The Mutations

This film is a definite cult-classic and a follow up to Tod Brownings FREAKS. Perhaps a bit poorly made, but with real freaks like the Alligator Woman, Pop Eye and many more. Julie Ege, Norwegian scream queen, is starring and making the best of it. If you ever want to see the definite B-film from British cinema during the Seventies: This is the one to see. The film takes place at a travelling carnival which also features a freak show. Donald Pleasance is the mad professor who mutates plants with humans and then puts them on display. The results are horrific and so are the monsters that looks like a mixture of broccoli and humans. The film is odd to say the least and the actors try very hard to make it believable. This is a film with a strange mixture of science, horror and drama. It moves along a bit slow, but you won't be bored. The last of the real "freak films".

OK i seen the mutations when i was younger at a movie theater in;Paterson new jersey and to this day i cant remember the co-feature. but it scared the hell out of me.its a basic mad scientist story,with a brilliant but unbalanced Dr played by the late great;Donald Pleasence who went on to play Dr loomis in the Halloween movie series(1978 to 1989)creating mutations from plants.i know very weird.it all takes place in england,much to the distaste of fellow scientist from America played by Brad Harris.he gets his subjects from a deformed man played by;Tom Baker(who played Dr who in the 70's)this guy is so gruesome he would give Frankensteins monster the willies.anyway lynch(tom baker)is co-owner of a traveling carnival.the main owner is a kindly dwarf played by Micheal Dunn,who does'nt approve of the Dr's intentions.and like the earlier movie;freaks this movie features real human oddities. the one that gave me nightmares was a guy called pop eye,i don't need to say what he does.also starring in this movie is Julie Ege and Jill Haworth.the mutations has been released to video under the title;the freak-maker.its not as good as Tod brownings freaks,but it is very unsettling.i re watched this recently and found it very entertaining but it no longer gives me nightmares.all i can say is its still a very good film,with a great cast.and Donald Pleasence played the best mad doctors.I'm giving mutations(aka;freak-maker)8 out of 10.

THE FREAKMAKER (aka: THE MUTATIONS) is the charming tale of Professor Nolter (Donald Pleasence), who is determined to create a human-plant hybrid. This means that a few people have to disappear, reappearing on Nolter's lab table.

Meanwhile, a freak show thrives next door with a steady flow of new, highly unusual attractions.

Tom Baker is fantastic as Nolter's faithful henchman, Lynch.

If you have a passion for the wonderfully weird, then FREAKMAKER belongs on your watchlist...

I liked this movie, thought it was from the 1980's from the discussion at the beginning about cloning dinosaurs from their DNA and employing genetics on animals. Turns out it was from 1973 and ahead of it's time.

The movie does have some parallels to "Freaks" and the movie supplies the real thing. Michael Dunn, "Dr. Lovelace" of "Wild, Wild, West" is good in his role as the operator of the sideshow.

I stumbled across this video at a pawnshop called "Cash Converters" at my town center. Once I blew off the dust I decided to buy it on a whim. I had never heard of it but its £2 price tag led me to believe I had nothing to loose. It now sits proudly in my horror collection. This film is in a word, freaky. It makes use of real life sideshow freaks to tell a disturbing story about a mad scientist and his ungodly experiments to create a plant man. The various mistakes that occur are put to use at the friendly local fair. The only problem this film has is the rather pathetic effects used when real freaks are unavailable. However, Donald's performance is as ever wonderful and the film maintains a creepy atmosphere. There is also some great titty shots of voluptuous young seventies women. Well recommended for horror fans (if you can track down a copy like I did).