MovieChat Forums > Shriek of the Mutilated (1974) Discussion > I LOVE this movie!!!

I LOVE this movie!!!

posted 15 years ago by rexmagicman
4 replies | jump to latest

Just bought the Retro Media disc---and, although I have issues with the "Popcorn" song not being on there, or the claim it's "unrated" (cause it seems exactly the same as the VHS version out there)---they still did a commendable job on the transfer. ****CAUTION***POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD****CAUTION***POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD--- And, all in all, I love this low-budget shocker. What I really noticed this time on viewing, is the similarities to "Scooby Doo"---wondering if anyone else picked up on this??? The whole story, of the professor, and inviting the 4 kids, and their similarities to Velma, Daphne, Fred, and somewhat Shaggy, and the "flower-power" symbols on the van, and then the whole resolution at the end, where it was just the professor and his friends in a costume causing all the mayhem----EVERY SINGLE SCOOBY-DOO CARTOON HAD THIS PREMISE!!!(well, of course, the Mystery Machine gang didn't get eaten by their criminals they were pursuing) And it was always the guy you see at the beginning, trying to be helpful, that's the culprit!! But Lynn (I think that was her name)had the Velma glasses and everything! I just thought that was too coincidental, to be a coincidence. I also was wondering, what was really the intent of the former student, and the scene with his wife, and electric knife and toaster in the bathtub scene??? Just an odd element to add to the story, I guess. But, even though there's really not much in the way of blood and gore in the film, it has a lot of heart, and I really enjoyed the local, and the overall effect of the film. And the plot!! Reminds me of "Curucu, Beast of the Amazon", which had pretty much the same story. I would love to see someone like Tarantino, do a Grindhouse double feature of this, and "Squirm" on a double bill, and amp it up about 100% on the fear and gore quotient----great stories, they just need some tweaking, and a budget!! But, overall, glad I have this in my collection, and will view it yearly. If your into interesting, sometimes "so bad it's funny" movies, pick this one up, you will not be disapointed!----and, as a side note for the ladies and gay men---the guy who plays Laughing Crow, is shirtless the whole time throughout, and is quite the buff man to behold---me thinks the director, Mr. Findlay, had a thing for him, or maybe he was one of his porno actors.

[–] hburly-2 12 years ago

I also bought the Retro Media version of the movie.

The biggest difference between the DVD and the cable version was that there was waaay more blood and longer scenes.

A couple examples (Spolier warning):

There's a lot of blood in the movie version all-around.

The first death scene has a lot of blood in it, especially in the sink.

You actually see the toaster getting plugged in (I use to think this was a plot hole originally, because who has a 60-foot cord on a toaster).

You see a lot more of Tom's leg.

You see more footage of Lynn getting mauled.

You see the hand ax get blood on it.

You see a lot more of Laughing Crow preparing dinner, which him includes sauteing a skull.

And no, you still don't get to see what Karen was looking at when she opened the shower.

You see a lot more blood on Keith when he gets forcked over.

And for the final scene, after Laughing crows moment, it cuts to Keith who is visibly drooling, a lot!!!
I personally liked the cable ending with Laughing Crow myself.

[–] rexmagicman 12 years ago

Thanks for the reply! Are you saying the DVD is more bloody and uncut, or the cable/TV version?

The only other time I've seen this film, prior to me buying the DVD, was the VHS copy my local video store had---and it was in pretty rough shape.

And I must say, you're very knowledgable about this film--love that!

[–] hburly-2 12 years ago

Well my buddy Griff and I first saw this on cable when we were still in high school. It was part of sci-fi theater. It was the type of movie we'd watch then call each other during commercial breaks to riff away on it - basically doing an MST3K treatment to it long before MST3K.

I ended up video taping it a couple of times when it was on late night cable and we'd watch it every once in a while. We even brought it to a party one time, and the whole house kinda got into it - which was weird in itself.

It got to a point where we knew the movie line for line, so it was easy to notice the differences on the DVD.

[–] GroovyDoom 9 years ago

I know this was a long time ago but I thought I would comment about something you asked here. You wondered the former student Spencer's motivation was for doing what he did. After you know the secret and you know what Keith went through, then it should be clear Spencer had gone through the whole experience already. Prell makes a reference to Spencer while he's eating dinner with Keith, even though he never names him, he says he "didn't live up to expectations". He had to have been given the choice at the end to "join us or die", which means he ate human flesh with the rest of them and maybe had told them he'd join. Then maybe he "didn't pan out" and had only been allowed to live so he could take the story of the yeti back with him and keep the legend alive. The experience turned him into an alcoholic and he snapped.

And then...that most brilliant of brilliant scenes occurs. It definitely has to be one of the most bizarre crime scenes ever to be discovered. If you could compare "Shriek of the Mutilated" to "Psycho", then the serrated knife/electric toaster dual murder is definitely the Shower Scene of this film...sheer genius coming early in the picture, suddenly and without warning.

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