The Firelight Shocks DVD Review Section

Eaten Alive (aka Death Trap) Distributor: Elite Entertainment Region: 0 NTSC Ratio: 1:85:1 Sound: Dolby Digital Mono

Tobe Hooper followed up his seminal classic The Texas Chainsaw Massacre with this rather mediocre offering. The film tells of a deranged hotel keeper who likes to molest the female guests and is also partial to feeding them, along with unwanted visitors, to his pet alligator which makes for some interesting, if ludicrous, set-pieces. Mel Ferrer once again turns up in a low-budget horror, this time as the father of a missing girl. But upon arriving at the hotel where the girl was last seen he winds up with a scythe in his neck for his trouble, for the landlord is indeed holding her captive and doesn't want to get found out. As with these things, the girl (Marilyn Burns of Chainsaw fame) is rescued and the wicked landlord (played with great relish by Neville Brand) is dispatched into the jaws of his very own alligator. The film has some good moments, but on the whole it's pretty tedious. Look out for an early performance from a pre-Freddy Robert Englund as the local pervert ('My name's Buck and I'm raring to fuck!') and a deliciously hammy Neville Brand. The DVD print itself, though having a sharp image, has obviously been transferred from a very worn source. The picture itself, suffers from all kinds of scratches and print damage, Elite should really have secured a better print to transfer from than this atrocity. The audio is not too bad (I've heard better) and hiss-free (as far as I could tell), which is great for hearing the dialogue but you'll curse the clear sound when the Country and Western music kicks in and drones on for what sounds like forever! To be honest this is basically a not very good film on a not very good DVD. A must for die-hard Hooper fans only. The rest of you would be better off spending your money elsewhere. There is the thing of it being a one-time 'nasty', but that hardly warrants a viewing. You're best advised to avoid this one, if only to wait for a better transfer to surface on disc.

EXTRAS: A theatrical trailer is all you get with this one. The disc doesn't even come with an insert card - the misers! Chris Otter