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Overall Rating : 3/10
Directed By : Brad Sykes
Brian Schwartz
Eddie Croft
John-Damon Charles
Jessica Moon (Angel's Blade)
Supplied By : Razor Digital Entertainment
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : Nov. 15, 2006
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| PLOT “K” was the most infamous serial killer of his day, torturing and murdering dozens of innocent victims. Until Detective Steve Gornick tracked the maniac down and destroyed him. Years later, a brilliant young scientist injects K’s corpse with an experimental serum, bringing the killer back to life and giving him superhuman strength and speed. As K cuts a bloody path through Los Angeles, he begins to mutate into an unstoppable force of evil. Even the detective who once put him down may not be able to destroy the monstrous MUTATION. |
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| THE REVIEW MUTATION, is essentially nothing more than an updated version of RE-ANIMATOR, with of course a new setting and extended plot elements. At the Ryker's Institute, Dr. Paul Friedel and his partner have developed a serum that can regenerate dead skin tissue to live once again, which happens to be a big breakthrough for the team. Friedel learns that the group that funds the institute plans to pull the plug on their project unless the group does something to prove that what they are backing is simply worth their money - Paul Friedel's bright idea. He has this bright idea that just what if they inject their newly found serum into a cadaver....would it spring back to life or fail - this could be their ticket to success. So the two doctors find a body, inject it, and at first nothing seems to work but when Friedel leaves the room is disgust, he returns later to find his partner dead on the floor and the body gone. Whom the doctors have brought back to life happens to be a Serial Killer once simply known as "K" and this serum has brought him back stronger than ever. "K" is once again on the streets killing the innocent who stand in his way as he heads back to the warehouse in which he once tortured many victims - but meanwhile the warehouse is occupied. A group of young women have been assigned to clean the old building -one of the women just happens to be the Girlfriend of the Detective assigned to the case Det. Taylor. Taylor, afraid for his Girlfriend's safety contacts a reluctant Det. Gornick, the man who "killed" "K" 5 years prior. Gornick lost his partner on the assignment and has always felt guilty for his death has retired and vowed never to talk about the case again - but after thinking it over, informs Taylor about the warehouse. Taylor along with Friedel, (armed with a serum he has made to reverse the effects of the other) find the deformed and mutated killer at the warehouse, and it is not long that they are in a heated battle with the mutation. During the confrontation Gornick, shows up to face his nemesis one last time, that if they ever do kill him of course. Brad Sykes has been around awhile now in the field of B-Movie filmmaking and has made a number of films that range from fairly received by the audience to not received at all - yet to be honest, I myself have only seen one of his films prior to this - that being DEATH FACTORY. Now prior to seeing that film I had heard that Sykes' films were low budget schlock shall we say, but after seeing DEATH FACTORY, to tell the truth, I kind of liked it. I wish I could say the same for MUTATION, his newest effort, however that is not the case. From the opening from to the first line of inaudible dialogue you know you are in for a low budget picture. The story has been done over and over again in various different ways, and MUTATION just happens to be another one. MUTATION is a low budget flick that falls under the same category as any other clichéd low budget flick, it has inexperienced actors whom over-act and are unbelievable yet laughable. a plot that is too thin, that all it has is an idea, and as with almost all B-Movies annoying characters. But when speaking on MUTATION's annoying characters I have to say that this goes for nearly all of them,especially the character of Rochelle, whom is one of the cleaning girls. Rochelle is supposedly into voodoo and can sense a bad "vibe" in the building, it's not long before she is warning her group that they need to get out of there - every low budget film of this type always seems to have a character like this, so much so that it has virtually become a staple. I suppose they took the FRIDAY THE 13TH series' lead... The fight scenes are choreographed by Brian Schwartz(Gornick) and Eddie Croft("K"). Schwartz, whom is the ISKA full contact World Super Middleweight Champion, and Croft, a three-time Golden Gloves Champ, seem like they'd create some mind-blowing fight scenes, but to me they seem a little standoff-ish and cautious - a little too much in fact...I was unimpressed and rather disappointed to say the least. To be perfectly honest, to me, MUTATION is just another below average effort. It has many flaws within, from it's forced dialogue, unrealistic death scenes to it's horrible make-up and over-exaggerated sound effects - but perhaps the most annoying flaw throughout is that the boom mic is visible in shots on more than 3 occasions and for the fact that the audio fades in and out - you have to keep turning the volume up when you can't hear, down when it's too loud, it ultimately becomes a chore for the viewer to withstand. While I can't chalk up MUTATION's flaws to an inexperienced Director as he has been around and has directed a number of titles, i'd have to put the blame on limitations I suppose. MUTATION is by far not the worst film I have seen, nor is it a total waste - but there are many better ways to spend your time... |
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| GORE
METER 3/10 The gore and blood are used sparingly and when used, it is not very convincing or realistic. |
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| MUSICAL
SCORE 5.5/10 The soundtrack is very beat driven and hip, it really gave the film an up-tempo feel - too bad I liked the score better than the actual film itself.. |
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM Believe it or not, I did expect to enjoy MUTATION a lot more. DEATH FACTORY another film by Sykes was fairly entertaining(as a matter of fact I have watched it more than once) and going into this I expected the same quality as low budget entertainment, but unfortunately this one doesn't live up. Mutation is not a film for everyone, and frankly I don't see many liking this one but I could be wrong... |
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