Retro Trailer For Tobe Hooper's 1976 Horror Film EATEN ALIVE Starring Robert Englund

This week’s retro trailer is for the 1976 horror thriller Eaten Alive, directed by Tobe Hooper, who was fresh off his breakthrough with The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

This is a sleazy, fever-dream horror flick soaked in grime, sweat, and Southern Gothic madness. Set in the swamps of rural Texas, the story centers on a deranged hotel owner named Judd, played with unhinged intensity by Neville Brand, who murders his guests with a scythe and feeds them to his pet crocodile lurking just outside the hotel.

Like many creature features of the mid-70s, the film was clearly trying to ride the coattails of Jaws, swapping out the ocean for a murky swamp and a great white shark for a hungry crocodile. But instead of going for big-budget thrills, it leans hard into grindhouse exploitation.

The movie thrives on its sleazy, unhinged energy, amplified by an eccentric cast that includes a young Robert Englund, Mel Ferrer, and Marilyn Burns. Hooper leans into a surreal, almost theatrical style with garish lighting and eerie production design that makes the rundown Starlight Hotel feel like a decaying stage set.

While it lacks the raw power and cultural impact of Texas Chain Saw, Eaten Alive stands out as a wild, trashy slice of 70s horror that’s as bizarre as it is disturbing, and it’s a must-watch for fans of grimy exploitation cinema looking for something offbeat and totally unhinged.