The Mutations
British theatrical release poster
Directed byJack Cardiff
Written by
  • Edward Mann
  • Robert D. Weinbach
Produced byRobert D. Weinbach
Starring
CinematographyPaul Beeson
Edited byJohn Trumper
Music by
Production
companies
  • Cyclone
  • Getty Pictures Corp.
Distributed by
Release dates
  • October 1974 (1974-10) (United Kingdom)
  • 25 September 1974 (1974-09-25) (United States)
Running time
92 minutes
Countries
  • United Kingdom
  • United States[1]
LanguageEnglish

The Mutations is a low-budget 1974 British-American science fiction/horror film directed by Jack Cardiff. The film was also released under the title The Freakmaker.[2]

Plot

The film depicts a deranged genetic scientist, Professor Nolter (Donald Pleasence), a man with the self-proclaimed goal to break through to the next stage in human evolution, crossbreeding anthropophagous Venus flytraps with abducted college student guinea pigs from his own class. He plans to "create a race of plants that can walk, and men that can take root"[3] through an exploitation of certain nucleic acids.[4]

The failed experimental mutants are then given to a cruel circus freak show owner, Mr. Lynch (Tom Baker) who exploits them to the fullest. However, the mutants and the circus freaks will not be denied justice.

Production

Inspired by Tod Browning's film Freaks with a science fiction twist, this film is full of pseudo-scientific jargon, stop motion visuals, makeup effects, references to psychedelics, comical gore, nudity, and appearances by actors with actual genetic abnormalities as well as some fictional disabilities including a man with "rubber bones" known as the Human Pretzel, a lady with reptilian skin (Alligator Lady), a Monkey Woman, a Human Pincushion and Popeye.[5][6]

Among the other scenes of "freaks" it depicts a reversed stop motion capture of the professor reviving a mouldy orange, and the professor feeding a rabbit to a Venus flytrap. A dissonant and jumbled orchestral score composed by Basil Kirchin provides the backdrop.

Cast

Release

Home media

The film was released on DVD by Subversive Cinema on September 27, 2005. Subversive Cinema later re-released the film on January 29, 2008 including with it commentary tracks with Jack Cardiff, Robert Weinbach, and Brad Harris as a part of its 2-Disk Greenhouse Gore movie pack. It was last released by Desert Island Films on February 18, 2012.[7]

Reception

Author and film critic Leonard Maltin awarded the film 2 out of 4 stars, criticizing the film's predictable story and what he called "grotesque elements and characters".[8] TV Guide awarded the film 1/5 stars, writing, "Though at times the film is so bad it's unintentionally funny, it has a certain cruelty to it."[9] Michael H. Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, gave the movie 3 stars and praised the movie, comparing it to Tod Browning's Freaks, and calling the effects "at once shocking and fascinating" and praising its "dissonant orchestral score" which he claims "adds mightily to the mood of unease and gathering madness."[10]

References

  1. ↑ "The Mutations". American Film Institute. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  2. ↑ "The Mutations (1973) | BFI". Explore.bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2012-07-12. Retrieved 2014-07-24.
  3. ↑ Bob, Joe. "Joe Bob's Mail Bag." The San Francisco Examiner 22 March. 1992: 229. Print.
  4. ↑ Weiler A.H. "'The Mutations,' British Sci-Fi, Arrives." The New York Times 26 Sept. 1974: 26. Print.
  5. ↑ Price, Michael, "The Freakmaker." Fortworth Star-Telegram 6 April 1985: 6. Print.
  6. ↑ Lucas, Tim. Video Watchdog magazine Oct. 2005
  7. ↑ "The Mutations (1974) - Jack Cardiff". Allmovie.com. AllMovie. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
  8. ↑ Leonard Maltin (2013). Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide: 2014 Edition : the Modern Era. Plume Books. p. 964. ISBN 978-0-14-218055-6.
  9. ↑ "The Mutations - Movie Reviews and Movie Ratings". TV Guide.com. TV Guide. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
  10. ↑ Price, Michael, "'The Freakmaker' now on video." Fortworth Star-Telegram 5 Oct. 1984: 3. Print.
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