Matt Grant

Mutant (1984)

100 minutes. Wings Hauser, Jody Medford. Rated R There is much romance to be had here. Not just in the story, but in the execution of this production and at this particular time for horror. It's a small town monster movie made during the slasher era. There are practical effects, stuntmen on fire, bodies flying off of cars and crashing through dark windows during the mayhem. Shot in Atlanta in 1983, it harkens back to another time where you could almost picture this mostly local cast in a western some thirty years previous. The influences are there. Bo Hopkins is our alcoholic Sheriff with a troubled past and the lovely Jennifer Warren is the town doctor, love interest. Wings Hauser and Lee Montgomery round out the cast as two city boys, brothers Mike and Josh respectively. Mike is getting his younger brother out of the city to cheer him up as they intended to just pass through but... they run afoul of some local town "hero's" who aren't so impressed by them. In short order we have road rage inspired stunt driving, an ok bar altercation, some cool exposition and a dead guy who isn't so dead anymore. I'll leave it at that.