Subpar 80’s slasher taking place on a reef island on the East Coast
A group of college youths consisting of three couples celebrate Fall Break by going to a beach house at Atlantic Beach, North Carolina. Unfortunately the psycho father of the protagonist (Matt Mitler) is lurking about with deadly bedlam in mind.
"The Mutilator" (1984), originally titled “Fall Break,” is a more conventional slasher than "The Slayer" (1982), both of which share an excellent setting (East Coast reef island and corresponding beach house), but the latter is more haunting and original.
This one contains the typical tropes of 80’s slashers and is a little gorier than most, but it fumbles the ball in several areas, like some glaringly unbelievable sequences. For instance, a couple goes skinny dipping in a quiet indoor pool at night with low lighting, but are blithely unconscious that a large person enters the pool, swims around, and is easily able to apprehend one of them WITHOUT THE OTHER BEING AWARE OF IT. There are too many eye-rolling scenes like this, which shows that the filmmakers didn’t respect the intelligence of the viewers.
Another issue is that the female cast, while a’right, is inferior to any Friday the 13th flick you care to name. Connie Rogers as Sue is arguably the best (with a nod to Frances Raines as Linda), but the filmmakers fail to take advantage of her presence (and I’m not talking ‘bout nudity or sleaze, just knowing how to effectively film women).
Another issue is the utterly repellent scene involving the murder of one of the girls and a gigantic fish hook (a gaff), which is easily the most sickening, misogynistic scene in any 80’s horror flick. However, like I said, the gore is well-done if that’s your thang. It’s just that the filmmakers put the bulk of their skills into quality gore effects at the expense of an interesting story.
This one’s rather tedious and one-dimensional despite the positive elements. Any Friday the 13th flick is leagues superior, which explains why that series was so popular. Even the micro-budget "Butchered” (2010), which was also shot on a reef island in North Carolina, is significantly better.
The film runs 1 hour, 26 minutes, and was shot in the area of Atlantic Beach, North Carolina.
GRADE: C/C-
