Mutant Hunt

Some claim this is a BLADE RUNNER ripoff but I know the truth. In the distant future, failed filmmaker Ridley Scott built a time machine and decided to go back in time to film MUTANT HUNT, what many in this future consider the greatest film of all-time, before it is actually made. His plan worked and BLADE RUNNER hit in 82 while MUTANT HUNT's legacy was muted because it was seen a ripoff.

Seriously, what can one say about this classic? It is indicative of a cinematic time long gone, the era of cheapo sci-fi flicks shot in abandoned warehouses (the future!) on a 5-day shooting schedule (see also: Ray, Fred Olen). I'm glad to know that in the future cyborgs will be modeled after the band Devo. Tim Kincaid directs this as flatly as possible. I love the fight in Riker's apartment where the girls just sit and stand there. I also love the bit where the robot begins to severe its left hand. When the filmmakers cut to the hand hanging in the cuff, it is a right hand! And who can ever forget the couple making out in the alley? Awesome. To the film's credit, Ed French's cyborg puppet head is pretty impressive and actually emotes better than 3/4 of the cast. After watching this 75 minute insanity fest, the only natural thing to ask is, "What Kincaid film should I watch next?"

Recently, I started browsing through the used movies bin at a local video store. You know the type, every movie marked down from $4 to $2. This is usually where you find old work out videos and videos that came with 80's toys (I think I found a Barbie Adventure in one of these once). Anyway this is where I discovered Mutant Hunt. The tagline on the box had me sold, "It's the 21st century New York and It's open season on cyborgs". The god awfulness of this tagline pretty much describes the god awfulness of the film. But that's actually the most entertaining feature of the film.

Mutant Hunt is by no means a good movie, or even a decent film. The script is terrible, the editing bites, and the camera work is abismal. However, if you want a film that you can repeatedly make fun of over and over again, this is your flick. My friend and I watched this film and made jokes throughout the entire thing, MST3K Style. One of our ongoing jokes was that Cyborgs are weak against wood and karate chops because that seemed to be the only thing that really had an effect on them.

I do have to give props to who ever was on the robot design, the cyborgs, normally just guys wearing sunglasses and are dripping fluid, generally look pretty terrible. However at one point, one of the cyborgs gets its skin torn off and we see the robotic endoskeleton. Its movements and looks were pretty good and you can see where 95% of the budget for this film went to.

Overall the film has some decent oneliners (including the phrase "space shuttle sex massacre" and one character who calls the cyborgs Jellyheads) but the true enjoyment of this film is really just making fun of it. This is the only redemption of the film. Jellyhead.

I watched this specifically to see a cyborg dude with a super-stretched mechanical arm hold a guy in a radiation suit aloft by his throat, while cowering underneath them a rather voluptuous woman in another rad suit lay prone in a spotlight.

Sadly, this scene never occurred.

The film was created on next to no budget by an infamous director/writer/producer of adult pornography. Watching the fashion and mustaches on the male cast that last thing might not be that much of a surprise but what surprises me the most is the ego of the production team. If you have no money and hardly any skills in filmmaking then you might get away with creating a sleazy slasher at most. This film takes it inspiration from epic films like Bladerunner but fails fails in nearly every department, fails HARD. Awful settings, uninspired wardrobes (except for Domina's), no logical plot, weird fight scenes, laughable "inventions" and utterly useless cyborgs that look like failed EBM musicians and act like stiff zombies.

Bladerunner had its following of low-budget cyberpunk copycats and a lot of them actually succeeded with delivering a somewhat engaging story (Robotrix for instance) so this film can't really get away with it just because of finances. If I were to cut it some slacks then it has to be the effect and gore. I am especially thinking about the decaying cyborgs that are skillfully done with both stop-motion and makeup.

It's cheap and cheesy genre time with the no-talent independent filmmaker, who stumbles his way through this supposed "Blade Runner" riff. In the "future", mutant cyborgs are being injected with a special drug by evil, world domination minded scientist Z (Bill Peterson). The only man who can even try to put an end to Z's diabolical plan is mercenary / mutant hunter for hire Matt Riker (Rick Gianasi). Of course, Matt will get by with a little help from his friends, Johnny Felix (Ron Reynaldi) and Elaine Eliot (Taunie Vrenon).

The special effects and makeup are, surprisingly, not that bad, all things considered. Ed French created a puppet cyborg head that is pretty cool - and which does give the best performance in the movie! Everyone else is varying degrees of dull. Thankfully, the attractive female cast makes things worth enduring, especially Ms. Vrenon, who has an alternate job as an exotic dancer. The insistent pop music score helps to move things along adequately, no matter if the bulk of this production is inept from beginning to end. The fight scenes are somewhat less than exciting, and not exactly directed with much zeal. Kincaids' script is talky and inane.

Of course, who chooses to watch something titled "Mutant Hunt" and expects anything different? Truth be told, this viewer would still rather watch stuff like this than a lot of the mega budget crud churned out by Hollywood. At only 74 minutes long, this harmless bit of nonsense goes on no longer than it should.

Five out of 10.