Episode 5: Larry Cohen's IT'S ALIVE (1974)

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Gwen and Gretchen dissect and discuss (and savor!) the many layers of Larry Cohen's 1974 creature feature It's Alive. An initial bomb at the box office, the sleeper hit was re-released in theaters in 1977. Critics agree that this is a nuanced look at the paranoia and fear of the late 70s, when Roe v Wade established women's right to choose in our cultural code, and family planning was seen as a threat to the American way. It's Alive gives us several iconic cinematic moments - blood and milk, the baby POV cam, and smoking in the father's waiting room in the hospital (actually, smoking EVERYWHERE!) - and Gwen and Gretchen take a moment to appreciate the character driven subtleties of the film, and dispel the notion that it's only b-movie schlock.

"𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑜𝓌𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒶𝓊𝒹𝒾𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝒹𝑒𝒸𝒾𝒹𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓂𝓈𝑒𝓁𝓋𝑒𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉’𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝓎 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒𝓈 𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒷𝑒. 𝒪𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒻𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓋𝒾𝓁𝓎 𝑜𝓃 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓈𝒾𝒹𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝒶𝓃 𝒶𝓇𝑔𝓊𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉, 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒷𝑒𝒸𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓈 𝓉𝑜𝑜 𝓁𝒾𝓉𝑒𝓇𝒶𝓁. 𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓉’𝓈 𝓁𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒹𝓇𝒶𝓂𝒶𝓉𝒾𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝒷𝑒𝒸𝒶𝓊𝓈𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝓇𝒶𝓂𝒶 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓈 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝑜𝓊𝒷𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝑒𝒷𝒶𝓉𝑒."
~𝐿𝒶𝓇𝓇𝓎 𝒞𝑜𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓆𝓊𝑜𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓃 “𝐿𝒶𝓇𝓇𝓎 𝒞𝑜𝒽𝑒𝓃: 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒮𝓉𝓊𝒻𝒻 𝑜𝒻 𝒢𝑜𝒹𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝑀𝑜𝓃𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓈” 𝒷𝓎 𝑀𝒾𝒸𝒽𝒶𝑒𝓁 𝒟𝑜𝓎𝓁𝑒 #itsalive1974 #larrycohen #itsalivemovie #itsalivebaby #rickbaker #bernardherrmann

Gwen and Gretchen Watch Movies is written and directed by Gwen Callahan and Gretchen Brooks. Recorded and edited by Martin Vavra at Galaxy Sailor Productions. Find us everywhere you listen to podcasts!

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