The Mutilator

The Mutilator (1984)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

A young boy named Ed is cleaning his father's gun for his birthday but while cleaning it the thing goes off killing his mother. From this point on the father has nothing to do with Ed. Flash forward several years and Ed is in college when he gets a call from his father out of nowhere. The father asks for Ed to return to a beach front property and close it down for the winter. Ed takes along his girlfriend and four other friends but soon they start to get violently murdered.

THE MUTILATOR has a pretty big following among people who enjoy the slasher boom that happened from 1980-84. I'm a major slasher fan but for the most part there were a lot of movies that were made to try and get some of the box office dollars. More times than not these films were poorly made, poorly shot and featured very little gore. They were just cheap C movies that were thrown into theaters for a quick buck. THE MUTILATOR isn't one of those movies as it's fairly well-made, features a nice cast and best of all is that it actually delivers on the gore.

One thing that did surprise me about this film is that it really doesn't try to play up a mystery aspect. We're pretty much told from the start what to expect and we see who the killer is pretty early on. The screenplay spends way too much time with the characters as the murders are spread out quite a bit and there are some logical issues but I guess this here is to be expected. I think the film really benefits from the six main characters being likable and you at least don't mind hanging out with them while you wait for them to be slaughtered.

Of course, when it comes to a slasher the most important thing is the actual kills and THE MUTILATOR is a major success here. In fact, I'm really surprised that these effects got past the MPAA because they are rather graphic and gory. This includes a decapitation but the highlight of the film involves a hook. I'll just leave it at that but it's certainly very cringe-worthy and contains a great amount of blood. THE MUTILATOR certainly isn't a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination but it's a good slasher.

A young boy accidentally kills his mother while playing with his father's gun. Distraught, his father has a break from reality and, years later, the young man takes his college buddies to his family's beach house for a little fall break fun and his father shows up, still angry at what his son did, so he decides to punish him and his friends by going on a bloody rampage.

You have to put together a lot of pieces yourself as you watch The Mutilator. Where has this nutty father been all this time? Why did he pick now to go on a killing spree? This movie isn't one for nuanced character development and deep psychological insight, but the murder scenes are a gory delight and a few scenes crackle with some suspense.

This film is many in a line of trash horror films. When I first read the back of the video box I laughed, six teenagers going on their summer vacation. Cliche? If you are a fan of rubbish horror films then you'll love this, the acting is so bad it's good. The characters begin to get on your nerves eventually with their pole up their backside style acting, and you begin to wish for them to get killed, which in turn makes the film even better as you egg on the killer, "go on ram a knife through his all American face...go on...go on...YES!!!" If you watch this film expecting Oscar winning performances then you'll be sorely disappointed, having said that, if you watch this for any kind of performance whatsoever you'll be disappointed. The violence is over the top and it's great. It's the only saving grace of the film. However, all this aside, if you don't expect too much, then you'll be rewarded.

A young man named Ed (Matt Mitler) takes a group of friends to his dad's beach condo for the weekend, resulting in blood-drenched mutilation, decapitation, and death by pitchfork. One skinny-dipping couple meets up with the business end of an outboard motor! Not even the local police are safe!

Although the victims are basic slasher fodder, THE MUTILATOR (aka: FALL BREAK) has a unique twist to it, in that we know who the killer is from the beginning. We even know why these people are being killed. Despite this, it's fairly effective, and shows how a little bitterness can go a long way...

On the day of his father's birthday, the boy Ed decides to clean his father's hunting rifle and accidentally shoots and kills his mother that was baking a cake in the kitchen. His father Ed Sr. (Jack Chatham) is mentally affected by the incident. Years later, Ed (Matt Mitler) is in a bar with college friends and they do not know what to do in the holidays, since they have not reserved any place to go. Out of the blue, Ed receives a phone call from his estranged father that asks him to close his fishing house in an island since it is off season. His friends invite themselves to go with him and spend a couple of days on the beach. Ed drives to the island with his girlfriend Pam (Ruth Martinez) and the couples Ralph (Bill Hitchcock) and Sue (Connie Rogers), and Mike (Morey Lampley) and Linda (Frances Raines). They find the house open and an ax missing, but do not report to the police. Further, there is noone in the island but them. Soon a killer starts to kill them one by one and hang them in a locker in the house garage. Who might be the serial-killer?

"The Mutilator" is an amateurish and low-budget slasher with good special effects. The unknown cast is histrionic, but the girls are very beautiful. The storyline is very simple and gives only the reason for a haywire man to kill guests in his house. The deaths are original, like in most movies of the slasher genre. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "O Mutilador" ("The Mutilator")