Day 3 - The Mutilator

 Day 3 - The Mutilator

PLOT - A teenager who accidentally committed matricide finds himself being hunted together with his girlfriend and mates by his now crazed father. 

LOWDOWN - I first noticed The Mutilator years ago by it's ever so awesome VHS artwork. With a clever tag line, I knew this was on the must-see list for slashers. Years passed and it wasn't until I picked this baby up on bootleg that I truly noticed what an awesome movie it was. With a very unsettling opening, the film sets up in a very quirky way a typical sterotype of college kids who decide to go up to a beach house on fall break (is this Thanksgiving?) and kick back and relax while an unseen killer waits. I clearly remember buying this movie from my favorite convention company VHSPS and how one of the guys explained what a strange but wonderful slasher this was. What really sold me was when he spoke about the strange music opening and the outtakes at the end of the credits. Deciding to take a change and do a blind buy I wasn't disappointed with The Mutilator at all. With a gritty Grindhouse sorta feel, this movie was released back in 1985, one of the last truly good years for the slasher era. Smack dab in the middle of the 80's, this movie seemed to have it all. A very unsettling opening, a group of likable and sorta annoying 30 year olds playing college aged kids. (Love the deer with the sunglasses on.) A killer who believe it or not reveals themselves very early on and has a twisted sort of logic on why they exactly are doing these killings. Besides the movie being a bootleg copy taken from it's VHS tape, the movie is very dark. So dark in fact there's some scenes you downright can't even see. Nothing against the disc. I love the old school feel of a VHS tape, it's just another reminder that I'm getting spoiled with blu-ray and would LOVE to see this get some Scream Factory treatment and get re-released on blu-ray. 

With tons of practical effects with some awesome make up (gotta love the large fishing hook up the girl's hoo ha.) The Mutilator has charm so many low budget slashers lack. I loved the beach setting and believe it or not the final act of the film as the body count began to rise. With a killer ending with our murderer, we get to see plenty of missing body parts, blood, and bone as the film comes to a close. With a very clever song (I find myself humming the fall break song all the time.) this is a strange but wonderful slasher that I highly recomend to anyone. 

3 Stars!