Sunday, October 11, 2015

Shriek of the Mutilated (1974)

Director: Michael Findlay

Writers: Ed Adlum, Ed Kelleher

Composer: ???

Starring: Alan Brock, Jennifer Stock, Tawm Ellis, Michael Harris, Darcy Brown, Jack Neubeck, Tom Grail, Luci Brandt, Ivan Agar, Marina Stefan, Harriet McFaul, Dwight Marfield, Jimmy Silva, Warren D'Oyly-Rhind, Robert Adels, ed Adlum, Michael Findlay, Ed Kelleher

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Piece By Piece, By Piece, the Bodies Vanish in ... "Shriek of the Mutilated"

Plot: A group of college students are led by their professor into the mountains in search of the Yeti. The students start to be killed off one by one.



My rating: 4/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

Cheesy dialogue and bad acting often go hand in hand but they're not always a winning combination.  While this picture features all of the top lookers from 1974...



Even they can't save a picture that's got the odd pacing problem and bland shooting. It doesn't help that the only print I could find was a slightly dark VHS fullscreen copy.  This would play a lot better in widescreen and shown outside in the woods but how the hell are you going to get that to happen.  There's no nudity and the gore is minimal but it does have a unique way of cleaning up after a murder...


The music sounds like it came from a stock library but it does feature the song Popcorn by Hot Butter.  Doesn't sound familiar?  Try this...




The ending has a neat little twist but everything that came before is so bland that I couldn't much care any less except that I knew it almost over.  What would help?  Nudity, lots of blood and kills and some great suspense in the woods action.  Don't have the kids stay in a house in the woods, get them in tents and even farther from civilization.  That's a better recipe for a good horror.  But, hey, I haven't even made a movie so I'm just jealous of everyone who has.  I keep saying I'm going to rectify that someday but someday never comes.  Hmmmm.


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