Mutant II

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.

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.

Maybe it is the fact it was scored so low that it surprised me. Everyone talked how bad it was so I just had lower expectations, but in general I thought this was a good horror movie. About a guy and his brother in a town down south, they run into trouble with the local rednecks right away. Then the younger brother disappears at the boarding house the two stay at. The older one then tries to find out what happened to his brother and what is happening to the town. I always like the mysterious town scenario so that is another reason I like this one. Some gore, but most of the killings are a bit to hard to see. I did not let it ruin the movie for me as it did for some of the others who have commented, still though you will notice it is particularly bad in the finish. However, overall I thought it was a good horror movie with a relatively good cast and all. I loved the scene where little Billy gets it...was not expecting that.

The citizens of a small town start to disappear, and the few remaining people discover a local toxic company has had a toxic spill that has turned the people into blood thristy mutants or zombies. Technically well made, the story is familar though. Scary and exciting in a few scenes, but the film strives to be scary throughout and misses the mark by a little bit. Still a worth while film, but no classic. 7 out of 10. Also, the effects are good. Available on video as Mutant. It played in theaters as Night Shadows.

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.