Mutant II

After being forced off the road by locals, the two brothers Cameron end up at the nearest town -Goodland- but there's nothing good awaiting them, besides the aggressive rednecks, they'll also come face-to-face with some "nasty" residents.

With all the bad reviews i've read, I was expecting yet another boring 80's movie but that's not the case. At times it may appear slow paced but despite that it remains effective, capturing your interest.

Good acting. Good make-up. Good score. Not a lot of blood being spilled, just chemicals, transforming residents into zombie like creatures. A little gem, worth watching. It certainly worked for me.

This movie, sadly, went unrecognized. I am a fan of B movies mainly because they view a part of out mind we haven't or may never see or think about, an almost creative part. Anyway, this movie was pretty good in my view. However, I think they should've stuck with the name Pestilence because that sounds so much more deadly than Night Shadows (sounds too much like a haunted house movie) or Mutant (sound too much like a mutant monster movie like Spawn of the Slithis or The Being). Anyway, if you really like zombie movies, especially any of the Night of the Living Dead trilogy (yes, it is a trilogy) or Dead Alive (aka Brain Dead), you might really like this movie.

The cover box called this movie 'Mutant' so I knew it wasn't going to be about flower arrangement (good) and it starred Wings Hauser (could be good but then again he could overact mightily) and it was very cheap might be awful) but as it was a wet tuesday I bought it. Much better than I expected.

Wings was restrained, Bo Hopkins good as usual and the other cast members fine. The two female leads were particularly good. They all took part in your usual chemicals contaminates town turning folks into murderous zombie type things sort of plot but the photography was atmospheric, the music creepy or emotional as appropriate, the make up scary and it all built up slowly but surely to a suspenseful ending.

The ordinariness of the setting makes it more frightening. It could be happening in the next town to you!

I first saw this as part of the bottom half of a double bill in the mid-eighties. The headliner was Ghoulies but this was a lot better than that. I watched it again recently and it holds up well after all the years. So, if you are looking for a good old fashioned zombie movie that doesn't depend on gore and more on the characters stuck in tricky situation, well then, give it a go. You could do worse.

Brothers Josh (Wings Hauser) and Mike (Lee Montgomery) are driving south for a vacation when they run afoul of redneck Albert (Marc Clement) and his gang. The resulting encounter leaves Josh's car in a creek so the brothers head to the nearby town to get some help. What they don't know is that the town folk are turning into zombies that can burn you with their touch thanks to some illegal toxic waste dumping. A favorite from my childhood, I was surprised at how well this held up upon re-watching some 20 years later. Director John "Bud" Cardos - who apparently replaced HOUSE ON SORORITY ROW's Mark Rosman - creates a good crazy small town atmosphere and the last half hour is full-on craziness as Josh, love interest Holly (gorgeous Jody Medford) and Sheriff Stewart (Bo Hopkins) try to survive. It ends up coming together like a remake of Romero's THE CRAZIES with less Army. Plus, anytime you have the intense Wings in a lead role, you know you will get good things.