Sunday, October 2, 2011

VHS HALLOWEEN - DAY TWO: MUTANT (VESTRON - 1984)

I was first prompted to watch this movie solely because it starred Wings Hauser. By the mid-point I was a little alarmed that I'd previously never been told about it. Following the finale, I had concluded that this film's obscurity is a complete tragedy. After a disastrous run-in with some Oakies, brothers Mike and Josh find themselves stranded in a rural town. Immediately, the situation goes from dire to pitch back when Josh's (Hauser) brother disappears. It becomes apparent that the town's population is breaking down into craven lunatics due to toxic dumping which has infected the local water supply. Josh and a local babe played by the incredibly cute Jody Medford ("Chained Heat") are soon running for their lives and are forced to pair up with the drunk ne'er-do-well Sheriff (Bo Hopkins) in a fight for survival. The final twenty minutes of this film are easily some of the most tense, I've ever seen. While it's not technically a zombie film, it is definitely required viewing for anybody interested in making a foray into that sub genre.

Four years later, Hauser and Hopkins appeared in the strikingly similar though woefully inferior "Nightmare At Noon," directed by Nico Mastorakis. That plot, too, focuses on vacationers who find themselves trapped in a rural town as its denizens are transformed into feral lunatics due to a biochemical experiment being conducted with the water supply.

Check out the trailer, courtesy Zombies101Trailer.


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