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.

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.

When someone asks you what makes a traditional 80's slasher, just show them The Mutilator. It has everything one would expect - cardboard characters, a secluded location, a deranged killer, bad fashions, a little nudity, a synth score, and lots of creative death scenes. It's not a great movie, but it accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do and that deserves something.

I gave this picture 5 stars--dead center (a good slasher title, now that I think about it). Which is the quality of THE MUTILATOR aka FALL BREAK--mediocre. The flick does have some cred with me for being shot in my home state of NC, so it can go in that venerable hall of acclaim with FINAL EXAM and THE BODY SHOP (look that one up). It's technically fine--the director and crew seem to have known how to keep boom mike shadows out of the shots--but the tone veers back and forth between PORKY'S inspired levity and mild menace a little too much for my taste. After the prologue, we wait nearly 40 minutes (in a 1 hour, 26 minute film) for the first kill. Fortunately, the acting is competent, with the two leads coming out the best. The supporting players are fine, but their heavy eastern NC accents can be distracting. The final act contains all the goodies, as we get the full force gore we've be languishing in a wasteland of TV-sitcom level comedy and middling suspense for. One detail that sets this one apart: we know upfront who the killer is (who, by the way, has no dialogue--wonder why?) Watchable, but hardly extraordinary.

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...