En route toward some much-needed R&R, the oil-and-vinegar brothers Josh (Wings Hauser, Vice Squad) and Mike (Lee Montgomery, Burnt Offerings) run afoul of a truckful of rednecks on the open road. The encounter ends with the sibs’ car in a ditch, effectively stranding the boys in this tiny town of Confederate flags, Royal Crown Cola and one alcoholic sheriff (Bo Hopkins, From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money).
Oh, and blue-faced ghouls whose bodies leak pus the color and consistency of baby diarrhea — can’t forgot those!
Thanks to a toxic waste facility on the edge of town, various residents turn into zombies of some sort: the kind imbued with the touch of death. Their hands can melt glass and contact with human skin causes burns — or at least a little sizzle o’ steam, like the kind you may see while ironing.
Personally, if I’m asked to choose a story of a small town under siege that also happens to be directed by John “Bud” Cardos, I’m picking Kingdom of the Spiders each and every time. No offense, Mutant, but you rate a not-even-close second. The troubled and final Film Ventures production, Mutant (aka Night Shadows, a redundant title similar to saying Wet Water) works as passable time-filler without becoming anything special, although Cardos does have the balls to pull a Marion Crane near the 20-minute mark. More notable about Mutant is that, like a certain brand of feminine hygiene products, it has Wings. And the intensity of his performance is matched only by that of his Afro. —Rod Lott