Originally entitled ‘Fall Break’, this film has grown to have a major cult following. It is now known as The Mutilator and it’s been given a Blu-Ray release. They have collected an uncut version of the 35mm print.
Originally released in 1985, The Mutilator gained a fairly large following. It’s a slasher film and follows many of the conventions now seen in slasher horror movies. It focuses on a group of teenagers who take advantage of Ed Jr.’s father’s apartment becoming free for the holiday. They then set out on, what is intended to be, a quiet and relaxed holiday. However, things immediately take a turn for the worse, as members of their group are slowly disappearing one by one.
It is very much a standard slasher film and doesn’t offer anything at all new to the genre. The main advantage of this film over other films in the genre is the level of gore. Whilst many slasher films focus on jump scares, The Mutilator turns away from this and decides to take the level of gore to a new extreme in the slasher genre. Practical effects make it a very brutal and bloody film, with shocking deaths throughout. The highlights of the movie are the beginning and the ending. The start of the film is actually quite shocking, whilst the ending is one of the most sadistic and creepy endings to a slasher film.
This Blu-Ray edition comes with many bonus features. Firstly it’s given an introduction to the film; outlining the version they have put together on the Blu-Ray and how it’s the best version available. There are many other features, including an alternative opening. However, all of these bonuses do not justify buying a new copy of the film, unless the viewer is a keen fan of the franchise. Whilst the film does have its good moments with the gore, the film is flawed on almost every other aspect. The acting is quite wooden and the plot is very slow moving. However, this movie is for a specific target audience. The people interested in buying this movie will be people interested in this genre.
If you are a new viewer to this film. Don’t go expecting much in the way of plot of any character development at all. What you do get is some proper gory scenes, followed by some dialogue which you might feel tempted to skip. Although the ending is one of the best in the slasher genre, it’s still not a great film, so don’t go expecting much.
THE MUTILATOR / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: BUDDY COOPER / STARRING: MATT MITLER, BILL HITCHCOCK, RUTH MARTINEZ / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
