Night shadows This is the second name of this tape. The word “Mutant” appeared on the poster was caused by purely commercial considerations and poorly reflects its essence, because before us another variation of the Romerian living dead, good old zombies.
Brothers Josh and Mike Cameron were forced to stay for the night in a small provincial town as a result of a traffic conflict, their car broke down. In full accordance with Stephen King’s theory that evil likes to hide in the quietest and most secluded places, this town turned out to be calm and peaceful only at first glance, because some residents hide skeletons in their closets and do not rush to extract them into the light of God. Gradually, the situation heats up, people begin to disappear and the population of the town is rapidly thinning, and outside the window in the night darkness, some shadows inaudibly move. The heroes of the picture have to solve the mystery of the terrible events taking place here and at the same time try to stay alive.
The film was born in agony. At the insistence of the producers, significant changes were made to the original script (this also explains the leapfrog with the titles), one director had to change another. It is all the more pleasant to see that, despite all the vicissitudes and difficulties, the final version of the tape turned out to be a complete work, the story told is interesting from beginning to end. Filmed is also quite decent, you can see the efforts of makeup artists, there are enough dynamic and tense scenes, a very good denouement with the hordes of former people who filled the streets of the city, to escape from which it will be very difficult ... I want to praise the beautiful atmospheric music of Richard Band, well suited to the general spirit of the picture and hinting at some sinister mystery, literally hanging in the air of this quiet town in the outback, surrounded by dense forests.
The older brother is played by Wings Houser, a well-known figure at the time. I liked the central character in his performance - if at first Josh gives the impression of a superficial, selfish and somewhat empty young man with a wind in his head, as the plot progresses, he appears to the viewer from the other side, showing respectable human qualities. Good here and Bo Hopkins, convincing in the image of the local sheriff with alcohol addiction.
In the end, we have a very good film, albeit not without its shortcomings. They are not critical, absolutely not preventing you from enjoying the viewing. Strong good middle peasant, perfectly immersed in the atmosphere of the early 80s and evoke warm memories of the VHS era. I strongly recommend all connoisseurs of rare horrors, it makes sense to get acquainted with fans of zombie-apocalyptic themes.