Shriek of the Mutilated

Shriek of the Mutilated
Directed by Michael Findlay
Produced by Ed Adlum and Mike Findlay Productions
Written by Ed Adlum and Ed Kelleher
Starring Alan Brock
Karen Hunter
Tawm Ellis
Michael Harris
Darcy Brown
Jack Neubeck
Ivan Agar
Cinematography Roberta Findlay
Distributed by American Films Ltd.
Release dates
 1974
Running time
 86 min.
Country United States
Language English

Shriek of the Mutilated is a 1974 American horror film directed by Michael Findlay, also known as Mutilated and Scream of the Snowbeast.

Plot

The plot focuses on a field trip by Professor Ernst Prell to investigate Yeti sightings, along with four graduate students: Keith Henshaw, Karen Hunter, Tom Nash and Lynn Kelly.

The night before the trip, the professor invites Keith to dinner at a restaurant, where he samples an exotic dish named "gin sung." The rest of Dr. Prell's students attend an off-campus party where they encounter a former student, turned alcoholic groundskeeper, named Spencer St. Clair, who is there with his wife April. St. Clair proceeds to tell everyone within earshot the story of Prell's last Yeti-seeking field trip, which only he and the professor survived.

After the party, Spencer continues to drink, and upon returning home fights with his wife and cuts her throat with an electric carving knife. Afterwards, he climbs into the bathtub fully clothed. He is killed by his not quite dead wife, who drags a toaster into the bathroom and dumps it into the bath, electrocuting him.

In the morning, the professor travels by van with his students to Boot Island, where his friend Dr. Karl Werner lives. Werner has recently seen the Yeti on his island, and conjectures that he was marooned there by melting winter ice. He introduces the others to a mute Native American manservant named Laughing Crow. The group have dinner, which is again "gin sung," then go to sleep after one of the students, Tom, sings a song about the Yeti.

The next day, the professor and his students begin their search in the woods of the island. Tom sneaks off to go hunting and is killed by the Yeti, a shaggy creature whose loud heartbeat is clearly audible and whose call resembles the repeated words "iggly oogly argh.[1]" The rest of the group look for Tom the next morning but find only his rifle and his severed leg. Meanwhile, Lynn goes into Dr. Werner's greenhouse and sees something that frightens her; she runs into the woods and is also killed by the Yeti.

At the house, the remaining students find that the phone is out of order. The professor decides to use Tom's leg as bait to lure the Yeti into a trap. The plan fails, however, and Prell is knocked down by the monster, who escapes with the leg. Prell then decides to try again, using Lynn's body as bait. Karen tries to hide the body in the greenhouse, where she discovers the rest of Tom's body.

The professor ties Lynn's body to a tree. The Yeti appears and Keith chases it into the woods. He tracks it by the sound of its heartbeat, but makes the discovery that the sound is actually coming from a speaker attached to a tree. Someone knocks him out with a branch.

Back at the house, Laughing Crow is shown listening to a tape of the Yeti's heartbeat. It turns out that Professor Prell and Dr. Werner are cannibals, using the Yeti scam as a way to lure victims, and that the Yeti is actually Dr. Werner in disguise. Keith tries to escape in the van, and Karen flees through the house and ends up trapped in a bathroom. She opens a cabinet to find Laughing Crow holding a knife, and dies of fear. Prell and Werner reveal they need a body without wounds for a satanic ritual.

Keith returns with a local policeman, only to find out that he too is a cannibal. The three men explain that the "gin sung" Keith has eaten is actually human flesh, and they invite him to join their cannibalistic society. They bring in Karen's body, and Laughing Crow, brandishing an electric carving knife, speaks for the first time, saying "Mr. Henshaw — white meat or dark?" The film ends.

Cast

Production

It was filmed in Croton-on-Hudson, New York and at Fordham University.

Its soundtrack features the techno-pop track "Popcorn" by Hot Butter.

Release

The film was released theatrically in the United States by American Films Ltd in 1974.[2]

The film was released on DVD by Retromedia Entertainment in 2003. The DVD does not feature the Popcorn song due to rights issues.[3] This version is currently out of print.

References

  1. ↑ "Shriek of the Mutilated". The Bad Movie Report. June 6, 1999. Retrieved 2008-04-30.
  2. ↑ "Company Credits for Shriek of the Mutilated". imdb.com. Retrieved 2011-03-31.
  3. ↑ "Shriek of the Mutilated". dvddrive-in.com. Retrieved 2011-03-31.

External links