The Mutilator (1985) Review

The standard six-pack of college students (the Virgin, her Loving Beau, the Wiseass, his Nice Girlfriend, the Scrawny Slut and her Dim-Witted Mancub) head to the beach for a week of sun, surf and sex. But as we’ve learned in the prologue, our hero accidentally killed his mother while cleaning pop’s gun and dad ain’t too happy about it. So, it’s no surprise when the widowed father shows up, pickaxe in hand.

In retrospect, it must have seemed a good idea to have the hero be a murderer himself (even if by accident), but this original idea is soon doused when, upon hearing how Ed (the Loving Beau) blew his mother to kingdom come, Ralph (the Wiseass) sarcastically remarks “Ou-ch!” End of subject.

Not made for a very savvy audience (i.e. me), The Mutilator still borders on mad genius. It’s a perfect example of a train wreck. Marvel at the strange dramatic pauses the actors take after every line and check out the seriously whiny lead. But our stand-out performance comes from Mike (the Dim-Witted Mancub) who manages to make getting chainsawed to death look about as frightening as beating a hole into a wet paper bag. Alas, The Mutilator is a film to behold.

Lucky for fans of slap-dash slash, director Buddy Cooper doesn’t skimp on the gore. Be forewarned though, there is one sick scene involving the only likeable character (the Nice Girlfriend) and a rather large hook that will have you squirming in your seats.

But the question remains, is it scary? Well, yes actually. Maybe not to jaded horror fans who sometimes expect too much from low budget product, but to the rest of nostalgically inclined slasher fiends it’s a pretty good little flick. You may know the score, but you’ve never seen it played out quite like this. And with lines like “I’m going to get high score in a video game”, it’s a winner!

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