The Mutilator
Fall Break
USA 1984
produced by Buddy Cooper
directed by Buddy Cooper, John Douglass (co)
starring Matt Mitler, Ruth Martinez, Bill Hitchcock, Connie Rogers, Frances Raines, Morey Lampley, Jack Chatham, Ben Moore, Trace Cooper, Pamela Weddle Cooper
written by Buddy Cooper, music by Michael Minard, special makeup effects by Mark Shostrom, Anthony Showe
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Many years back, little Ed (Trace Cooper) accidently shot his mother
(Pamela Weddle Cooper) dead then cleaning his dad's (Jack Chatham) rifles
for daddy's birthday. Daddy has become unhooked since. Now, Ed (now
played by Matt Mitler) is a pretty ordinary teenager whose main concern it
is what to do for fall break with his girlfriend Pam (Ruth Martinez) and
friends Ralph (Bill Hitchcock) and Sue (Connie Rogers), and forever horny
couple Mike (Morey Lampley) and Linda (Frances Raines) ... when suddenly
dad calls and asks him to look after his beach condo for the weekend.
Well, Ed initially declines, having long fallen out with his father, but
his friends persuade him to accept ... and soon enough they are all off to
a weekend at the beach, full of partying, booze and sex (except for Ed and
Pam, as she wants to save herself for the right moment). Sure, everyone's
a bit freaked out by the condo that's nothing more than a trophy room for
dad's hunting trophies, and storage for his many odd weapons ... but hey,
it's free and the beach is nearby - and so is a pool which Mike and Linda
use for some late night sensuous skinny dipping ... until they're killed
and dismembered by Ed's dad. The others aren't worried about the two's
disappearance until way later, having previously thought the couple's just
trying to shag each other's brains out - but when Ralph finally goes
looking after them, he soon ends up at the wrong end of a pitchfork. So
now Ed, Pam and Sue have already three of their friends to look for ...
and they don't yet know what they're up against. Thing is, dad does know
what he's up against, and he plans to slaughter and dismember every last
one of them ... Well, one thing up front, The Mutilator
doesn't exactly re-invent the slasher genre - nor does it intend to ...
but it still works quite well within formula limitations, choosing a
slowburn approach to things but building up tension throughout, using
classic suspense routines to full painful effect, but also delivering in
terms of gory pay-off and inventive murder scenes. Now admittedly, I'd be
hard-pressed to call this movie a classic, as I don't think it is one in
the traditional meaning of the word - but it's lots of fun, and it's one
of the films that clearly show why old school slashers are nowadays
considered as quite that enjoyable!
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