It Lives Again (1978)

Well, if anyone recalls the ending of the first film in which the birth of yet another mutant tyke occurred up in Seattle, the occurrence of this sequel really shouldn’t surprise you. Here we learn that mutant offspring are popping up (out?) all over America, resulting in the government keeping close tabs on all pregnancies throughout the country. Of course, with any government conspiracy plot there has to be an opposition group and there is, with this one headed by the father of the first killer tyke as actor John P. Ryan returns as number one mutant lover, Frank. Frank latches onto a couple whom he feels may be bringing the next mutant into the world, and before you know it, the couple and their baby are staying at a rebel hideout where other killer tykes are being hidden from the evil mutant baby killing government. Of course, as the government starts to close in on the hideout several of the babies get loose, and what you essentially get is a rather boring and drawn out remake of the first film.

Now, the first one was sorta slow in it’s own way, but at least you had a rather believable relationship occurring between Frank and his wife, and the audience truly sympathized with them and to a certain degree their mutant offspring. Not so here, as the new parents are really quite unlikable, with the dad being a real asshole and the wife just sorta dippy and annoying. I couldn’t care less about them. You also figure that with more mutants running around you would have lots more action and baby attacks, but you don’t. Rick Baker’s work looks a little better this time around but the majority of creature shots we get they still look way to stiff to convince the audience that “ It’s Alive”. The film also sorta blew any chance the audience may have with feeling sorry for the little buggers, as the majority of em’ kill just about any person near them, including their parents and the ones that try to be nice to em’. I say just shoot the ungrateful little shits, you know? Not really sure what Cohen’s excuse may be for this one as it’s a real pisser. Thank god there’s only one more sequel, because I’m getting real sick of typing the phrase “killer mutant baby”.