Classic 80’s slasher THE MUTILATOR reviewed.
By sword, by pick, by axe, bye bye, runs the infamous tagline. Actually its by drowning, by outboard motor, by machete, by pitchfork, by hook and axe, and by car. But lets not be churlish. That poster perfectly captures the goofy enthusiasm at the heart of THE MUTILATOR (also known by the less excitable title Fall Break). A labor of quixotic love by its one-time-only director Buddy Cooper, it manages to be as inept as its effective. But its hard to dislike.
Coming at the tail end of the original classic cycle of slasher movies, THE MUTILATOR does little thats novel except perhaps that eye-watering set-piece of a gaffe tearing through a (clothed) vagina. A gaggle of likable teens head for a seaside cabin, where the estranged father of one of them proceeds to inventively carve them up. Ed Jr (Matt Mitler) is the ruggedly handsome lead (although he has something of David Hess about him). Pam (Ruth Martinez) is the wholesome virgin. Sue (Connie Rogers) is the good time girl and Ralph (Bill Hitchcock) is the wise-cracker. No prizes for guessing who survives. All the principals are too old for their roles, and some are stupefyingly bad actors, but thats all part of the charm.
Its almost a surprise that there isnt a twist; that somehow Ed Sr. (Jack Chatham) isnt the killer and theres something else going on. Nope. THE MUTILATOR is not a film thats interested in being narratively interesting. What it is keen on is the deaths, lovingly provided by an early career Mark Shostrom. The extras reveal that not all of these went as planned, but the ones that survive are gorily effective, from beheading to bisection.
Elsewhere the production isnt quite as competent: never less so than the game of Blind Mans Buff, which is supposed to be taking place in pitch darkness despite the glorious sunshine coming in the windows. Its as if Cooper didnt quite understand what day for night shooting means. The cast gamely blunder around regardless. You just have to go with it.
THE DISC
Arrow have here put together a lavish package that you might have the sneaking suspicion THE MUTILATOR struggles to deserve. That said, its a thoroughly enjoyable collection of material, assembling a cast and crew who remember the film with nothing but fondness and are happy to reminisce.
The film itself, incredibly gets a 2k restoration of its unrated version: initially assembled from various sources until a complete print was found in the Library of Congress. That late-in-the-game discovery is whats delayed the release by a few months, but its been worth the wait. THE MUTILATOR has almost certainly never looked this good in its life. Of course, you might argue it shouldnt.
The centerpiece of the special features is the exhaustive 75-minute “Fall Breakers”, detailing the actually quite extraordinary story of how Cooper, armed with $86k from something Id sold, put together a more-or-less professional film production from scratch in North Carolina. Cooper, Mitler, Martinez, Hitchcock, Chatham, Coopers co-director John Douglass, and his multi-tasking go-to assistant Edmund Ferrell all turn out to tell the tall tale. There are even musings about a sequel.
Elsewhere there are two commentaries: one with Cooper and Ferrell and one with Cooper and Martinez. Theres a featurette on the make-up FX with Shostrom; one on the music with composer Michael Minard; raw behind-the-scenes footage; screen tests; trailers; alternate Fall Break opening titles; and two versions of the chirpy Fall Break theme song by Peter Yellen and the Breakers. Theres also a stills gallery and the screenplay as ROM content, and as ever with Arrow, a reversible sleeve and a well-researched booklet. The audio is the original mono. And there are Easter eggs too, so be sure to explore the menus thoroughly
