Customer Reviews

Shriek of Mutilated

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

 

 

The sister film of cinema's greatest achievement; "Invasion of the Blood Farmers", "Shriek.." is a near masterpiece of schlock cinema. Not to mention a delight for all Jack Nuebeck fans, see Jack sing! See jack do a W.C Fields impression! See Jack DIE! Anyway, this hilarious (unintenionlly so) film is produced by Ed Adlum the writer/director behind "Blood Farmers", and even shares some cast, like...Jack Nuebeck baby!!
Moving along...seems its time to resurrect the accursed custom of field trips to Boot Island (you know, the one that's shaped rather like a potato) to search for the dreaded Yeti. Thats right, a field trip to upstate New York to search for the Yeti, that elusive creature who waits for Earnst yet! (See the movie). Well as is often the case in Yeti field trips, all is not as it seems, and students beginng dropping like flies.
You have got to see this beautiful mess. It's hilarious (though not as great as "Blood Farmers", starring...Jack Nuebeck!). Camera work, sound , acting (particularly Jack Nuebeck!), make-up (check out the Yeti's sneakers!) are all first rate....bad. Personal favorites: the nervous, line flubbing nonactor Gas Station Attendant, the very queeny "woodsman" host (the expedition consists of walking around his backyard alot), the "indian" Laughing Crow, and of course...every second of ridiculous dialogue.
So, grab a bear trap, or a least a fair sized wolf trap, get a nice warm bowl of Jin-Sung, and watch "Shriek of the Mutilated" with someone you love ( or anyone from Corsica) tonight! Bye now.

Shriek of the Mutilated (Michael Findlay, 1974)

There is one thing certain about this film. After watching it, you will never view Thanksgiving dinner the same way again.

Michael Findlay, most famous for the 1976 shocker Snuff (his last film, soon after the shooting of which he was killed in a helicopter accident), spent the beginning of his career making grade-Z "erotic thrillers" (read: softcore porn with a small modicum of plot) with almost no budget. Shriek of the Mutilated was (as far as I can tell) his sole foray into the world of the straight thriller. The only bare legs one is likely to find in this film are those of a mythical snow beast. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Shot with the same grade-Z budget as the rest of Findlay's films, Shriek of the Mutilated is about a college anthropology professor, Ernst Prell (the late Alan Brock), who takes a group of students into the mountains over winter break in order to hunt for the famous Yeti. Prell has been hunting the Yeti for decades without success, he tells his entourage, who are going with him mainly in order to get some extra partying in when they don't have annoying classes getting in the way. Or so they think. Even before they get out into the wilderness, bad things start to happen, and the crew are picked off one by one in various inventive ways (including death by toaster, in one of the film's most memorable scenes, and one that has been imitated a number of times in horror films since-the 1995 shocker Jacko, in fact, pays almost shot-for-shot homage to it).

It will surprise no one who had actually seen the film that this was the first and last screen appearance for most of the so-called actors herein. Jack Neubeck, who plays the "main" student, was in Findlay's similarly horrid Invasion of the blood Farmers, and lead nymphet Jennifer Stock surfaced, albeit briefly, in the splatter film classic Bloodsucking Freaks. The rest of `em? Forget it. Which is not a bad thing, as most of them deliver their lines as if reading from a teleprompter after taking too many Quaaludes. Obviously, Findlay's "erotic thriller" expertise came in handy there. The sets are obviously fake, the monster is even more obviously a guy in a rubber suit than was the guy in some of the Godzilla movies, etc. I'd be surprised if the total budget for this movie (in 1974 dollars, mind you) was five grand.

Now all of that should point you to the fact that this film would have made great Mystery Science Theater 3000 fodder, had it been available at any time during the show's run. And that is certainly the case; Joel and the bots trashed far finer films than this dog. That being the case, why do I adore this movie so very much? It's hard to explain. I first saw it on late-night television in seventh grade and became so obsessed with it I earned the nickname "Shriek" for the rest of the school year. That was over twenty years ago, and before the film's release (finally!) on DVD in June of 2003, I hadn't seen it again. Yet there were still scenes from the movie that were stuck in my mind as plain as day. And upon viewing the movie for the first time in twenty years, I found I still had every detail correct. And the film was just as gloriously bad, and as memorable, as it was two decades previously. I can't tell you why it is. It's not extreme horror in the Men Behind the Sun sense of the word, the kind of thing that traumatizes its way into your nightmares. Nor is it uncomfortable horror that just plain scares the daylights out of you. For that matter, it's more comedy than horror most of the time. But there's still something lurking under the surface there, and whatever it is, it will cause this movie to stick with you. In fact, it may stick with you for twenty years or more. *** ½

Amateurish, but unrelentingly bizarre horror movie about a group of graduate students who travel to the Pacific Northwest in search of the Abominable Snowman, who ends up looking suspiciously like the Shaggy D.A. Terrible in pretty much every respect, but so offbeat and unpredictable you can't take your eyes off it. After the surprising (and totally incoherent) butcher knife/toaster-in-the-bathtub bloodbath in the first fifteen minutes, you're hooked. A must-see for bad movie buffs.

One of my personal favorite trash horror movies, a true classic from the early toaster-killing scene to the climactic twist (that too many rotten film guides casually give away!). Also of note is the piece of a guy's leg that's obviously a t-bone steak! The premise is all too familiar: Four teenagers - a straight-arrow, his girlfriend, the wild & crazy guy, and the nerdy girl in big glasses take off in a big van with wavy flowers on it to find the abominable snowman ... I mean, how many episodes of 'Scooby-Doo' did they watch before making this?! And the closing line just clinches it. An awesome, awesome trash/gore classic!

Hey now, don't get me wrong, but Shriek of the Mutilated WAS actually one of my favorite 70's schlocky horror films, till Retromedia did it up and had to leave out the song Popcorn due to copywrite problems? Instead they toss in some other groovy fake rock'n'roll to cover that scene, which is pretty obvious and borderline blasphemy. I'm glad I still have my Lightning Video version on VHS, because if I recall it actually is more watchable than this. Generally Retromedia does a good job with what they have to work with but where did they get the print they did this from? Not the best I've seen from them and frankly if I can't watch Shriek of the Mutilated in its original form then it's not the same movie. The basic storyline is Yeti Hunting on some island, only Yeti Hunting is only a cover for something more sinister, if you can imagine what THAT might be. Overall a good feel and like I said, this IS one of my favorite movies, really and truly, but Retromedia really hosed this one.

It was great to see a trailer included on this disc. The classic song "popcorn" is missing from the party scene and has been replaced by a really lame keyboard-type tune trying to sound 70's. That flaw aside, the film is still as great as late night TV and drive in viewers remember it. The ending can still stun certain people.

I saw this movie for the first time years ago and really enjoyed it.I recently saw it again for the first time in years and even though it is kind of cheesy,I still enjoyed it nonetheless.It might not be for everyone but if you get the chance,give it a look.

As a normal movie this is dreadful. As a grindhouse classic it's one of the best. A moth-eaten white bigfoot costume, cannibals, a crazy murder sequence that seems to be from another film...what's not to love? Well, bad acting, cinematography, really bad acting, did I mention the acting? It's curiously watchable though I can't really recommend it to anyone except those who like this sort of thing. Best watched with a beer in one hand and the fast forward remote in the other.

SHRIEK OF THE MUTILATED concerns a group of yeti-hunters led by professor Prell. This zero-budget schlocker has it's moments, especially the hilarious breadknife / toaster-in-the-tub sequence, and the "shock" ending! Of course, this mostly looks like someone's home movie, and some things that may have been outrageous 30+ years ago are pretty funny now! I've heard SOTM touted as being in the same league as TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT. Um, no. Still, it is enjoyable enough if you're in the mood for some cheese...

I first saw this film in the early 1980s on late night tv, and it's stayed with me ever since. This is one of the most ineptly produced movies I've ever seen...and I love it! If you enjoy laughing at really bad films, you'll have a great time with this one.

What's the DVD like? The transfer is pretty bad, but this isn't surprising as this version has been pieced together from various film and video prints in order to present the most complete version possible. Unfortunately, the song 'Popcorn' has been omitted because of rights issues. This is a great shame as the popcorn party scene was a highlight for me when I first saw it. The song has been replaced by some nondescript muzak.

It's still worth the purchase price as there's a lot of fun to be had having a chuckle at this movie.