Mutant

Straddling the line between zombie movie and sci-fi eco-thriller, the film unimaginatively rehashes old ground and well-worn clichés from both genres. On one hand we have the misadventures of a pair of young outsiders catapulted into a small town in the middle of nowhere – in the Deep South, naturally – and of course, that town hides a terrible secret. Then we have the classic chemical company producing toxic substances and the resulting hordes of undead cannibals that harken back to George A. Romero (this time the plague-ridden zombies have corrosive blood and suffer a severe form of photophobia).

After a first act featuring a decent dose of suspense, “Mutant” (originally released under the title “Night Shadows”) slips into repetition, weakly offering a plethora of zombie sieges and attacks, inevitably verging on boredom. To top it off, a shaky, overly jumbled screenplay doesn’t help make sense of the numerous plot twists. Stereotypical characters played with sufficient conviction by an unassuming cast (the sole name worthy of note is that of Bo Hopkins as the sheriff).

Mediocre overall, par for the course for most of the films churned out by John “Bud” Cardos.