I gave this picture 5 stars--dead center (a good slasher title, now that I think about it). Which is the quality of THE MUTILATOR aka FALL BREAK--mediocre. The flick does have some cred with me for being shot in my home state of NC, so it can go in that venerable hall of acclaim with FINAL EXAM and THE BODY SHOP (look that one up). It's technically fine--the director and crew seem to have known how to keep boom mike shadows out of the shots--but the tone veers back and forth between PORKY'S inspired levity and mild menace a little too much for my taste. After the prologue, we wait nearly 40 minutes (in a 1 hour, 26 minute film) for the first kill. Fortunately, the acting is competent, with the two leads coming out the best. The supporting players are fine, but their heavy eastern NC accents can be distracting. The final act contains all the goodies, as we get the full force gore we've be languishing in a wasteland of TV-sitcom level comedy and middling suspense for. One detail that sets this one apart: we know upfront who the killer is (who, by the way, has no dialogue--wonder why?) Watchable, but hardly extraordinary.
Review of The Mutilator
