SHRIEK
OF THE MUTILATED (1974)
Directed by Michael Findley
Retromedia DVD
Reviewed 01.03.04
Review by Joseph A. Ziemba
THE FILM
Hold on a minute...I have to catch
my breath...
Do you find huge 70s eye glasses
and actors who shout their dialogue
for no good reason amusing? Do you
prefer your Bigfoot monsters to
sport white Addidas tennis shoes?
Does the image of a 40-something
dude with a ponytail, beige stretch
pants, and shiny leather boots propositioning
a college girl tickle your funny
bone? If you answered “yes”
to any of that stuff, you may have
found a piece of gold in Shriek
Of The Mutilated.
An old fart college professor named
Dr. Prell takes his thirty year
old friends...I mean college students,
on a trip to the country. They’re
hunting a Yeti, ‘natch! That’s
basically it. People die, there’s
some blood/minor gore, and there’s
an awful “twist” ending.
The Yeti encounters are brief and
hard to make out. However, if you
rewind and watch via your dvd remote’s
slow motion button, these attacks
are absolutely hilarious.
I know this film is trying to invoke
some genuine creepiness, but I can’t
help it. This is trashy, low budget,
inept film making at its finest.
I’m so glad films like this
exist.
AUDIO AND VIDEO
Not so hot. The full frame image
is splotchy, scratchy, and dirty.
The audio is a little low and tinny.
That’s ok though -- to me,
it perfectly fits the feel of the
film. I also noticed some artifacting
in darker scenes. One thing you
should know though: there’s
a party scene towards the beginning
that has a painfully obvious new
soundtrack added in. The film is
in mono and this drum machine rockabilly
music kicks in all of the sudden
in stereo. It’s actually pretty
funny...
EXTRAS
Just a tv spot, which is ok. It’s
in pretty rough shape.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Wow. I purchased this DVD on a whim,
due to my affinity for the Bigfoot
genre of b-movies. I’m glad
I did. Shriek is a
goofy trash classic and if it sounds
attractive to you in the least,
definitely pick it up. A good time. |
Glasses beauty sleep
Leg cut off!
Totally scary
|
