Mutilator, The (DVD)

BY SWORD. BY PICK. BY AXE. BYE BYE. Although the slasher film was in decline by the mid-1980s, there were still some grisly delights to be had... and they don't come much grislier than writer-director Buddy Cooper's sickening stalk-and-slash classic The Mutilator! When Ed receives a message from his father asking him to go and lock up the family's beach condo for the winter, it seems like the perfect excuse for an alcohol-fuelled few days away with his friends. After all, his dad has forgiven him for accidentally blowing mom away with a shotgun several years ago... hasn't he? But no sooner are the teens on the island than they find themselves stalked by a figure with an axe (and a hook, and an onboard motor) to grind... Originally entitled Fall Break (watch out for the incongruous theme song of the same name!), The Mutilator has earned a reputation amongst horror fans as one of the 'holy grails' of 80s splatter mayhem due to its highly inventive (and not to say, decidedly gruesome) kil