Mutant (film)

Last updated
Mutant
Mutant1984.jpg
Original poster designed by Design Projects, Inc.
Directed by John "Bud" Cardos
Screenplay by
  • Peter Z. Orton
  • Michael Jones
  • John C. Kruize
Story by
  • Michael Jones
  • John C. Kruize
Produced by Igo Kantor
Starring
CinematographyAlfred Taylor
Edited byMichael J. Duthie
Music by Richard Band
Distributed by Film Ventures International
Release date
  • August 24, 1984 (1984-08-24)
Running time
99 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2.5-3 million [1] [2]

Mutant is a 1984 American horror film. It was initially released to theaters as Night Shadows, but it premiered on video with the Mutant title, which it has retained for all subsequent releases.

Contents

Plot

Brothers Josh and Mike are enjoying a vacation in the South when they are run off the road by Al and a few of his friends. They eventually make it to a small town whose inhabitants are getting sick and some are disappearing. They meet Sheriff Will who takes them to a bed and breakfast to stay for the night. As they're sleeping, something comes from under Mike's bed and drags him down.

Josh begins looking through town to find his brother. He meets a schoolteacher named Holly who agrees to help. As they leave the school, they hear strange noises in a storage room. As Josh checks it out, a body of a decomposed schoolgirl falls on him. Al (who is a custodian) accuses him of murder and chases him off, leaving with Holly to her uncle's place where he recovers from the toxic reaction from the girl. As Will is about to take the body to the coroner, he's convinced by Dr. Myra to let her get the body for a night, hoping that she can find out what is causing the sicknesses and other strange happenings.

Will goes to the schoolgirl's residence, where he sees the lightbulbs removed and all the red meat sucked dry. He then finds the dying father. As the Captain makes his way to the house, the body is suddenly gone. Believing that he's been drinking again, the Captain fires Will. As Dr. Myra begins recording her autopsy, her assistant suddenly becomes a mutant and attacks her.

Next morning Josh and Holly head out to a plant that some chemical company just opened a few weeks ago, thinking that this could be the cause of the sickness. As he sneaks in, he finds them dumping toxic waste into the hole before he gets spotted. Holly is able to drive into the building, causing the distraction, allowing Josh and Holly to escape. Will is reluctant to believe their story, but when he sees Holly's uncle become a mutant, they formulate a plan to get the girls body and take it to the capital to get backup.

Josh heads back to the bed and breakfast to search for Mike. He ends up finding his dead body in the basement. As he's being attacked by the owner's mutant daughter, Josh is able to break out of the basement and throw her mother down there. As Will and Holly enter Dr. Myra's office, they are attacked by mutants. Holly is able to escape, while Will barricades himself in a room where he see the deceased Dr. Myra. Holly goes to the school to chase down a student named Billy. As they try to leave, a large group of mutant children corner them in a stall of a bathroom. The mutants kill Billy, but Josh arrives in time to rescue Holly. They head back to Dr. Myra's office to look for Will, but they can only find his hat and gun. As they try to leave, they are surrounded by mutants and are forced to hide inside a gas station.

Josh and Holly start making Molotov cocktails so they can make an escape. However, Al was hiding in there as well and attacks Holly. This causes Josh and Al to fight, allowing the mutants to hear them and attack. They kill Al while Josh and Holly are forced into a corner. Suddenly, a large group of state police cars surround the gas station shining their lights. The mutants become blinded and confused, allowing the police to kill them. Will appears telling them how he got the girls body to the capital as well as getting confessions from the chemical plant employees.

A news story appears on a radio detailing the incident in town. They also mention the chemical company starting a new facility somewhere else.

Cast

Production

During production,Mutant went through several title changes including Night Shadows and Toxic Waste as well as differing approaches to the material. [2] Mark Rosman was originally hired to direct but was falling behind schedule due to his precise and methodical shooting approach that also removed flexiability during the editing process. [2] Producer Edward L. Montoro then sent in John "Bud" Cardos to shadow Rosman before eventually hiring Cardos to replace him with Cardos given only a day's worth of prep time. [2] Cardos had previously stepped in for Tobe Hooper on the troubled horror production, The Dark , another Film Ventures International production. [2]

Home media

The film was available on CED in the 1980s. The film is available on DVD from several different distributors. DVDs released by both Elite Entertainment and Genius Products, under license from Liberation Entertainment, each show the film in widescreen. In the United Kingdom, a DVD was made available from Hollywood DVD. A second DVD was released in the UK from Boulevard Entertainamet on April 2, 2007. It has been released on a European region free Blu-ray with no special features. In 2016 American company Code Red films released a limited edition restored 4K transfer of the film on Blu-ray. Special features include an on-camera interview with actors Bo Hopkins and Lee Montgomery, an audio commentary with Lee Montgomery, Igo Kantor and director John Bud Cardos, and the original theatrical trailer. The film is also on the "200 Tales of Terror" DVD set released by Mill Creek Entertainment.

Soundtrack

The film score by Richard Band was released by Perseverance Records on April 28, 2008. It is an expanded release of the original score album, released by Intrada Records in 1993 (previously available as an LP for Varèse Sarabande). The score, performed by the National Philharmonic Orchestra, has been highly acclaimed over the years for its massive size, often lyrical scope and a surprisingly melodic nature.

Reception

Writing in The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, Peter Dendle called it a "fairly humorless and uncomplicated zombie invasion exercise" that is "derivative and unnecessary". [3]

The movie was riffed on May 7, 2012 by Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy & Bill Corbett of Rifftrax. [4]

The film holds a 20% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 5 reviews [5]

Related Research Articles

I, Zombie: The Chronicles of Pain is a film which was released by Fangoria Films in 1998; it was written, directed, produced and scored by Andrew Parkinson. It tells the story of a young man who gets infected by being bitten by a zombie and gradually starts turning into one himself.

<i>Day of the Dead 2: Contagium</i> 2005 American film

Day of the Dead 2: Contagium is a 2005 horror film written by Ana Clavell and directed by Clavell and James Dudelson, starring Justin Ipock, Laurie Maria Baranyay and John F. Henry III. It was unofficially marketed as a prequel and sequel to 1985's Day of the Dead. The film was released direct-to-video in the United States on October 18, 2005.

<i>Shock Waves</i> (film) 1977 horror movie directed by Ken Wiederhorn

Shock Waves is a 1977 American horror film written and directed by Ken Wiederhorn. The film is about a group of tourists who encounter aquatic Nazi zombies when they become shipwrecked. It stars Peter Cushing as a former SS commander, Brooke Adams as a tourist, and John Carradine as the captain of the tourists' boat.

<i>Burial Ground</i> (film) 1981 film

Burial Ground is an Italian grindhouse zombie movie directed by Andrea Bianchi. It is one of several films released under the alternative title of Zombie 3.

<i>The Video Dead</i> 1987 film by Robert Falcon Scott

The Video Dead is a 1987 horror film written and directed by Robert Scott and starring Roxanna Augesen. The screenplay concerns a paranormal television that causes zombies from a never-ending film to enter the real world. The film was released direct-to-video and has been re-released several times since then.

<i>Let Sleeping Corpses Lie</i> (film) 1974 Spanish-Italian science fiction zombie horror film by Jorge Grau

Let Sleeping Corpses Lie, also known as The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue and Don't Open the Window, is a 1974 Spanish-Italian science fiction zombie horror film written and directed by Jorge Grau and starring Ray Lovelock, Arthur Kennedy and Cristina Galbó. It focuses on two protagonists who are harassed by a local police investigator in the English countryside and are implicated in murders committed by zombies who have been brought to life by a farming tool designed to kill insects via ultra-sonic radiation.

<i>Monstrosity</i> (film) 1964 American film

Monstrosity is a 1963 American science fiction horror film produced by Jack Pollexfen and Dean Dillman Jr. and directed by Joseph V. Mascelli. The film stars Marjorie Eaton, Frank Gerstle, Erika Peters, and Xerxes the cat. It tells the story of a wealthy elderly woman who wants to have her brain transplanted into the head of a young woman. Actor Bradford Dillman, the younger brother of co-writer and producer Dean Dillman, Jr., narrated the film.

<i>Night of the Seagulls</i> 1976 Spanish film

Night of the Seagulls is a 1975 Spanish horror film written and directed by Amando de Ossorio. The film is the fourth and final in the Blind Dead series, being the sequel to The Ghost Galleon (1974).

<i>Flesheater</i> 1988 film by Bill Hinzman

Flesheater is 1988 horror film directed, written, produced, and co–edited by Bill Hinzman. An independent production, the film also stars Hinzman, best known for playing the cemetery ghoul in George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968).

<i>The Earth Dies Screaming</i> 1964 film

The Earth Dies Screaming is a 1964 British science-fiction and horror film directed by Terence Fisher, written by Harry Spalding, and starring Willard Parker, Virginia Field, and Dennis Price.

<i>Black Sheep</i> (2006 New Zealand film) Film by Jonathan King

Black Sheep is a 2006 New Zealand comedy horror film written and directed by Jonathan King. It was produced by Philippa Campbell and stars Nathan Meister, Peter Feeney, Danielle Mason, Tammy Davis, Oliver Driver, Tandi Wright, Glenis Levestam, Nick Blake, Matthew Chamberlain, Nick Fenton, Eli Kent, and Sam Clarke. The special effects were done by Weta Workshop.

<i>The Midnight Hour</i> 1985 American comedy horror film

The Midnight Hour is a 1985 American made-for-television comedy horror film directed by Jack Bender and starring Shari Belafonte-Harper, LeVar Burton, Peter DeLuise, and Dedee Pfeiffer. Its plot focuses on a small New England town that becomes overrun with zombies, witches, vampires, and all the other demons of hell after a group of teenagers unlocks a centuries-old curse on Halloween.

<i>I Eat Your Skin</i> 1971 American film

I Eat Your Skin is a 1971 American horror film written, produced and directed by Del Tenney. It stars William Joyce, Heather Hewitt and Walter Coy. The film was shot entirely in Florida in 1964 under the title Caribbean Adventure to disguise from potential investors the fact that it was a zombie film.

<i>Dead Air</i> (2009 film) 2009 American film

Dead Air is a 2009 American science fiction-horror film directed by Corbin Bernsen and starring Bill Moseley and Patricia Tallman. The story focuses on a radio station that warns its listeners after an explosion unleashes zombies into Los Angeles. Screenwriter Kenny Yakkel explained before the film's release that the "undead" presented are not actual zombies: "It's like a PCP zombie movie, that's my take on it 'cause they're not really dead."

<i>Zeder</i> 1983 film

Zeder is a 1983 Italian horror film directed by Pupi Avati, starring Gabriele Lavia. The story is about a young novelist's discovery of the writings of a late scientist who had found a means of reviving the dead.

<i>Doctor Bloods Coffin</i> 1961 British film

Doctor Blood's Coffin is a 1961 British horror film produced by George Fowler, and directed by Sidney J. Furie. It stars Kieron Moore, Hazel Court, and Ian Hunter. The story is that of young biochemist Dr Peter Blood, who returns to his hometown in Cornwall with the belief that he can selectively restore life by transplanting the living hearts of 'undeserving' people into dead people who 'deserve' to live. The film is significant for being one of the first two zombie films to be shot in colour, the other being the obscure 1961 American film The Dead One, and for its early portrayal of zombies as homicidal rotting cadavers. The movie was released in the UK in January 1961 and in the US in April of that year, where it was on a double bill with another British film, The Snake Woman (1961).

<i>Zombie Lake</i> 1981 film

Zombie Lake is a 1981 Spanish-French horror film directed by Jean Rollin and Julian de Laserna. The film stars Howard Vernon as the mayor of a small French town that is plagued by Nazi zombies who were killed by the town's villagers 20 years earlier. It was distributed by Eurociné.

<i>Dead and Deader</i> 2006 American made-for-television film

Dead and Deader is a 2006 American made-for-television zombie comedy horror film directed by Patrick Dinhut. The film stars Dean Cain, Guy Torry, Peter Greene and Susan Ward, with cameos from Armin Shimerman, John Billingsley, and Dean Haglund. It was aired from Sci Fi Channel on December 16, 2006.

<i>The House of Seven Corpses</i> 1973 American film

The House of Seven Corpses is a 1973 American horror film directed by Paul Harrison and starring John Ireland, Faith Domergue and John Carradine.

References

  1. ↑ "The Daily Dig: Mutant (1984)". 16 December 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Fischer, Dennis (May 1985). "Mutant". Cinefantastique . Fourth Castle Micromedia. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
  3. ↑ Dendle, Peter (2001). The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia. McFarland & Company. pp. 113–114. ISBN   978-0-7864-9288-6.
  4. ↑ Rifftrax: Mutant, 19 September 2014, retrieved 2018-03-22
  5. ↑ "Night Shadows". Rotten Tomatoes .
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.