Salient. Newspaper of the Victoria University Students' Association. Vol 42 No. 2. March 5 1979
Mutant Children
[ unclear: Mutant] Children
The story is about babies that are born [ unclear: is] hideous mutant monsters, who from the [ unclear: loment] of their first rasping breath begin [ unclear: sughtering] everyone they can lay their [ unclear: laws] on, including their parents. In the [ unclear: riot'] first ten minutes we learn all we need [ unclear: to] know about It's Alive! from the father [ unclear: if] the baby in that film, who has come to [ unclear: arn] a new pair of prospective parents of [ unclear: th] dinger they face. In a flashback, we see [ unclear: is] child killed, but, we are told, it was only [ unclear: he] first of many that are now being born [ unclear: all] over the country. The authorities have [ unclear: een] able to locate the abnormal [ unclear: pregnanies] by means of blood tests, and have the [ unclear: nwitting] parents-to-be under constant [ unclear: irveillance], planning to destroy the [ unclear: mutnts] at birth.
A small band of doctors and scientists [ unclear: elieves] the children should not be killed, [ unclear: nd] is prepared to fight to protect the [ unclear: inints], in order to discover the reason for [ unclear: bis] totally inexplicable phenomenon. This [ unclear: arly] section of the film, necessary as it is [ unclear: is] providing the context of the action, is [ unclear: ither] slow — but it contains enough [ unclear: elments] of foreboding to build an increasing tension as we wait for the birth.
Mummy's tummy, for example, is [ unclear: ure] large, and it is remarked that the [ unclear: aby] must be going to be very big; a [ unclear: ute] pair of blue booties is displayed, and [ unclear: we] somehow suspect they're not going to [ unclear: uite] fit junior ........ Anyhow, once Mom's ontractions begin the fun really starts, [ unclear: nd] we can sit back and watch the corpses [ unclear: ale] up as the film moves confidently to its [ unclear: dictable] conclusion.