Director: Buddy Cooper
Notable Cast: Matt
Mitler, Ruth Martinez, Bill Hitchcock, Connie Rogers, Frances Raines, Morey Lampley,
Jack Chatham, Ben Moore
The problem with the success of a certain genre or subgenre
is that it tends to saturate a market and when that happens, there tends to be
a lot of gems that are overlooked and buried as time passes. When it comes to
the slasher boom of the 80s and the advent of home video, there are a ton of
buried gems out there. Lucky for those of us who were not old enough to see
these films in the 80s, there has been a ‘collector’s boom’ of companies
hunting down these lost gems and giving them the ol’ spit shine for cult cinema
fans. Late last year, Arrow Video delivered a home run release for the rare
slasher Blood Rage and it’s only
fitting that they may have topped that release with their latest slasher gem The Mutilator. While the film itself
might divide slasher fans with its cheesy elements and formulaic approach, the
release itself is locked, loaded, and ready to impress.
Ed (Mitler) and his college friends are asked by Ed’s
father, Big Ed (Chatham), to head out to his beach condo to prep it for the
winter. It’s fall break, so the group of young adults decide it’s the perfect
getaway for the weekend for drinking, fun, and some relaxation. Little do they
know that there’s someone already in the condo, someone who is a bit off the
rocker, and knows how to use all of the fishing and hunting utensils in the
house.
 |
| Unsuspecting victims...or are they? |
The Mutilator,
also known as Fall Break (which is
the version you will see on this release since it uses the original title), is not
necessarily a slasher that breaks the chains when it comes to the obvious formula
it follows. The film does an admirable job at setting up a ton of the tricks
and treats that will come later – including how it quite obviously shows the
audience every weapon that will be used to slaughter these college kids – but the
rather generic characters that are established in the main portion of the film
are about as basic as they can get. It doesn’t help when a lot of the acting is
horribly hit or miss from all of those involved, outside of perhaps the villain
whose brooding presence works like a slasher classic, and it can potentially
ruin some of the fun kill sequences that occur. In a lot of ways, The Mutilator is about as slasher as a
slasher can get – dumb kids, hulking dark killer, inventive kills, synth score,
and a fresh setting. So slasher fans, don’t expect to be thrown for a loop with
some big twists or new perspectives because The Mutilator is about delivering the
slasher in its most trimmed and slashiest form possible.
So why the love? Why is this film getting such iconic
treatment for collectors if it’s just your basic 80s slasher flick? It helps
that the film is rare and has earned some kind of cult status for being rare.
It also helps that director Buddy Cooper delivers on two things: impressive
kill sequences and an odd tongue-in-cheek, self-aware tone to the film.
While the kills might have been foretold as the college kids look around the
condo, the actual gore effects and the way that Cooper shoots the kill
sequences are a blast of great horror moments. There is even one kill with a
fishing gaff (big hook) that shocked me and that only adds to the enjoyment of
the film. Beyond that, The Mutilator
is a film that almost feels like the B-grade elements are intentional versus
just being lower quality. This arrives in some of the weirdly placed dialogue,
where I expected the character Ed to lean and wink at the camera after he
spouts off “I’ve got a bad feeling about this” when the troupe decides to go to
the condo, and in how the film will drastically shift tone. The song about fall
break seems almost too goody-too-shoes to fit into the movie, there is a scene
where one of the characters moves in fast forward as a joke, and the end
credits is overlaid with awkward scenes of characters who might randomly break
off into laughter or seem perplexed at how long the shot is taking. Combined with
how solid Cooper can be at building tension, using shadows, and keeping the
audience hooked with the formula, it almost seems intentional that the film
plays things on its sleeves so wildly and it had me smiling for the entire film.
 |
| "Stop! He needs to axe us a question!" |
While this self-aware tone and solid slasher foundation make
The Mutilator a fun watch, it does
tend to follow formulas a bit too much to be a truly unique and genre lifting
experience. However, it’s obvious that this is a cult classic for a reason and
that it’s not some fluke that Arrow Video went to so much effort to release
this film in a new 2K restoration with so many very insightful special features
(look at that list below – I mean it even includes a full length documentary on
the film!) for fans. Truly, if you are a slasher fan or even a fan of cult
cinema, this release of The Mutilator
is truly a robust and fulfilling experience that even the film has a bit of
trouble living up to. This gets a huge recommendation for collectors.
ARROW VIDEO FEATURES:
Written By Matt Reifschneider
No comments:
Post a Comment