Mutant II

Wings Hauser, star of many a straight-to video movie in the 80s, stars in this decidedly silly, but enjoyably unpretentious slab of sci-fi/horror tosh.

With a script constructed from a hotchpotch of well-worn genre clichés, Mutant's director, John 'Bud' Cardos opts to play things straight where others may have aimed for a more tongue in cheek approach; the result is a fun filled B-movie which, despite its hackneyed script and cheesy plot structure, works extremely well.

After being run off the road by truck-driving rednecks, brothers Josh and Mike Cameron (Wings Hauser and Lee Montgomery) set off on foot for the nearest town. Unfortunately for them, the nearest town is infected with toxic waste (being dumped by an unscrupulous chemicals company) that is turning the residents into acid-secreting mutants.

Josh, along with pretty schoolteacher Holly (Jody Medford), battles for survival, while trying to convince boozy sheriff Will Stewart (Bo Hopkins) that the town is under threat from a horde of killer mutants.

Director Cardos perfectly captures the B-movie vibe and his likable cast throw themselves into their roles with gusto, giving some decent performances. Bo Hopkins is particularly good as the alcoholic cop and he shares some nice scenes with Jennifer Warren, who plays small town doctor, Myra Tate.

Cardos, obviously no stranger to the genre (his mutants closely resemble the zombies from Romero's Dawn of the Dead) has the good sense to kill off characters that you would lay money on to survive in most horror films; this means that, with the gloves off, Cardos can have fun playing with the audiences expectations.

In an exciting finale, in which Josh and Holly are surrounded by mutants, Cardos toys with the possibility of a downbeat ending, before the good sheriff and his men arrive to save the day.

The make-up FX are simple yet effective; the mutants are blueish in hue, with some yucky 'splits' in their palms from which they secrete corrosive yellow gunk. When the infected turn into mutants, we get some impressive examples of that mainstay of 80s horror movies, the 'bladder effect'. Skin undulates and veins pulsate to nauseating effect.

If you're after an undemanding and fun viewing experience, you could do a lot worse than to pop Mutant into your DVD player.

Night Shadows AKA MUTANT, is a very overlooked horror movie. I remember Wings Hauser in various films and TV shows in the 80's at the time. He does well with the characters he played. In this film, I give him a lot of credit. In "Night Shadows" AKA "MUTANT", plays Josh, he and his brother go out in a Southern town after being run off the road by some local ruffians. Josh and Mike(Lee Montgomery) go into town. They enter the bar where the rowdies hang out. The sheriff(Bo Hopkins) helps the out of towner's to a Inn. They spend the night, but when daylight hits, Mike goes missing. Earlier, Mike found a man dead near the fence. But when it was the town drunk, the sheriff picked up a sample which later became hot to the touch. When Josh went to the gas station, it was closed. He goes to the bar which he meets Holly(Jody Medford). She works at the bar and is a teacher. She informs that the owner of the station is sick. Not only that, it appears the whole town is sick as well. When he uncle who work at the bar got sick, he developed a light sensitivity. When the sun goes down, strange beings roam the streets. It's the towns folks! When they got sick, they become mutant zombies. The cause of the insanity is the plant built by some of the locals dumping chemicals, causing the whole town to be sick and zombified. Sadly, the brother and the kid from school were the unlucky ones. So Josh, Holly, and the sheriff fend off the undead locals until the state law enforcement arrived. It was a very interesting movie. I liked it well. 2.5 out of 5 stars.

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.

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.

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.