Eaten Alive
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Eaten Alive (known under various alternate titles, including Death Trap, Horror Hotel, and Starlight Slaughter) is a 1976 American horror film directed by Tobe Hooper, and written by Kim Henkel, Alvin L. Fast, and Mardi Rustam.
The film stars Carolyn Jones, Neville Brand, Roberta Collins, Robert Englund, William Finley, Marilyn Burns, Janus Blythe, and Kyle Richards. Brand plays a psychotic hotel proprietor in rural East Texas, who feeds those who upset him to a large crocodile that lives in a swamp beside the hotel.
Plot
After refusing a demand for kinky sex from a frisky customer named Buck, naïve prostitute Clara Wood is evicted from the town brothel by the madame, Miss Hattie. Clara makes her way to the decrepit Starlight Hotel, located deep in the remote swampland of rural Texas, where she encounters the hotel's mentally disturbed proprietor, Judd. Suffering from his own demented sexual frustrations, Judd attacks Clara with a pitchfork, then chases her outside, where she is attacked and eaten by his pet Nile crocodile that lives in the swamp beside the hotel.
Some days later, a fractious couple, the outgoing Faye and the disturbed Roy, arrive at the hotel, along with their young daughter, Angie. Shortly after their arrival, the family dog, Snoopy, is brutally attacked by the resident crocodile, which sends little Angie into shock. In retaliation, Roy goes out to kill the carnivorous swamp creature, but is stabbed and killed by Judd, who is wielding a large scythe. Judd then straps Faye onto her bed and attempts to grab Angie, but she is able to escape and hides under the hotel's porch.
Later, Harvey Wood and his daughter Libby also arrive at the Starlight Hotel, seeking information on the now-deceased Clara, who is Harvey's runaway daughter, but they leave when Judd denies having seen her. Accompanied by Sheriff Martin, Harvey and Libby question Miss Hattie, who also denies ever seeing Clara. Harvey returns to the creepy swamp hotel alone, while Libby goes for dinner and drinks with the sheriff. After Harvey discovers a captive Faye in her hotel room, Judd murders him, once again implementing his large scythe.
Meanwhile, after being kicked out of a bar by the sheriff, Buck and his underaged girlfriend Lynette venture to the Starlight, much to the annoyance of Judd. When Buck hears screams coming from Faye's room, he tries to rescue her, but is pushed into the swamp by Judd and devoured by the crocodile. Lynette runs outside and is seen by Judd. She runs into the woods screaming, and is pursued by Judd. However, the fog causes Judd to lose sight of her, and Lynette is saved by a passing car.
Later, Libby arrives back at the hotel and manages to untie Faye from her bed and retrieve Angie from under the porch. Consumed with madness, Judd chases the three survivors into the swamp, where he is finally attacked and killed by his own pet reptile.
Cast
- Neville Brand as Judd
- Mel Ferrer as Harvey Wood
- Carolyn Jones as Miss Hattie
- Marilyn Burns as Faye
- William Finley as Roy
- Stuart Whitman as Sheriff Martin
- Roberta Collins as Clara Wood
- Kyle Richards as Angie
- Robert Englund as Buck
- Crystin Sinclaire as Libby Wood
- Janus Blythe as Lynette
