It's Alive III: Island of the Alive (1987)

It’s Alive III: Island of the Alive is the rare third sequel that doesn’t just crank up the body count—it widens the lens, using its mutant-baby premise as a sharp, nasty little fable about institutions that would rather exploit a “problem” than understand it. Larry Cohen keeps the movie pulsing with disreputable B-movie glee, mixing dark humor, tabloid-media cynicism, and a surprisingly sincere ache through Michael Moriarty’s embattled crusader, with Karen Black adding a bruised human counterpoint. The vibe is grimy and confrontational, the kind of midnight-movie horror that wants you to laugh, wince, and then realize you’re laughing at something uncomfortably close to real life. Fair warning: it’s gorier and rougher-edged than the earlier films, so if you want polished scares, look elsewhere—but if you like horror with teeth, attitude, and an evolving mythology, this one’s a wickedly entertaining ride.

It’s Alive III: Island of the Alive wants to wrap Larry Cohen’s mutant-baby saga into a bigger, satirical “society did this” statement, mixing courtroom outrage, media cynicism, and island survival horror. The problem is the execution: the tone lurches between grim gore and awkward comedy, and the low-budget effects that were once scrappy-charming start to feel distractingly cheap. If you’re hoping for the tense, nasty simplicity of the first film, this one can come off bloated and oddly goofy, like it’s arguing with itself about what kind of movie it wants to be. That said, if you enjoy Cohen’s B-movie attitude, don’t mind rough edges, and want a gorier, weirder sequel that swings for big ideas even when it misses, you may still have a decent time.