rouging bare breasts, as well as Hooper being fired and missing from some of the shoot) and actors Finley and Richards. It’s the aforementioned Collins, however, who provides the most entertainment bang for your buck, recounting star Brand’s sweet disposition… until he tried to sexually assault her! I guess the statute of limitations has expired, but still: fascinating stuff, if for mostly the wrong reasons. D- (Movie) B- (Disc)