Tag: slasher movies

Really Awful Movies: Ep 220 – The Mutilator

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“Mutilate” is one of the more frightening verbs in the English language.

So, here we come to The Mutilator. The poster is enticing: “by sword, by pick, by axe, bye bye.” For some reason, they neglected to mention “by outboard motor.” So yeah, The Mutilator is a bit gross. But the poster and the occasional gory death belies its utter goofiness.

This is a movie that originally went by “Fall Break.” Is that like, catching yourself before being hurt? Something to break your fall? Labor Day is a long weekend, but it’s not a “fall break.” What in hell is a fall break? No wonder this became…THE MUTILATOR (small point: most victims are decidedly NOT mutilated in the sense we’ve come to understand it).

Still, sure beats “fall break” (which sounds like a Porky’s-style romp).

Some college coeds, bored as usual, are looking for a diversion…And that diversion? The king that comes from getting away from it all and going to swill beer and fool around in isolation somewhere. That somewhere is a condo by the beach (somewhere in the Carolinas) that needs to be closed up for the winter.

Ed (whose father owns the place) is game…and grabs his best friends to drive up to do just that. After lots of foreshadowing (which includes demonic masks as well as shiny fishing gaffs) the group starts getting hunting down and picked off by…a PSYCHO KILLER! (you know you want to see the Talking Heads lyric that follows: “Qu’est-ce que c’est.”

The 1980s gave us such glorious stalk-and-slash flicks as the incredibly fun and inane, Hospital Massacre, the gruesome The Burning (with a young Jason Alexander, pre-Costanza) and of course our favorite hockey-masked monster, the Butcher of Camp Crystal Lake, Jason.

So, how does this one stack up?

Well, tune in to find out! This week’s episode of The Really Awful Movies podcast is The Mutilator…If you like what you’re hearing, chime in (or better yet, write us up on iTunes).

Really Awful Movies: Ep 217 – Halloween H20

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Halloween H20: 20 Years Later is a 1998 American slasher film directed by Steve Miner, the director behind two Friday the 13th films, as well as The Wonder Years and episodes of Dawson’s Creek.

This film is the 7th, count ’em 7th installment in this seemingly inexhaustible series. The screenplay was by Robert Zappia and Matt Greenberg adapted from a story by the former.

Jamie Lee Curtis is back as the resourceful Laurie Strode, with additional roles played by Adam Arkin, Michelle Williams (Dawson’s Creek), Adam Hann-Byrd, Jodi Lyn O’Keefe, Janet Leigh, Josh Hartnett, LL Cool J and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (3rd Rock from the Sun).

Halloween H20 was released on August 5, 1998, two and a half months before the 20th anniversary of John Carpenter’s original (and superior in every way that matters) Halloween (1978)

Set twenty years after the events of the first two movies, H20 centers on a post-traumatic Laurie Strode living under an assumed name, the headmistress of some California prep academy. Her long-lost brother tracks her down all the way from Illinois, and Laurie must face her greatest fear. Forget all that FDR “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself” crap. The Shape is on the loose. And his knife is sharp.

But that’s the only thing that’s sharp in this debacle.

How does this reboot fare?

On this episode of the Really Awful Movies Podcast, your ever-genial hosts delve into Halloween H20. Does it age well? Jamie Lee Curtis sure does. What about that cast? A dream cast, or a bust? Where will things head when the latest incarnation hits the theaters in 2018? Do settings make horror? What’s the deal with Loomis?

We’ll tackle all the above and much much more.

Join us!

Really Awful Movies: Ep 201 – New Year’s Evil

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It’s that time of year…a time for…New Year’s Evil!

Thank you, thank you, thank you Cannon Films. What would we do on the Really Awful Movies Podcast without the charming movies put out by the cousins, Yoram Globus and Menahem Golan?

New Year’s Evil is a bit like Hospital Massacre, another Cannon piece of cinematic cheese which was also centred around a festive time of year (in that case, Valentine’s Day).

The film was seemingly made to capitalize on the nascent New Wave music scene at the time of its release. And as a result, there’s some period-awesome music. The New Year’s Evil soundtrack foot-stomper was co-written by Roxanne Seeman, a New York City-born songwriter who penned hits for Bette Midler, Barbara Streisand, as well as The Sisters of Mercy (one of these things is not like the other). The track is absolutely top-notch (Phantom of the Paradise kinda vibe) and the music really elevates this, which is essentially a standard stalk-and-slash.

In New Year’s Evil…There’s a killer on the loose…and he’s timing his killings to coincide with the ringing in of the year new in different American time zones. Neat premise, huh? It’s something worth considering as you belt out Auld Lang Syne three sheets to the wind…

And the killer, who calls himself EVIL, has his sights on the host of a New Year’s Eve television broadcast for punk music aficionados.

Of note: the punk host is played by Roz Kelly, the Fonz’ girlfriend on Happy Days. And also of note: the killer adopts disguises with varying degrees of effectiveness.

Be sure to tune in to the Really Awful Movies Podcast, a celebration of genre cinema.