The Mutilator (1984) User Reviews

Dumb but fun

[Red-Barracuda · 6/10 · 4 December 2013]

A man goes psychotic as a result of an event that occurred a decade earlier, where his son accidentally killed his wife when cleaning a gun. The boy, now a teenager, is invited by his dad to take a break with his friends at his father's seashore house. Once there, the homicidal dad starts picking them off.

You would have to say that The Mutilator is a pretty run-of-the-mill mid-80's slasher film. Like most, it has almost no story and the narrative is merely a means of linking one gory murder after another. But it does seem to me like this is one of the slightly better examples of the genre from that time in that the carnage is quite varied and it doesn't really drag too much. It knows what it is and just sticks to genre conventions but does so with enough over-the-top violence to ensure it never gets boring. There are several memorable death scenes sprinkled throughout and overall it's passably good stupid fun.

A Classic Slasher

[jamiemiller-07611 · 6/10 · 24 April 2022]

When someone asks you what makes a traditional 80's slasher, just show them The Mutilator. It has everything one would expect - cardboard characters, a secluded location, a deranged killer, bad fashions, a little nudity, a synth score, and lots of creative death scenes. It's not a great movie, but it accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do and that deserves something.

Great Effects

[kayrannells · 5/10 · 16 February 2021]

For a tiny budgeted little movie, the effects work is fantastic even when the thin script can make you scratch your head and twiddle your thumbs. Some of the actors are decent, but some are downright laughable. The killer isn't very imposing to look at, but he does some serious damage and there's a catchy theme song. The Mutilator might be middle of the road as slashers go, but there are fast worse ones out there and the effects give it that little extra bit of pizazz to give it a solid cult following.

This is actually the most expensive DVD I own... Don't judge me

[happyendingrocks · 2/10 · 6 September 2010]

Right off the bat, it's important to note that a film like this needs two ratings. If we're judging The Mutilator solely on its merits, then the 2 I've given it is actually quite generous, because this is about as thoroughly awful as films get. However, for those who love thoroughly awful cinema, The Mutilator earns a richly deserved 9, because this is truly a shining example of film so stupid and laughably inept that it ends up being amazing.

With that in mind, I'm not at all sorry that accidentally purchasing a Region 2 copy of this movie is what ultimately led me to buy an all-region DVD player.

To start identifying all of the nuances that make The Mutilator such a gloriously wretched mess, you need only to consider the premise, which centers on a group of college kids heading down to the beach for "Fall Break". You know, Fall Break... The break that happens at the same time that school starts. There's even a song about it during the opening credits, which immediately sets the tone for the mirthfully awesome journey to follow. Even before that, we're treated with a scene in which a man discovering his wife's dead body reacts as most sensible husbands would: by dragging her corpse into the next room and pouring Jack Daniels down her deceased throat. This happens about two minutes into the film, and it marks the precise instant that we know we're in for something truly special with The Mutilator.

Surely, anyone who has watched a slasher film understands that top-caliber acting ability isn't a prerequisite for being cast as an unwitting victim. However, The Mutilator features perhaps the most deliciously bad acting ensemble ever assembled. Even if there is another film I haven't seen that deserves this dicey honor, I can say with absolute certainly that Morey "Mike" Lampley is most assuredly the worst actor to appear in any movie EVER. Even a simple line like "what is this?" becomes comedic gold with Lampley's stunted delivery, and watching him pretend to have any sort of grasp on the complicated art of, well, talking, is a joy to behold. You can't help but like the little guy for trying, and each time he successfully completed a line, I found myself wanting to tell him "Good Boy" and throw him a cookie.

Most of the dialogue in the film is so pointless and banal that it seems to exist solely because writer/director Buddy Cooper figured that the rules of film-making dictated that characters are supposed to say stuff to each other. This is an actual exchange in the film:

Ed Jr.: "Do you see them?" Pam: "I saw something." Ed Jr.: "Miiike?" Ralph: "Do you see them?" Ed Jr.: "Pam saw something."

Most slasher films require the audience to suspend their disbelief and accept even the most absurd plot elements, but The Mutilator practically encourages the audience to find all the things wrong with it, and that actually becomes the funnest thing about viewing the film. For instance, consider the scene where Mike and Linda go swimming (in a pool conveniently located on the beach, naturally). While Mike frolics in the water a few yards away from Linda, our killer is able to disrobe, sneak into the pool, drown Linda, then climb the pool ladder with her corpse draped over his shoulder... All without Mike noticing anything is amiss.

I mentioned two rating systems, so it wouldn't be fair if I did this entire review without discussing the actual horror elements in the film. There's certainly no suspense to be had, since we're plainly introduced to the killer before he actually kills anyone. Unlike most films in the splatter canon, our psycho here doesn't wear a mask, isn't deformed or burned, and in fact doesn't have any sort of gruesome trait that makes him anything more than a creepy middle-aged man who sleeps with a battle-axe. (That's not outdated slang for "his wife", by the way... the killer is actually shown cuddling with a battle-axe).

The splatter effects are gory enough, but the execution isn't anything spectacular. However, the most notable kill in the film, in which one of our heroines unwillingly makes love to a very large fish hook, is a very nasty bit indeed. This gruesome scene almost seems out of place in the midst of such a funny film, but at least we can give Cooper credit for throwing something unexpected at us.

Of course, we can't ignore the "Special Appearance" by Ben Moore, who plays "Cop". As soon as I figure out who the hell Ben Moore is, I'll be able to better explain why this film was graced with his presence, and why this was worth noting so prominently in the opening credits. However, considering how silly The Mutilator is as it stands, I shudder to think of what this movie would have been without Ben there to class up the joint.

Nothing in The Mutilator elevates it out of the realm of "whoops, I accidentally made a comedy", but judged from that standpoint, the film is tremendously enjoyable and can easily be recommended to anyone who appreciates the absurdities inherent in that dubious sub-genre. Quite simply: If you love bad movies, you have found your Casablanca, my friend.

Surprisingly bland

[Heislegend · 4/10 · 17 July 2007]

Every once in a great while I absolutely agree with IMDb's rating of a movie...this is one of those times. The Mutilator isn't particularly bad. It's not particularly good. It just sort of is. I know the holiday/sleepaway camp slasher flick was a staple of '80s horror, but some added a little something different to distance themselves from the pack. Unfortunately this isn't one of those movies. This movie kind of has the look and feel of the first Evil Dead movie but without any of the things that made Evil Dead really stand out.

Just looking at the cover of this I was kind of hoping for a real exploitation flick...the kind of movie that uses the story only as a vehicle for more gore. Sadly, no. Oh sure...there's some gore but it's pretty limited and only really comes into play towards the end. For the rest of the movie we're forced to watch a very poor attempt at character development which ends up with you still not giving a crap if anyone lives or dies. And far be it from me to split hairs, but I kind of expected a movie called "The Mutilator" to feature some...oh, I don't know...mutilation. No such luck. Instead it's just a guy killing some of his son's friends in a (I can only assume) drunken rage for an accident that happened 10 years earlier. Can this guy hold a grudge or what? Oh well...it's not exactly time wasted, but there are much better films of the same era/genre out there.

A worthy rental for a night of harmless and memorable cliches!

[RareSlashersReviewed · 22 December 2001]

My guess is, if you're reading this review, you're already aware of those movies that are indeed so bad they're actually quite enjoyable. Well, THE MUTILATOR is a prime example of such a flick, at times comical and on the odd occasion impressively gruesome.

It opens grimly with a tragic and fateful accident. A young boy - who we later find out is called Ed - who's cleaning his father's rifles, accidentally fires one of them, killing his mother instantly. Daddy arrives home , and lets just say that he doesn't seem like the forgiving type! He slaps the kid round the face and points a loaded shotgun at him forcing the petrified child to flee from the house. We are then left with an effectively chilling scene showing the dad looking clearly disturbed, pouring whisky into the corpse's mouth before downing some himself. Fast forward ten years and Ed is now a wise-cracking teen. To make matters worse he's made himself some stereotypically cheesy early eighties friends that all look like they make up the perfect ingredients for a good old fashioned blood bath! Before long they're all of to close down Ed's dad's secluded beach house , and guess who's ominously creeping about armed with a chainsaw and watching them...

Ok, ok so there are certainly no Oscar nominees here (Watch out for Mike played by Morey Lampley, he's a real budding thespian!), and at times the film can seem to drag a bit - mostly in what seems like hours of character building. But what saves this surprisingly gory (in it's uncut version) little flick from becoming a total loss is how at times it manages to generate a genuinely macabre atmosphere. This is most evident when the maniac dreams of slicing his infant son's throat with a battle axe, or when he impales the heads of his victims on to spikes in a rack as if they're some kind of trophy. All the other trademark cliches are included: the clearly asthmatic killer (heavy breath, a virgin final girl, a dopey sheriff, an axe, chainsaw, pitch fork and even a giant fish hook! Mark Shostrom's gore is also a lot more visible now (in the UK prints) thanks to VIPCO's extreme version and a much more lenient censor!

So all in all not brilliant but not rubbish either, a worthy rental for a night of harmless and memorable cliches!

Subpar 80's slasher taking place on a reef island on the East Coast

[Wuchakk · 4/10 · 12 June 2021]

A group of college youths consisting of three couples celebrate Fall Break by going to a beach house at Atlantic Beach, North Carolina. Unfortunately the psycho father of the protagonist (Matt Mitler) is lurking about with deadly bedlam in mind.

"The Mutilator" (1984), originally titled "Fall Break," is a more conventional slasher than "The Slayer" (1982), both of which share an excellent setting (East Coast reef island and corresponding beach house), but the latter is more haunting and original.

This one contains the typical tropes of 80's slashers and is a little gorier than most, but it fumbles the ball in several areas, like some glaringly unbelievable sequences. For instance, a couple goes skinny dipping in a quiet indoor pool at night with low lighting, but are blithely unconscious that a large person enters the pool, swims around, and is easily able to apprehend one of them WITHOUT THE OTHER BEING AWARE OF IT. There are too many eye-rolling scenes like this, which shows that the filmmakers didn't respect the intelligence of the viewers.

Another issue is that the female cast, while a'right, is inferior to any Friday the 13th flick you care to name. Connie Rogers as Sue is arguably the best (with a nod to Frances Raines as Linda), but the filmmakers fail to take advantage of her presence (and I'm not talking 'bout nudity or sleaze, just knowing how to effectively film women).

Another issue is the utterly repellent scene involving the murder of one of the girls and a gigantic fish hook (a gaff), which is easily the most sickening, misogynistic scene in any 80's horror flick. However, like I said, the gore is well-done if that's your thang. It's just that the filmmakers put the bulk of their skills into quality gore effects at the expense of an interesting story.

This one's rather tedious and one-dimensional despite the positive elements. Any Friday the 13th flick is leagues superior, which explains why that series was so popular. Even the micro-budget "Butchered" (2010), which was also shot on a reef island in North Carolina, is significantly better.

The film runs 1 hour, 26 minutes, and was shot in the area of Atlantic Beach, North Carolina.

GRADE: C/C-

Cliche City, but Fun

[kennymasterson · 6/10 · 14 October 2020]

A young boy accidentally kills his mother while playing with his father's gun. Distraught, his father has a break from reality and, years later, the young man takes his college buddies to his family's beach house for a little fall break fun and his father shows up, still angry at what his son did, so he decides to punish him and his friends by going on a bloody rampage.

You have to put together a lot of pieces yourself as you watch The Mutilator. Where has this nutty father been all this time? Why did he pick now to go on a killing spree? This movie isn't one for nuanced character development and deep psychological insight, but the murder scenes are a gory delight and a few scenes crackle with some suspense.

A distilled version of every other 1980s slasher

[nickjones-96546 · 5/10 · 28 October 2021]

Stop me if you've heard this one.

A group of horny teenagers head out to a remote location to have some fun, but they begin to realize that something is terribly wrong as one by one they begin to disappear, picked off by a deranged killer bent on slaughtering them all! Yes, that's the basic plot of the vast majority of slasher movies and Fall Break/The Mutilator is perhaps the most generic example in the history of horror. That's not a criticism per se, there's something to be said for a film that is the ultimate condensation of a genre. You go in knowing exactly what to expect and you get precisely that, with no surprises, deviations, or winking self-aware subversions. If you've seen other slasher films there's nothing new for you here, but this is something that can easily be pulled out for your less genre-savvy friends for some mild scares and modest blood.

GOOD RUBBISH

[AChantry · 6/10 · 18 May 1999]

This film is many in a line of trash horror films. When I first read the back of the video box I laughed, six teenagers going on their summer vacation. Cliche? If you are a fan of rubbish horror films then you'll love this, the acting is so bad it's good. The characters begin to get on your nerves eventually with their pole up their backside style acting, and you begin to wish for them to get killed, which in turn makes the film even better as you egg on the killer, "go on ram a knife through his all American face...go on...go on...YES!!!" If you watch this film expecting Oscar winning performances then you'll be sorely disappointed, having said that, if you watch this for any kind of performance whatsoever you'll be disappointed. The violence is over the top and it's great. It's the only saving grace of the film. However, all this aside, if you don't expect too much, then you'll be rewarded.

I can relate to this movie

[TheOldGuyFromHalloween3 · 4/10 · 8 July 2021]

I also shot a hole in my mom and later cut my dad in half at his beach house. Ah memories.

The essence of an 80's slasher film

[FrightMeter · 9/10 · 28 April 2006]

I like this film, and am not afraid to admit it. In fact, it ranks among my favorite slasher flicks of the 80's. Note, I didn't say the BEST of the 80's-I said one of my favorites.

In my mind, this film captures perfectly the essence of an 80's slasher film! Violent, over the top gore, cheesy dialog and acting, and an ominous setting all make this film stand as a model for a decent slasher flick.

In an unique plot, a young boy accidentally shoots and kills his mother on his father's birthday. The father never forgives his young son, and years later, he sends him a letter telling his son that he needs to go to their beach house to close it down. The son decides this would be a good getaway for him, his girlfriend, and two other couples. Unbeknowst to them, the father is waiting at the beach house with an array of garden and fishing instruments ready for use on the teens.

To get the full effect of this film, you HAVE to see the unrated version. This is crucial, as the rated R version cuts out much of the gore and the lighting is terrible. To say this is a gory movie is the understatement of the year. The unrated version holds nothing back, and this film contains one of the most disturbing deaths (the fishhook!!) in slasher flick history. I also like the dark, foreboding mood of the flick. The deserted beach fronts makes for a spooky, tense setting.

This film is often criticized for the acting and cheesiness of the dialog; in my opinion, those things come with the genre. Overall, I would recommend this flick to any horror fan, particularly younger ones who have been turned on to the genre by recent flicks such as "Hostel" and "Wolf Creek." You will see where many of the current slasher flicks got their roots. My bold rating 9 out of 10.

Fall Break

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 29 September 2021]

Fall Break - it seems this could have been another title the movie could have gotten. But whatever you may think of it - the title Mutilator is quite apt and really fitting.

The effects have quite aged well. They really work nice. The story is ... well not really note-worthy. Overall you won't find this more enticing than other slasher movie "stories". But if you focus on the effects as the movie does and begs you too ... you will be more than entertained.

Amateurish and Low-Budget Slasher with Good Special Effects

[claudio_carvalho · 5/10 · 19 September 2022]

On the day of his father's birthday, the boy Ed decides to clean his father's hunting rifle and accidentally shoots and kills his mother that was baking a cake in the kitchen. His father Ed Sr. (Jack Chatham) is mentally affected by the incident. Years later, Ed (Matt Mitler) is in a bar with college friends and they do not know what to do in the holidays, since they have not reserved any place to go. Out of the blue, Ed receives a phone call from his estranged father that asks him to close his fishing house in an island since it is off season. His friends invite themselves to go with him and spend a couple of days on the beach. Ed drives to the island with his girlfriend Pam (Ruth Martinez) and the couples Ralph (Bill Hitchcock) and Sue (Connie Rogers), and Mike (Morey Lampley) and Linda (Frances Raines). They find the house open and an ax missing, but do not report to the police. Further, there is noone in the island but them. Soon a killer starts to kill them one by one and hang them in a locker in the house garage. Who might be the serial-killer?

"The Mutilator" is an amateurish and low-budget slasher with good special effects. The unknown cast is histrionic, but the girls are very beautiful. The storyline is very simple and gives only the reason for a haywire man to kill guests in his house. The deaths are original, like in most movies of the slasher genre. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "O Mutilador" ("The Mutilator")

Some Flaws but The Gore Is Top-Notch

[Michael_Elliott · 10 October 2015]

The Mutilator (1984)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

A young boy named Ed is cleaning his father's gun for his birthday but while cleaning it the thing goes off killing his mother. From this point on the father has nothing to do with Ed. Flash forward several years and Ed is in college when he gets a call from his father out of nowhere. The father asks for Ed to return to a beach front property and close it down for the winter. Ed takes along his girlfriend and four other friends but soon they start to get violently murdered.

THE MUTILATOR has a pretty big following among people who enjoy the slasher boom that happened from 1980-84. I'm a major slasher fan but for the most part there were a lot of movies that were made to try and get some of the box office dollars. More times than not these films were poorly made, poorly shot and featured very little gore. They were just cheap C movies that were thrown into theaters for a quick buck. THE MUTILATOR isn't one of those movies as it's fairly well-made, features a nice cast and best of all is that it actually delivers on the gore.

One thing that did surprise me about this film is that it really doesn't try to play up a mystery aspect. We're pretty much told from the start what to expect and we see who the killer is pretty early on. The screenplay spends way too much time with the characters as the murders are spread out quite a bit and there are some logical issues but I guess this here is to be expected. I think the film really benefits from the six main characters being likable and you at least don't mind hanging out with them while you wait for them to be slaughtered.

Of course, when it comes to a slasher the most important thing is the actual kills and THE MUTILATOR is a major success here. In fact, I'm really surprised that these effects got past the MPAA because they are rather graphic and gory. This includes a decapitation but the highlight of the film involves a hook. I'll just leave it at that but it's certainly very cringe-worthy and contains a great amount of blood. THE MUTILATOR certainly isn't a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination but it's a good slasher.

Like The Production Co. That Produced It--OK

[thomandybish-15114 · 5/10 · 10 September 2020]

I gave this picture 5 stars--dead center (a good slasher title, now that I think about it). Which is the quality of THE MUTILATOR aka FALL BREAK--mediocre. The flick does have some cred with me for being shot in my home state of NC, so it can go in that venerable hall of acclaim with FINAL EXAM and THE BODY SHOP (look that one up). It's technically fine--the director and crew seem to have known how to keep boom mike shadows out of the shots--but the tone veers back and forth between PORKY'S inspired levity and mild menace a little too much for my taste. After the prologue, we wait nearly 40 minutes (in a 1 hour, 26 minute film) for the first kill. Fortunately, the acting is competent, with the two leads coming out the best. The supporting players are fine, but their heavy eastern NC accents can be distracting. The final act contains all the goodies, as we get the full force gore we've be languishing in a wasteland of TV-sitcom level comedy and middling suspense for. One detail that sets this one apart: we know upfront who the killer is (who, by the way, has no dialogue--wonder why?) Watchable, but hardly extraordinary.

Competent

[garyrogers-67484 · 5/10 · 11 December 2021]

The Mutilator is basically like every other cabin in the woods movie except that this cabin is a condo by the sea instead. Characterizations are just as slight, but there is some mood and the death scenes are almost all showstoppers which is probably where it got its reputation from. If that's all you're looking for, The Mutilator will deliver.

Noooooo!!

[rorsman · 1/10 · 6 November 2001]

"What's this?" was the first thing I thought. A movie with an awesome cover, and now this. One of the worst movies ever made. A dull story, poor actors (one of the actors looks like George Michael) and not very good effects. There are some really nice scenes in the end..but that doesn't make this movie a good one. yuck.

Great Gore If Nothing More

[ellenmorrison-12485 · 7/10 · 23 October 2021]

Years after he accidentally shot his mother to death, a college kid and his friends go to this family's beach house for fall break and are stalked by his psychotic father who never got over his son's one big mistake.

If you were to look up "80's slasher film" in a textbook, I wouldn't be surprised if The Mutilator was the first to come up. It meets all the requirements and cliches people think about when they think 80's slasher film. The young victims are reasonably attractive and poorly developed, the film is low budget, there's nudity, tons of gore, and a fairly short run time. If you don't take it too seriously, you could end up enjoying it.

Another tacky slasher from the 1980s

[Maciste_Brother · 2/10 · 9 September 2003]

THE MUTILATOR is just another slasher in the endless number of slashers made during the 1980s. This one is particularly tacky. The acting is bad (some more than others) and the story is as complex as a Bazooka bubble gum joke. The only redeeming aspect of this horror flick wannabe is the gore. Though not always convincing, the gore is much more present than most slashers of the same period. This includes a blond guy (really bad actor) who gets a chainsaw in his stomach or a girl getting a huge fish hook through her crotch. Ick. Aside from the gore, the film is totally unremarkable. There's a scene at an indoor pool, which is drawn out and not very satisfying. And the ending is more funny than shocking. The beginning of the film, with the boy killing his mom by accident, is probably the only original aspect in the entire film. But just after that, when we see the title of the movie (red and dripping like blood), we hear a typically bad 1980s pop song as the opening credit roll. Well, that really sets us in the mood for a horror movie...not! Compare this tacky credits with the one in HALOOWEEN and it's obvious to see that the folks who made THE MUTILATOR knew very little about horror.

Give This One A Try ...

[Steve_Nyland · 7/10 · 13 May 2006]

Slasher movies are of course awful, the trick is to find examples of the genre that are aware of that and have fun with the knowledge that when all is said and done, the worse the better. The more gore, lurid sleaze, trashy garbage and splattered boobs the better. A sick sense of humor also helps, and Buddy Cooper is one sick bastard by the looks of his film.

THE PLOT: A loser 12 year old kid accidentally blows his mom away on his dad's birthday after managing to find that one gun on the hunting rack left loaded by mistake. Pop's response is to silently plunk down in a chair, crack open a filth of Jack Daniels, pin a birthday note on his wife's corpse, and start pounding the sauce. Flip forward ten years or so and the loser kid has now blossomed into a full blown preppie dork, has a bunch of cretinous, loser friends equally worthless as himself, a girlfriend who can't seem to figure out how to start a car when someone is trying to chop her head off, and the Popster hands over the keys to a beach-front house just perfect to stalk, torture, kill, and mutilate people inside & around of. The idea is that the doofus will go "lock up for the winter", but in reality it's a set-up for the old man to ... well, kill everybody. Is it revenge? Is it for kicks? He never says, and that's one of the things that makes the movie work. I don't want to get to know my serial/spree killers as Jasons or Freddys or Mr. Meyers', I want to watch the carnage and then have them perish horribly without uttering a single word to explain their actions. SCORE!!

If you think I am spoiling the fun you have about seventy-four thousand movies to catch up on: The structural needs of a Slasher/Hacker flick are quite minimal -- Select a group of tight panted coeds & their dislike-able idiot boyfriends, part them from society some place where the can't get help, give them unlikeable qualities so we won't feel bad about their being killed, and have some drooling, sadistic, half-retarded barbarian mutant psychopath chop them into bits. Considerations like character development, plausibility, skill in film-making and a story that will resonate within viewers are usually hindrances with this formula (THE BURNING being a major exception) and Mr. Cooper does not waste a single frame of celluloid trying to do anything more than put a group of dingbats into harms way, arm some wacko with a razor sharp ax (as well as a giant fishhook, various handyman's tools and what appears to be one of those Roto-Rooter tools) and let him start swingin'. Allow 6 to 10 minutes for some nudity and or sex, add stuff like irresponsible drinking, off-color humor, pathetic acting and plenty of pulsating blood and we have ourselves a minor classic.

A really awful theme song ("We're Gonna Have A Good Time") only helps matters, and actually is at odds with the usual fare in this kind of a sewer. We're used to those droning synthesizer scores pulsated by the sound of a knife swishing through the air but instead, we get a Huey Lewis & The News ripoff. The film also has an odd predilection for having it's male cast members tie their sweaters around their necks like nobody I ever knew in 1985 ... Actually, we'd beat preppie idiots like that up for being powder-puff losers, so it goes without saying that one of the pleasures of watching this film is the vicarious pleasure of seeing all those Izod shirted jerks from the 10th grade -- and their annoying but nevertheless attractive girlfriends -- lose various limbs, heads, and other appendages. Bonus points for having the prom queen popular girl pick up the giant fish hook and ask "What's that?"

"Well honey, if the perverted maniac making this film has his act together, we will get to see you skewered on it like a guppy."

Mr. Cooper does not disappoint, and the version to seek out is a German made DVD from Dragon Films which contains the entire film's uncensored length, complete with an over-the-top finale that is Grand Guginol in it's perfection. I will admit that the first thirty minutes or so will test the patience of anyone with a shred of intelligence who does not follow Slasher/Hacker epics & revel in how utterly insipid of an art form it is, but stick with this one!! The production standards may not be up to the Freddy Kreuger variety of mass manufactured Slasher baloney most people are used to, but the film is as brutal, degrading, luridly perverse, entertainingly trashy and admirably scummy as any of them, and far more imaginative than most.

7/10

The Turdilator

[ianmutimer · 2/10 · 3 March 2007]

Once again i have let myself down by being duped into watching another horror movie of this quality. I was duped by the amount of people on the internet that have included it in their 'Top Ten Best Horror Movies'. I am glad the people on here see sense and gave it an average of 3.9 - damn straight! I don't think it was lame enough to be funny.

So this kid accidentally shoots his Mum, fair enough, it happens. But his Dad comes home and starts beating him without even asking a question then he gives his dead wife a drink of liquor...OK?! The acting is about as good as the storyline - some guy is hiding in a garage and kills a bunch of kids staying there. In this movie the word 'mutilated' means the killer starting up a chainsaw and then the victim jumping up and down on the spot for a minute or chopping a head off a blatant crash test dummy that looks nothing like the real person). The actors sometimes say something and then just stare into space like there's another line coming...only there never is, which is quite amusing. One of the characters is the usual 'I'm the funny man' guy who tells the same stupid jokes, which are simply mimicking people in a high pitch voice. Oh once last thing - when they go out in turn looking for one another - by themselves, naturally, they all make a beeline to look for them in the garage, even though there is nothing to suggest anyone is in there? After the guy has killed everyone, he then gets decapitated himself - then the main character sees him and shouts 'Dad!' - that struck me as somewhat belated seeing as this malarkey had been going on for a few days? Watch if you want. My advice is DON'T. Watch 'The Burning' - best 80's horror i have ever seen. No kidding.

Nasty slasher with some amusing moments.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 8/10 · 13 February 2004]

Buddy Cooper's "The Mutilator" is just another decent slasher film.Of course the acting is completely awful and the film is extremely predictable and unoriginal,but the gore effects made by Mark Shostrom are excellent.There is a bloody decapitation,a pretty good pitch forking and death by chainsaw.The scene where the girl is impaled with a huge fish hook through the crotch is pretty nasty and gruesome,but not particularly explicit.Overall,I enjoyed "The Mutilator" and you should too,if you like gory slasher films.My rating:7 out of 10.Check it out.

The Plan 9 for the 1980's!!!

[TheRowdyMan · 6/10 · 27 July 2000]

In my perfect world, the name Buddy Cooper would be mentioned in the same breath as other 'so-bad-it's-good' geniuses like Ed Wood and Herschell Gordon Lewis. And like these misguided visionaries, the "masterpieces" they left behind set new standards in bad cinema that the likes of Troma have since tried to replicate. In short, 'The Mutilator' is to 80's slasher movies what 'Plan 9 From Outer Space' was to 50's sci-fi.

The story is not an original one: a group of teenagers on fall break, (which was the original title of the movie – keeping with the tradition of naming slasher movies after public holidays) stay at an isolated beach house were they're stalk by the psychopathic owner. In this case, the owner is father of Ed, one of the teen victims. As we are told in the films opening scene: while cleaning his father's rifle for a surprise present, the gun accidentally goes off and kills his mother (who just happened to be passing by). This sends the father around the bend and craving revenge on young Ed ("Sure dad will let us use the beach house").

Words could not express how bad this film really is (and for a slasher movie, that's saying something). Every aspect of this oft forgotten gem is bad: the acting, direction, script even the films title theme, an upbeat little bubblegum pop tune called "Fall Break" has cheese appeal. We don't get any sane expiation on why Ed is taking his friends to his deranged fathers holiday house. This just aids to the films aimlessness as it throws in every slasher movie cliché in the book. This is topped off (via some extreme violence) with a strangely upbeat credits sequence complete with the 'Fall Break' pop song and "hilarious" outtakes!!!

Recommend for any slasher or bad movie night, it's a classic!

Hard Work and Dedication Did Not Pay Off

[dagonseve · 1/10 · 16 October 2010]

Originally entitled "Fall Break" but changed due to marketing advice based on the time of its release, The Mutilator is a Slasher, like others in the sub-genre that has generated a cult following. The film's director, Buddy Cooper, wanted desperately to make his own film – he did not have any prior film-making experience. Initially working with a budget of $80,000, he soon realized that money was disappearing quickly so he worked with the bank and took out another loan in addition to maxing out two credit cards. The grand total that was spent on the film would tally up to $450,000, giving insight to fans of cinema on how much time and money goes into making a movie. It's a shame that the outcome of The Mutilator isn't more memorable. In my opinion, it becomes lost among several of its kind. The short answer lies in the fact that Buddy Cooper did not undergo a mission to produce a horror movie in particular; just a movie in general. It seems as though the genre as a whole is a playground for inexperienced individuals. It's no surprise that the Slasher genre most of all is a wasteland of excuse- to-make-a-film entries.

The story opens with a young boy named Ed, who, for his father's birthday, takes it upon himself to clean the gun cabinet. After removing one of the rifles from the protective encasement, Ed aims it at the kitchen door and pulls the trigger; blasting his mother in the spine, resulting in a fatal injury. Shortly thereafter, Ed's father comes home and witnesses the accursed scene – slapping the boy across the face. He proceeds to sink down upon the floor while staring out blankly until the police arrive. The film shifts focus to many years later during Ed's college years. Ed and a group of friends are looking for a good time during Fall break until an opportunity arises – Ed's father notifies him after several years of estrangement to meet up at a secluded beach house. Ed and the gang embark on a journey to spend a couple of fun-filled days at the house but reality's grim expression rears its head – Ed's father suffers from psychological issues pertaining to the death of his wife many years earlier. He has chosen to blame Ed for the accidental shooting and viciously murder his friends singlehandedly.

It's fitting that we should discuss the opening credits early on in this review – they're uninspiring. This is compounded with the visage of a hideous-looking, color-by-numbers title card. The affair reminds me of the opening segments of an episode of Bosom Buddies or some other comparable '80s sitcom. At one point there's a freeze-framed shot then quickly snapped back into action as one of the characters mouths off a funny one-liner. Oh, that Ralph! He's so zany! This probably stands as one of corniest methods to a horror film that I've ever seen. It goes to show Cooper's inexperience as a film director to think that this sort of cheese would fly. The opening song is entitled "Fall Break" for reasons listed above – it exists in limited copies on record that are currently collecting dust in Buddy Cooper's garage.

The death sequences are largely looked at as being original, credited to the various murderous devices. I've seen far too many Slasher films from this era to praise this film for any sort of ingenuity. The lead special effects makeup artist on the set, Mark Shostrom, displayed his talents wonderfully despite how unoriginal the death sequences are. Shostrom has an impressive resume and his relevance and contribution to horror is equally praise-worthy.

The players in The Mutilator were unknown semi-professionals in 1985 and currently still are (in terms of acting, of course). The film was shot on location at Atlantic Beach, North Carolina so some of the acting talent was picked up locally. The lead actor who plays Ed, Matt Mitler, is easily the best one of the lot but the span of his acting career was a short one. The biggest issue I had was how ridiculously over-sold the death pantomimes were…they are truly appalling. One character in particular is surprised by a chainsaw and shredded by its rotating blades. His death rattle and violent seizures are spastically similar to a drunken bar patron riding a mechanical bull. Essentially, the crew of The Mutilator would go on to have successful careers…while the actors, and especially the director, would fade into obscurity. A similar fate besieged numerous fledgling thespians at the height of the Slasher era.

I had the pleasure of watching the unrated version of The Mutilator; a copy that is highly sought after because a censored version, known as the VIPCO copy, is still running amok in the horror card catalog. According to an interview I watched with Buddy Cooper, conducted in 2008, there are several segments of cut footage that do not exist on any known copy. Code Red, a film distribution company, has announced a few years ago that a new DVD release is in production. As of 2010, fans of The Mutilator are still waiting.

What's left to be said about The Mutilator? The first half of the film is paced so dreadfully slow that no amount of gory pay-off is worth the trouble. The carnage is well done for what it is; a sentiment that should repeat itself for miles. Unfortunately Cooper and the gang managed to output another typical, clichéd, re-hasher, that's only likable to the underground crowds who fully acknowledge that it sucks - which, if you think about it, seems a lot like showing interest in something only because it seems cool to do so. The Mutilator is garbage… top-tiered garbage. If you enjoy trash for what it is like other "Fall Break" supporters, you may find what you've been looking for.