Customer Reviews

Mutant [VHS]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

When I originally bought the original Vestron video of Mutant many years ago, I thought I was in for some huge mutated monster movie due to the cover art (a beast head hovering over a town) and the title. This proves how misleading some incarnations of the cover art and title can be. To my surprise Mutant was a thinly disguised "zombie" movie and I will get into that more later. The title sequence is kinda of bad and I originally thought "yep, I got exactly what I expected." The film actually becomes a lot better as the movie trucks along. We start off with a killing and then delve into a story about two "city boy" brothers traveling along a remote southern highway where they run into some clich? rednecks who wreck their car. They are forced into going into a small town but the kicker is that toxic waste being illegally dumped near the town has turned many of the residents into mutated zombie like ghouls who start to feast on the blood of the remaining normal tenants of the town. Eventually it dwindles down to a few survivors (with Bo Hopkins playing an alcoholic run-down cop) having to escape the zombie-like hordes.

The idea of the mutant zombie creatures is actually interesting for this kind of film. The toxic waste changes the person's blood into a green/yellowish substance and swells. It swells to degree that their palms split. Through these splits the "mutant zombies" suck blood from victims like a leach. The make-up job on these ghouls is actually quit good and they have a nice terrifying appearance in dark corridors.

Not only are the ghouls impressive, but director John Cardos (Kingdom of the Spiders) is also able to make many great scenes of suspense. There are two terrific scenes with "zombies" attacking a women and a kid in a school bathroom and another when "zombies" surround a car and start burning through the glass to get to the person inside. I've been a horror film fan for years and nothing really makes me squirm, but there a a few number of scenes here that actually got me on the edge of my seat. He also moves the film along at nice pace and it builds and builds until the suspense filled climax. Nice job Cardos!

The acting here also brings this film up a couple of notches. Usually genre films like this have poor acting and actors that usually cause unintentional laughter. The cast here is very good lead by seasoned veterans Wings Hauser (Vice Squad) and Bo Hopkins. The supporting cast is also good and they all play the film seriously. There is a scene towards the end of the film where a female lead starts to lose emotional control and Hauser has to comfort her while being terrified himself. I really felt they were scared out-of-there minds. Thumbs up on the acting which is rare for this type of film.

The only really cheese thing is the story, which I know the story sounds like direct-to-video material. No doubt today it would be, but Mutant was made back in the early 80's and that was a great era because movies like mutant got a theatrical release and because of this, they a high-quality look them that director-to-video fodder sorely lack.

For horror fans looking for a nice mostly forgotten 80's horror film that actually has quality, then give Mutant a shot. It's got a great cast, good acting, nice effects, and some truly suspenseful moments. I was totally surprised by Mutant and liked it very much.

For some reason Mutant as been released in many different incarnations on DVD (4 that I know of). I originally bought the Diamond Entertainment version (It portrays the same cover art as the original Vestron video release)but its picture quality was no better than my VHS. By far the best edition available on DVD is the Elite Entertainment version sold here on Amazon. The picture is crystal clear (you can actually see what's happening in the dark scenes!) and in anamorphic widescreen. A beautiful release of a rare film. If you want to own this film, you owe it to yourself to get the Elite Version!

I really can't believe how much people liked this one. The advertising made it seem like your typical Alien sci-fi/horror ripoff: "Mankind's deadliest threat will not come from the skies" plus there's the creature on the cover that does not vaguely resemble anything in the movie. As a zombie movie, Mutant definitely rips off Night of the Living Dead more than any sci-fi film. The story concerns two brothers who get stranded in a small Southern town. The townspeople are acting strangely, it's half deserted, and it ends up being toxic waste dumping that's causing the problem. Sound familiar?

I actually enjoyed the "rednecks vs. the brothers" parts more than the actual horror scenes for some reason. Maybe because there was some humor in those scenes, I don't know. I think it was also because so many of the "scary" scenes were shot in the dark, which was probably to cut costs and keep you from seeing the cheesiness of the makeup. Plus the print itself looks pretty dark, which other reviewers have pointed out. It's a less-than-great picture and the DVD has no real extras.

Not much gore here, a couple gross scenes with the people mutating but overall it was pretty tame. The makeup on the zombies is standard corpse paint: most people could do as good a job for their average Halloween. This no-frills approach to the zombies does make them look like the original (Night of the) Living Dead somewhat. Also there's a scene where they're trying to get into a boarded-up house that is a straight up Night ripoff: it shows the hands sticking through the holes in the boards and everything. This movie could have been a lot better with just a few gore parts. Even when the zombies get shot there is really no blood.

So if you really need to collect every horror film ever made (which at times I think I do ;), then by all means purchase Mutant. At least I got it cheap; I laugh at anyone who would pay full price for this generic disc. For what it's worth, you do get some cheap laughs with the rednecks and from some of the lines delivered by the completely untalented lead actress.

From the foregoing reviews this film seems to be a definite "love or hate" item. I can't pass judgement on the DVD since I've only seen the VHS version. I recall seeing the previews in the theater years back but it never arrived due to the bankruptcy of its producers. If the opening sequence doesn't grab you, then you may as well skip it. Beyond that, the film is quite a grab-bag of genres (red-necks busting on strangers in town, house with a secret, town with a secret, sheriff (good guy or bad?), etc. It's very similar in tone and action to Salem's Lot with a different underlying explanation. Make-up and gore effects are minimal but this fits in with the overall atmosphere.
If you like moody, suspensful, low-key horror/sci-fi, you should check out MUTANT.

This timeless horror film stars two brothers who run afoul of some hicks on a country highway. With their car stuck they need to hike into the nearest town to get a tow truck. Upon arrival the town seems dead except for a dive bar. Soon they discover a dead body alongside a building and go to the bar to make a phone call. Well the hicks are at the bar and a fight breaks out. Once the police are contacted, the boys don't have a whole lot of credibility especially when there turns out to be no body.

But there are strange things going on in town. Lots of people are sick and only a handful seem to notice just how bad the situation is. But it gets worse. A blood disease seems to kill and spread, turning victims into hungry zombies afraid of the light. They attack the living looking for blood. Well, one of the brothers is missing while the other refuses to leave without finding him. Thus we delve deeply into the horror brewing in the town. The horror escalates until the surprising ending.

This is one of those movies where you have to wonder where it got its title. Mutant is a very inaccurate title. But that aside, this is a good horror film that works. Sure, some of the acting is not as good as it could be but it is good enough. The zombie makeup is interesting and distinctive. There is no mistaking these guys for the living/unaffected. The horror is tied more into ecology than zombie pictures usually are but it was done well. Once things really get going this film just does not let up. Check it out.

Zombie flicks have been my favorite movies ever since I saw "Night of the Living Dead" on Creature Features as a kid. Since then I've searched for other cool zombie flicks to see, like many other people have done. Well "Mutant" is one of those cool gems that has quiety slipped past people. I actually saw it the same day I saw "Day of the Dead" (one of my favorites) and still thought it was really good. The story takes a while to unfold but the pay off is sweet zombie action! For any fan of the zombie genre that hasn't seen "Mutant" do yourself a favor and buy this movie. It's worthy!

I was afraid this one's was gonna be some cheap garbage, but it wasn't as bad as I excpected. Some of the zombies looked a bit crappy but most of them work. And their abillity to melt things with their hands added some creepy moments to the film. The mutant transformations were spooky to. I like it when I see a movie that manages to create thrills and suspense without using buckeloads of gore. A lot of zombie movies tend to show a lot of guts beign torn out or necks chewed open. But this one has a more old-school feel to it and dosen't show to much graphic violence and tries to leave something for the viewers who can develop imaginations.
So, I consider it a decent movie with ok effects and good actors.

You know what's worse than breaking down in a small town and getting your [...] kicked up and down the street by a bunch of knuckle dragging hillbillies? Breaking down in a small town getting your [...] kicked up and down the street by a bunch of knuckle dragging hillbillies and then getting attacked by radioactive zombies! Yep, ol Wings Hauser is having a bad day, but on the bright side he does hook up with a hot school teacher, so I guess it all equals out. I know that I'd be more than happy to fight a small town worth of radioactive zombies for a chance to score with some world class [...].

Joking aside this film is actually not too bad. The story, even though it's unoriginal, has just enough character development, action and mystery to keep you interested for the entire movie...and for a low budget horror movie that's saying something!

No blood or guts, just puss and sadly no nudity, but if you're into zombie flicks then MUTANT is worth checking out. It's not going to change your life or be as good as RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD, but it's fun to watch with friends.

If y'all are looking for a drinking game:

* every time Wing's brother acts like a whiny [...].
* every time the main character's split up.
* every time the mic (or it's shadow) is visible...i know of at least twice.
* every time you want to [...] then main chick
* every time a zombie braces for a punch or just falls down after barely being hit

It took me awhile to find the good version of this movie. That's the one from Elite Entertainment. The other versions have prints that aren't very good. So ask before you buy. You only want the Elite version. The Elite version has a good print and sound quality. This movie has some great acting from higher grade actors like Wings Hauser and Bo Hopkins. Sure it's a b movie but it's a very good b movie. Made by seasoned filmmakers; This flick features chemically infected people who are dying but need blood to stay alive at all. They are not zombies but they do behave like mindless hungry infected people. Like many movies of this type a small group of people try to survive in a isolated town against the menace at large. Cell phones were just not available much in the 80's due to their huge costs so this only leads to the feeling that you really had to go get help not call for it. In the world of b movies you have studio quality films and those made way outside of those with true technical experience. This is a upper b movie and was made and shown in theaters; not just in the now long gone midnight movie grindhouse circuit. Those are cool movies too but this was better made than most of them. It is a good watch for fans of 1980's horror movies or zombie like movies.

Mutant is one of my favorite horror films from the 80s.The makeup on the mutants was very eerie.Instead of zombies just killing people this movie gave a scary scientific explanation of how the mutants got that way.It had more of a story to it.Standout performances go to Wings Hauser,Bo Hopkins and Jennifer Warren.The toxic substance seeping from the creatures hands was also well thought out.Since the film took place mostly in the dark that added to the frightening suspense.Highly recommended.

From co-producer Dick Clark ("American Bandstand") and former stuntman turned director John 'Bud' Cardos (Kingdom of the Spiders, The Day Time Ended) comes Mutant (1984) aka Night Shadows, a film which executives and shareholders of the New Era Corporation "Research Today for a Better Tomorrow" didn't want you to see...starring in the movie is Wings Hauser (Vice Squad, Tales from the Hood) and Bo Hopkins (Tentacles, Midnight Express). Also appearing is Jody Medford (Chained Heat), Lee Montgomery (The Million Dollar Duck, Ben), Marc Clement (Mississippi Burning, Chattahoochee), and Jennifer Warren (Slap Shot, Ice Castles).

As the film begins it's nighttime and we see a man walking about the grounds of a large house, collecting samples of a yellowish, mustard-like goo emanating from the ground. After this, in a classic `what the hell were they thinking' moment, he enters the basement of the house through an external door and finds...something nasty. The next day we see two brothers, Josh (Hauser) and Mike (Montgomery), driving down a country road, the pair heading to an unknown vacation destination. After a fender bending run in with some local yokels in a pick-up truck, Josh ends up putting the car in a creek, and the two have to hoof it to a nearby town, which the reach by nightfall, just in time to find a dead guy whose face had seemingly been melted off. They go to the only place open, a bar, get into a brouhaha with the same yokels as before, eventually broken up by Sheriff Will Stewart (Hopkins). They report the dead body, but upon returning to where they found it (in a nearby alley), surprise, surprise it's gone...the sheriff hooks the two up with a place to stay for the night, and Josh wakes up the next day to discover his brother has gone missing. Meanwhile, Dr. Myra Tate (Warren), the town's general practitioner, has noticed a severe drop off in her business, and those who do show up seem to be suffering from some weird, flu-like ailment. Seems most of the town is down with the sickness, and subsequently the streets are deserted. Josh, while searching for his brother, hooks up with Holly Pierce (Medford), a teacher at the local school, and the pair begin to notice things just ain't right...after a few bodies surface, Josh puts two and two together (to get five), and deduces a possible connection to the New Era Corporation, which purchased land in the area that included some abandoned mines. While snooping around Josh discovers New Era is actually using the mines to dump toxic, chemical goo (talk about lack of corporate responsibility), which, in turn, is seeping into ground and turning the residents of nearby Goodland into mutants, favoring the darkness, feasting on the blood of the living through orifices in their hands, which also ooze burning, flesh eating secretions, strong enough to dissolve through metal...sound bad? Well, it's about to get a whole lot worse as night is coming, and that when the creatures are most active...

Well, for an independently made film, Mutant was actually pretty decent, despite some obvious flaws. The strengths include a relatively solid cast as both Hauser and Hopkins make good showings, along with a strong sense of forward movement in the story. There's also a whole lot of character development, a good deal of which I actually found unnecessary and even awkward, but I think the latter was due more to how it was introduced rather than the fact it was included. As the film progresses, we a number of minor vignettes between the principal players where some snippet of their background is chucked out there for the hell of it, in soap opera fashion, not really affecting the story much (the sheriff, who was at one point involved with Dr. Tate, has a drinking problem, and once was a big city cop before he shot a kid)...what's the point? It's kind of hard to explain, but these various bits of background information didn't seem to emanate naturally from the story for me, but more so just dumped in my lap and created a sense of a whole lot of puzzle pieces that fit together, but not very well. On the other hand, I did appreciate these attempts to try and develop a real story with lifelike characters, rather than just cranking out another run of the mill horror film. Anyway, as I said, Hauser and Hopkins did pretty well, but I didn't think the same of Jody Medford. Her performance didn't work that well half the time, but I don't want to be too harsh on her as this was only her second film. As far as the hillbilly mutants go (some in nothing but coveralls), I thought they looked pretty effective. The face makeup seemed a little over the top, especially around the eyes, but the notion of using gaping holes in the palms of their hands to actually feed on others was kind of cool. There was little blood or gore, so if that's your bag, you'll probably be disappointed. The parts I really liked were during the transformation sequences, as body parts would begin to pulsate and percolate, creating a real sense of nastiness. As others have mentioned, there are a lot of similarities of this movie to any number of walking dead films out there, intensified by Cardos' predictable direction. Don't get me wrong, predictable isn't bad, it's just...predictable. Most all the scares in this feature are of the `pop out' kind, where it's obvious to the viewer that something is going to happen, and then sure enough, someone (or something) pops out of a closet or what not. And I'll tell you what, the filmmakers certainly got their money's worth from whoever was working that fog machine during the night scenes...I guess it's better to have too much than too little. I think my favorite scene was after Josh got caught snooping on the industrial site, witnessing the chemicals being dumped down the mine. A subsequent fight scene has a number of workers accidentally being flipped down the same, giant hole they were dumping the toxic go-go juice, eliciting gruesome images of their most certain demise (if the fall don't kill `em, the goo surely will). I also enjoyed the original musical scoring from Richard Band, who's worked on films like Re-Animator (1985), From Beyond (1986), and The Arrival (1990), but it did get repetitive at times as the same theme was played over and over again.

I've noticed there's more than one DVD release for this film, so I can only speak towards the quality of the Elite Entertainment DVD release, which was quite good. The widescreen (1.85:1), enhanced for 16X9 TVs, is clean and clear. One odd thing though, this is the first DVD where I actually had to change the settings on my player to get the film to play in widescreen format (prior to this, it came up in fullscreen format). I'm usure the format of the audio, but it comes through very well and with no complaints. As far as extras go, there really isn't anything, except for a theatrical trailer for the film.

Cookieman108

If I learned anything from this movie, it's that Wings Hauser is a rotten driver (he cracked up two, count `em, two vehicles), who sweats a whole lot.