I was reading the b.s. story on the CHILDS PLAY remake, and read this.

If this happens, I think I may finally begin to just give up on Hollywood. I mean really, WTH is wrong with people these days?

In related news, judging by that link Linda Blair is still smoking hot.

Carry on.

I remember about ten years ago, it was announced that William Peter Blatty was scripting a two-part, network TV miniseries remake of THE EXORCIST that he was also going to direct. A few months later, it was cancelled.

On a (somewhat) related note, I just remembered this: when Larry Cohen was hired by Warner Brothers to make ISLAND OF THE ALIVE, his deal was to make that movie back-to-back with another direct-to-video sequel to another horror property in the Warner library. Cohen wanted to make EXORCIST III with Linda Blair returning and giving birth to possessed twins. When arrangements with Blair didn't work out, Cohen and Warners made RETURN TO SALEM'S LOT instead.

Man, Cohen must have really been traumatized when his children were born. :) Very cool info though. I'd never heard that.

Does Cohen have kids? The reason I ask is that the more you watch ITS ALIVE!, the more you realize how pro-abortion that film is...the film - overall - has an enormous disdain for children..that they're, in fact, monsters...

A wise decision, imho, as A RETURN TO SALEM'S LOT turned out pretty good.

I seem to recall him mentioning having kids on the IT'S ALIVE commentary and how he got the idea because they were indeed monsters (screaming and crying).

Though, Dom, as the resident SALEM'S LOT hound*, I have to pipe up and mention that A RETURN TO has got nothing to do with the original mini or the book except the title. It's a whole different mythos, with vampires as Early Americans, as you know.



* I'm NOT?

Oh, definitely. It was more of a takeoff on King's story, rather then a sequel. I still liked it, though.

I haven't seen any of the films for quite a while, but I seem to remember that at times the babies were made to be sympathetic.

Like most of Cohen's films, I appreciated the ideas more than the execution. I would have loved to seen Cronenberg take a crack at IT'S ALIVE back in that era. I'm not sure how well the concept would fly today with the technological advances/tests that reduce the element of surprise regarding a birth.

Which brings me to...

Wouldn't calling the movie "pro-infanticide" be more accurate than calling it "pro-abortion"? The parents -- again, if I remember correctly -- don't know there is a possible problem with the unborn child/fetus/whatever. So there's no choice involved regarding whether or not to give birth.

And I disagree about it being "pro-abortion" (although I'm not sure what that means). I remember thinking that it was honest look at the horrible emotions that some new parents experience when having a surprise "unhealthy" baby. Including -- and I'm speculating -- fear, guilt and shame, and possibly hindsight thoughts about abortion.

And again, sorry if I'm misremembering, but doesn't the father become protective and accepting of the baby by the end of the movie? If that's the case, isn't it a "pro-life" message?

You've not seen THE BROOD, then?

With Sting and Jennifer Beals?

No, no - that's THE BRIDE ON THE RIVER KWAI. I think. ;)

I'd agree. At the risk of sharing, when I saw IT'S ALIVE way back when I had no way of knowing that thirty years later I would find myself holding my wife's bloodless hand in a hospital examination room while a team of doctors (alerted by a Russian physician's assistant, who muttered something incomprehensible to us before bolting out of the room) puzzled over an abnormal finding on an ultrasound scan. While fear, guilt and shame were not the particular emotions we were feeling that day, horror and grief beyond anything I had yet experienced were. There's more to the story and it actually gets worse but I'll spare you that. Suffice it to say, I think IT'S ALIVE does understand (and of course takes to a ridiculous extreme) the feelings of ostracism and alienation you experience when a normal biological process goes wrong and when people's enthusiasm and happiness for you turns to sorrow, pity and perhaps even disgust.

THANKS for sharing!