Customer Reviews

Mutilator, The [VHS]

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

 

 

I write this review for 2 reasons: To express my love for this little-seen slasher flick, and to warn that there is NO official DVD release of it. As of this writing(July 11, 2006), all available versions are DVD-r bootlegs sometimes found here, through no fault of Amazon.com. You should be able to get an uncut rip of "The Mutilator" on any number of sites, and there is no reason to shell out any more than 10 bucks or so for a bootleg. I have seen this DVD, and the quality is fair to middling. It is uncut, but bits of splatter removed for the r-rated release have been spliced back in from the unrated VHS. As for the movie, this is a quintessentially American mid-80s by-the-numbers slasher flick. If you like this type of film, and you have not seen this, shame on you! The acting sucks, the characters are paper-thin, the haircuts are atrocious, and the deaths are frequent, graphic, and inventive. In other words, this is one of the best slashers ever made. Period. I can't believe no one has given this a proper DVD release yet. See it, just don't pay too much until you can get an official version with good picture quality. This has been a public service announcement.

I would recommend tracking down the unrated version if you can get it. Back when it first came out I had bought the R-rated version not knowing that 'Unrated Version' usually meant more gore (I was young). I remembered how much I loved it as a kid. When I seen how much it scared my cousin it made me love it even more. That's what it's all about isn't it?

Over the years I was finally able to get the uncut version and wow what a difference! The Mutilator will teach you another use for an outboard boat motor (for further instruction check out ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST-aka DR. BUTCHER). To think we all thought it was designed for travelling on the water. What were we thinking? LOL!!! There is even a gruesome scene involving a woman that got a room full of my college friends squirming in their seats even though they were all guys.

Don't watch it expecting Oscar quality acting tho. Some of it is downright awful. Just look for a scene during the opening credits between a convenience store clerk and his wife. It is some of the worst acting I've seen in a long time. But if you want a fun movie that has enjoyable characters, great gore, cheesy acting, the usual slasher cliches, etc. check it out.

Will someone ever release it on DVD? It is strange that there is a lot worse out there that has found life on DVD. Go figure.

There are not many reviews for this so I had to write one. Like one of the previous reviews "THIS MOVIE IS NOT YET ON DVD", don't be fooled with some bootleg dvd rom. This movie has some top notch kill scenes. My favorite is when one of the girls gets hooked with one huge fish hook right between her legs and all of you who have already watched know exactly what I am talking about. There is also a nice chainsaw scene right thru the chest that last for a few seconds and blood everywhere. To back up, pretty simple plot. College buddies headed to vacation beach house and get literally "mutilated" by some unknown pyscho lurking in the garage. The Mutilator is one of my top 10 slashers of all time. Very very few people have actually seen this and not many more have even heard of this long out of print classic. THIS IS MOST DEFINITELY A MUST SEE!!!!!

A carload of teenagers go on vacation, and indulge in sex and alcohol until a deranged killer shows up to kill them. Yes, this movie offers essentially nothing new on a tried and true slasher theme.

At the same time, this movie goes after that theme with enough guts and gusto to make the film worthwhile. The real charm of the movie lies in the Mutilator. As you may well guess from the title of the movie, the Mutilator is less of a straight-up slasher villan than a chap who comes up with more clever and disgusting ways of doing away with his victims. Thus, the movie delivers a quite respectable level of gratuitous gore. The gratuitous nudity level is pretty low, but hey you can't have everything, and there is at least a little bit.

If you've bothered looking this movie up in the first place, I'd imagine you have some fondness for cheesy slasher flicks, so by all means, while i wouldn't call this a classic, it's definitely a good entry into the slasher canon, and fun, fulfilling viewing.

Amidst the hard-to-find horror films of the '80s that haven't made it to DVD or are streamed in their entirety on video sites such as Youtube, "The Mutilator" stands at the top of the hill as one of the best forgotten slasher films of its era. A group of college friends go to take care of the lead guy's dad's house on the shoreline in the South (I believe Georgia?). Here's a first, even for slasher films: The killer is the lead guy's Dad, and this is shown to us right from when they arrive. The lead guy accidentally shot his mother when he was 10 and now his father is out for revenge on his son and the friends he brought along... pretty sick and twisted, huh! It's like Cronos decided to star in a slasher film. Well, the movie is very entertaining, the dialogue is the classic "so cheesy it'll make you smile" sort of affair, and there are some pretty great gore shots throughout the movie! Also, not to give away any spoilers, but something rather rare for a slasher film, this one has a happy ending which earns big points for me. Hard-to-find but this is a great film for fans of slashers and horror in general. Thanks for the time and peace.

while i was bored at work i decided to watch the mutilator to kill some time. the movie has a typical slasher plot for the day it was made. the movie centers around a boy who accidentally kills his mother with his father's shot gun thus causing a series of murders years later. the acting is lackluster and the kills are cheesey which is ok considering the genre of the movie; however, the happy music at the end is rather annoying.

I saw this slasher flick in my hometown theater back in 1985.I have been searching for this movie for years.Now I know why I haven't found it because they changed the name to The Mutilator.Anyway it was filmed on the coast of North Carolina and some of the stars came to my hometown(Tarboro,NC) when it opened.I still have the 45 record of the theme song "Fall Break" when I bought my ticket.What memories!!!!!!!

The Mutilator Previously released as Fall Break is another of my top 10 Slashers of all time .I have the un rated bootleg and it's fantastic as far as I'm concerned..
it has an ok plot with GREAT gory kills..it takes place at a somewhat deserted beach house instead of the woods.
Actually it has everything in it you want out of a slasher.
Something Traumatic happens years earlier then FLASH to the present and you have a disgruntled maniac on the loose cutting sawing chopping hooking and hacking teenagers to death.
Sound Good? it is..
I believe that there are plans to release this on a real DVD soon..
Grab it up while you can when released.

the mutilator is very gory very fun to watch...kid cleaning his dads guns 4 his birthday gun goes off shots his mom...yrs later dad ask son to close up the beach house...he and his friends go not knowing big ed is waiting on them...they are killed off in very good ways...give it try...horror from the 80's is the best..

I have been a big fan of The Mutilator for a while and am actually watching it as I write this review. I picked up a copy on dvd from Dragon Entertainment but it is formatted PAL. The video transfer is not the greatest in the world and the movie on a whole feels as if it were poorly lit to begin with. The plot is very standard slasher movie fare although the reason for the killer going about his business is certainly original. The death scenes are very creative and quite graphic. However, enough cannot be said of the god awful, horribly terrible song at the beginning. I would highly recommend this to any and all fans of 80s slasher movies.