Tobe Hooper talks with disarming candor about the troubled production of his film "Eaten Alive." Hooper notes that "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" was a huge success and even was added to the Museum of Modern Art. Tobe discusses shooting tough 12-hour days inside a studio soundstage and reveals that not only was the violence that Neville Brand commits as Judd something that Brand understood all too well, but also said violence was frighteningly real in the sense that Brand roughed up several of his costars. Hooper also points out that every take with Mel Ferror was exactly the same, has cool stuff to say about the casting of Robert Englund, and remembers that the crocodile barely worked throughout the making of the picture. Tobe concludes the interview with the frank admission that "Eaten Alive" is a grindhouse movie. Worth a watch for fans of the film.
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Woodyanders6 August 2021
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Michael_Elliott4 February 2012The Gator Creator (2007)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
This twenty-minute featurette can be found on the 2-disc Special Edition of EATEN ALIVE. Director Tobe Hooper sits down and talks about the film, which clearly isn't one of his favorites. He states that when he signed on there were multiple screenplays and the story kept changing throughout the filming. He even jokes that there were more screenplays than alternate titles to the film (which is a lot). Hooper talks about Neville Brand and tells some great stories including how he was usually drunk on the set. Hooper also tells a story that brand would get so into his work that he would actually physically harm the people he was working with in a death scene. There's also talk about the crocodile not working very well and we of course get to hear about how Robert Englund got his part as Buck. I'm not a big fan of the film but this featurette is extremely entertaining and it actually made me want to go back and re-watch the film. Hooper is extremely honest in his opinions on the movie and the people involved and just wait to you hear about the Japanese man on the set.