TOMB OF NOSTALGIA: MUTANT (1984)

MUTANT (1984)

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Story for this flick is simple. Brothers Josh (Wings Hauser) and Mike (Lee Montgomery) are on a bonding getaway when they are forced off a rural road by a group of locals. This leads them to staying in a small town, one unfortunately close to a chemical dumping site. The chemicals are slowly changing the locals into vicious killers and when Mike disappears, Josh joins forces with cute teacher Holly (Jody Medford) and alcoholic sheriff Will (Bo Hopkins) to investigate. Soon it becomes a fight to survive as the infected locals multiply and overrun the town, killing everyone they come across.

Mutant is basically a zombie flick as directed by John “Bud” Cardos (The Day Time Ended, The Dark) from a script by Peter Z. Orton, Michael Jones and John C. Kruize. Cardos’ direction is rather straight forward and by-the-numbers, though it moves well enough. For a zombie film, it’s got minimal bloodshed, despite a high body count and really doesn’t crank up the action till the last act. It’s still a fun horror flick and there is plenty of 80s nostalgia now, all these years later. The zombies, or infected, are fast moving and their touch burns their intended victims, much like in the 1980 flick The Children, which also featured toxic chemical zombies. They also have an aversion to bright light and can be gunned down easily without the necessity for a head shot. There is also the usual out-of-towners vs redneck locals subplot, here, too, especially before anyone starts believing Josh that something is terribly wrong. Add to that a conspiracy/cover-up sub-plot that works well and doesn’t overstay it’s welcome. The last scene at the gas station is pretty intense and makes for a solid climax. On a production level, the film looks good and makes good use of it’s rural Georgia locations. The make-up FX, including some cool Howling-esque transformations, are well done. The zombies look scary and Cardos isn’t afraid to have children fall victim to them or become them. There is a low gore quotient, but the attacks still have impact. Flick also has some atmosphere and overall is a good time.

It has a fun cast. Wings Hauser is his usual bug-eyed self and it’s fun to see him play a good guy, as he is best known for portraying the psychotic pimp “Ramrod” in 1982’s Vice Squad. Jody Medford makes for a very likable heroine as local school teacher and bartender, Holly. Despite being attractive and charming, she only did one other movie, Chained Heat. Veteran actor Bo Hopkins is also solid as the drunk sheriff, who sort of transforms into a noble hero over the course of the film. The supporting cast are all fine in their roles, including Lee Montgomery (Burnt Offerings) in the brief role of Mike and Close Encounters of the Third Kind’s Cary Guffey as student Billy.

In conclusion, this was a surprisingly good time on the revisit. Actually caught this flick in a theater in 1984 and was disappointed, back in the day, that it wasn’t more in the style of Dawn of the Dead or Zombie. With those expectations gone, it’s now a nostalgic and fun monster movie and one of the earliest films to portray it’s zombies as more fast moving and vicious. Cardos may not have been the most stylish director, but his workman approach suits the small town setting and rural local characters and keeps the film grounded. A fun zombie flick that does things a little different.

-MonsterZero NJ

Rated 3 (out of 4) permed and bug-eyed Wings Hausers.

 

 

 

 

 

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TOMB OF NOSTALGIA: BURNT OFFERINGS (1976)

BURNT OFFERINGS (1976)

When I first saw this flick in 1976 as an 11 year old, it creeped me out very much and actually gave me nightmares for a few days after. Upon a recent re-visit though, I actually find it a bit slow moving and dull despite some spooky atmosphere from director Dan Curtis (Dark Shadows, The Night Stalker, Trilogy Of Terror) who is no stranger to horror.

The story has the Rolf family, dad Ben (Oliver Reed), mom Marian (Karen Black), son David (Lee Montgomery) and aunt Elizabeth (Bette Davis), renting a large old house from the eccentric and strange Allardyce siblings (Burgess Meredith and Eileen Heckart) for the summer. The price is cheap as long as the Rolf’s take care of the 85 year old Matriarch who stays sequestered in her attic room…never a good sign. Things start off wonderfully, but soon the family starts to show signs of odd behavior. Ben becomes tense and aggressive while suffering nightmares of his mother’s funeral. Marian seems to becoming a different person and feisty, lively Aunt Elizabeth starts to quickly deteriorate and become frail. And even more disturbing, the more the family suffers these changes and sets themselves against each other, the newer and more restored the old house appears. Can this family escape from this evil place and whatever fate it has planned for them?

Despite whatever effect this film had on me as a lad, it now seems very tame and slow moving to the point where it’s a good 90 minutes in before it really starts to get creepy. Dan Curtis gives it some nice atmosphere throughout, but the film takes such a long time to really get going. I can appreciate the slow burn and slow character transformations, but it really doesn’t grab you till things really start to get bad and a character death brings dead flowers to bloom and the house literally sheds it’s old shingles for new. At almost two hours in length, it’s a long time to wait and then after an admit-tingly shocking climax, it’s over. The script is written by Curtis and William F. Nolan based on a book by Robert Marasco and is well written enough, though there is some clunky dialog and the somber tone and funeral slow pace really don’t serve it too well. That and Curtis’ experience as a TV director gives the whole film a TV movie look and feel despite being a theatrical release…which is where I saw it at the Park Lane Theater in Palisades Park, N.J. There is a spooky score by Bob Cobert helping things along and it’s overall not a bad film, just really doesn’t start to grab hold of you till it’s last act. Today’s impatient audiences would probably find it very hard to sit through a flick with little happening till then.

The cast are fine though, there is a bit of overacting on the part of all the actors despite the low key tone. After a flat first half hour Black seems to get more into her performances as the more Marian changes and Reed is good, though doesn’t quite seem right as father and husband Ben. Something is just a bit off to his casting in the role. Vets Davis and Meredith seem to enjoy being a bit over-the-top and young Montgomery really doesn’t get to do much but be a typical kid and then cry a lot when things start to get weird. A talented cast, but possibly not used to their fullest potential at least in Reed and Black’s cases.

So, in conclusion, the film is a very slow and kinda dull burn till it’s effective and disturbing last act. I don’t mind a good slow burn, but this was a bit too slow. It has a good cast and is well made by a veteran director, but just takes a little too long to get to the good stuff, which still works and it’s conclusion does stick with you. Not as as scary as I remembered it, but not a total letdown either. Worth a look for horror fans, but just be prepared to wait a bit before the willies really set in.

MONSTERZERO NJ EXTRA TRIVIA: The house used in the film is the Dunsmuir House also used in the original Phantasm as the mortuary!

-MonsterZero NJ

Rated 2 and 1/2 creepy old houses…one before tormenting a family, one after. You decide which to cut in half.