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)