It's Alive (1974) *** [Killer Babies Triple Feature Pt. 1]

Larry Cohen's It's Alive (1974), while being on one hand a "schlocky" mutant baby horror film, is foremost a slow moving family drama about pollution, species adaptability, and the lengths that parents will go to protect their offspring. Cohen's screenplay is excellent, but the low budget nature of the picture can hamper it at times, particularly in the editing. Rick Baker's makeup effects can look a bit cheesy, but it sort of adds to the charm of the film. The score by Bernard Herrmann is distinctively his, including a very memorable theme with the added texture of synthesizers to give it an otherworldly feel.