Mutant (1984)

Two brothers discover that the residents of a small Southern town are being infected by a form of toxic waste, turning them into blood-ravenous zombies.

Directors:

John 'Bud' Cardos, Mark Rosman (uncredited)

Writers:

Michael Jones (story and screenplay), John C. Kruize (screenplay)

Stars:

Wings Hauser, Bo Hopkins, Jody Medford

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Wings Hauser	...	Josh Cameron
Bo Hopkins	...	Sheriff Will Stewart
Jody Medford	...	Holly Pierce
Lee Montgomery	...	Mike Cameron
Marc Clement	...	Albert Hogue
Cary Guffey	...	Billy
Jennifer Warren	...	Dr. Myra Tate
Danny Nelson	...	Jack
Mary Nell Santacroce	...	Mrs. Mapes
Stuart Culpepper	...	Mel
Johnny Popwell	...	Captain Tom Dawson (as Johnny Popwell Sr.)
Ralph Redpath	...	Vic
Larry Quackenbush	...	Harve
Ralph Pace	...	Art
Wallace Wilkinson	...	Mr. Mitchell

Storyline

When two brothers, Josh and Mike, go to a small southern town for a vacation, they find most of the residents either dead or missing. When Mike himself goes missing, Josh teams up with the local sheriff and an attractive school teacher to find him until Josh discovers that the whole town and most of its people have been infected by a form of toxic waste, and they have all turned into toxic vampires whom prowl the streets at night for human blood!

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Plot Keywords:

1980s | toxic waste | sheriff | blood | blond boy | 

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Taglines:

Mankind's Deadliest Threat Will Not Come From The Skies.

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

August 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Pestilence

Filming Locations:

Norcross, Georgia, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Laurelwood Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Rifftrax recorded a commentary for this film in 2012.

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Goofs

When Josh discovers Mike in the basement of Mrs Mape's house, the knife wound and bandage have disappeared from Mike's arm.

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Connections

Referenced in Adjust Your Tracking (2013)

User Reviews

Campy and cheesy, but still enjoyable...

Granted it is my undying love and interest for the horror genre that lured me to watch "Night Shadows" (aka "Mutant") when I happened to stumble upon it by sheer random luck. And never having seen it, much less having heard about it, I did of course sit down to watch it.

Sure, "Night Shadows" is oozing with a thick layer of 1980s horror flick, so much actually that it permeated out of the TV and into the living room. But that is part of the charm of the movie, and it definitely worked well in favor of the movie. So fear not.

The story told in the movie was actually entertaining, albeit somewhat generic. But hey, it still made for adequate entertainment, which is what really mattered. And I must admit that I was genuinely entertained by the movie for what it was and for what it turned out to be.

"Night Shadows" is well-paced, also one of the key factors that kept the movie watchable and afloat, for certain.

Oddly enough I can only remember seeing Wings Hauser before in "Beverly Hills 90210", but I must say that he actually turned out to carry the torch in this movie quite well, despite it being a little odd seeing him in a movie such as this at first. And if you have been watching movies in the 1980s and 1990s, then you definitely will also be familiar with the face of Bo Hopkins.

The special effects in the movie were cheesy, let's not beat around the bush here. The special effects were little more than a thick layer of corpse paint slabbed onto the actors and actresses to portray those infected with the mutation. They somewhat were a bit zombiesque in their demeanor, but they were intended to be zombies - hence the "Mutant" title of the movie, obviously.

"Night Shadows" is the type of movie that you will watch once, and probably never again, because the storyline didn't really have enough plot and contents to it to sustain multiple viewings. But if you enjoy a good old traditioned cheesy mid-1980s horror movie, then by all means do sit down and watch "Night Shadows" if you get the chance.