As a college student I was there when the slasher genre
began with first HALLOWEEN and then FRIDAY THE 13TH. After
graduation I managed a theater where I had the chance to see a number of the
subsequent low budget attempts to mind for gold in the genre released. Most
were not bad but a majority of them were not worth seeking out once home video
erupted. One that played in my theater did fairly decent business but nothing
stupendous. I watched it one afternoon and thought it was one of the better
movies to come out. After that I’d forgotten about it, another in the long list
of movies that have faded from my memory.
When I heard that THE MUTILATOR was being released by Arrow
Video I was excited at the news. First because I knew that Arrow would treat
the movie right and secondly because I remembered it being one of the better
slasher movies. Well Arrow has treated it right and my memory of how good the
movie is was a correct one, perhaps better than I recalled.
The story opens with a young boy, Ed, accidentally shooting
and killing his mother while polishing his father’s gun collection. The father,
Big Ed, returns and blames the boy, going mad in the process. Fast forward to
years later and the Ed (Matt Mitler) is now a college student as fall break
approaches. Along with his friends they have no plans and are bored. When his
father calls to ask him to go to their beachfront condo to lock it down for the
winter, his friends are happy to go with him turning a chore into a fun weekend
at the beach while on break.
As luck would have it the three couples arrive to find the
place a shambles. With the place to themselves they don’t care and set about
cleaning it up. Unknown to them is the fact that Big Ed is hidden in the back
area of the garage, still a bit off his rocker after all these years. Knowing
slasher films we know immediately that it won’t be long before Big Ed begins to
attack the youngsters. That’s one of the things that sets this film apart from
many others in the genre. While most had a surprise killer leading you to
believe it was one person instead of the most obvious, THE MUTILATOR tells you
up front who the killer is and goes forward from there.
The weekend continues and much beer is downed, hookups are
planned and games are played. Of course there is a virgin among this group, one
of the tried and true plot devices from the genre. And we know ahead of time
that if anyone survives it will be her. What is interesting is to see who else
does or doesn’t survive.
The other thing that fans of the genre always rely on is not
just that people are killed but the way they are killed. Kill scenes and gore
scenes can make or break a slasher picture. THE MUTILATOR delivers on all
counts with some of the most gruesome kills on screen, enough so that when
presented for release several scenes had to be cut first to get an R rating.
Those scenes have been reinserted here for the most complete version of the
film ever offered. One involving a fish gaff will leave you cringing even now
32 years after the film was first released.
What sets this film apart from many others though isn’t just
the kill scenes or location. It’s the fact that the movie offers a higher
quality product than many of its contemporaries offered at the time. I can
remember slasher films that had some of the worst acting, some that had blood
squirt out in such high pressured torrents that there was no way they could
have come from the victim and some that were so intent on red herrings (false
leading clues) that they ended up making no sense whatsoever. This film tells
you up front who the killer is, why he’s doing it and then lets things fall
where they may, or at least bodies fall where ever. The acting is better than
many of those films in the genre. Perhaps not Oscar worthy but at least
believable for the most part. The characters are cardboard cutouts but defined
enough that you care for them. The killer is one of the most dangerous and
deadly ever filmed but sympathetic because of the circumstances that brought
him where he is. All of these things combined make this one of the better films
in the genre and it’s great that it has been saved by Arrow Video.
If all of this weren’t enough to make this worth seeking out
Arrow has done a tremendous job of putting together a fantastic version of the
film AND noteworthy extras. The film is a 2K restoration using original vault
materials. It has an introduction from director Buddy Cooper and assistant
make-up artists/editor Edmund Ferrell. There is audio commentary tracks with
Cooper, Ferrell, co-director John Douglass and star Matt Mitler as well as
another audio commentary track featuring Cooper and star Ruth Martinez
Tutterow. A feature length documentary on the making of the film, FALL
BREAKERS: THE STORY OF THE MUTILATOR is included, FALL BREAK being the original
title of the film. MUTILATOR MEMORIES, an interview with effects coordinator
Mark Shostrum. TUNES FOR THE DUNES, an interview with musical composer Michael
Minard. A behind the scenes reel. Screen tests. Alternate opening titles. The
“Fall Break” theme song. Opening sequence storyboards. A still gallery. Even a
copy of the script for the film accessible as BD/DVD-ROM content is here. Is
this an amazing amount of extras for what many would consider nothing more than
a slasher film or what?!?!?
After watching the movie I found myself with a smile on my
face. No I’m not some ghoul who enjoys seeing young people slaughtered. But in
watching the movie I was taken back to a time when theaters didn’t just flood
multiscreen theaters with the same movie on half of their screens but were
willing to offer at least one for little known or low budget films. A time when
you could see something that was well made and entertaining without it having
to be a huge blockbuster. A time when a horror movie didn’t have to feature
million dollar CGI effects and yet could still make it look more realistic than
those coming out today. That Arrow Video has brought this movie back from the
past and made it seem like something new is an amazing feat and they should be
applauded for doing so. When the Rondo Awards come out this year I’m hoping
that this film is not only nominated but a big winner. It is just that good.
Click here to order.
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