Mutation (1999)

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

"Mutation" or "K7B Mutation" is a German 90-minute movie from 1999, so this one will have its 20th anniversary two years from now. Maybe it already happened depending on when you check out my review here. The writer and director is Marc Fehse and he also acts in here, which is really nothing too uncommon for this genre. And if you do not yet recognize that name, then maybe the cast inclusion of Timo Rose will help you understand. But whatever you want to call it: underground movie, splatter movie, amateur movie etc. the essence is the same. It sucks. The acting is horrible from start to finish, the story is bland and uninspired and the production values are as low as it gets. And yet films like this one have a very specific target group of people and audiences who like especially that. I have no idea why, maybe because of the imperfection, although this is really the most gentle term you can use when summarizing these 1.5 hours in one word. Anyway, this is the story of a virus created by the Nazis and when it gets rediscovered decades later, it still works. The effect is that the one "infected" believes he has superpowers or does he really have them? Honestly, it doesn't even matter. Story is certainly not one of the components or ingredients Fehse focused here. It's all about the bloodshed and yet this is where the film is at its worst. I cannot deny that the first third of the film was somewhat tolerable as it was basically an introduction packed with information about the virus and its creation fake documentary style with fake interviews etc. The shocking thing is that the way it looked it could actually have been a real documentary despite being complete nonsense, but yeah this is when the film is at its "best" before it hits rock-bottom for an hour. And what is even worse than this horrible movie we have here is that it was successful enough for several(!) sequels being made afterward. As for this one, keep your distance. Highly not recommended.

The good: There is some nice gore. The computer effects, make-up, and CGI were very well done for a low-budget movie like this. A lot more creative and ambitious than most. The fake documentary at the beginning was cool.The bad: Confusing plot, bad CGI effects for some of the gore scenes, the gore itself is rather sparse, the movie manages to be rather boring a lot of the time, and (while this doesn't really have anything to do with the actual movie) the subtitles on the version I watched were poorly translated which made the movie even more confusing.I do have to give the movie extra points for ambition, as said before a lot of the effects are really well done, especially for a debut feature, and the movie is more creative than most movies of this sort. But unfortunately, the low budget held the movie back, and the general boredom and lack of gore dragged the move down.

Just when you thought Germany's underground splatter scene had run its course, a gem like Mutation comes along and reminds you that there are still a lot of sick, twisted people out there with the ability to make quality, fun horror.This film, while far from perfect, is a riotous romp filled with exploding heads, disembowelings, and mutated humans going berserk on the populace. The effects range from absolutely stunning to pretty bad, but nine times out of ten, you're left shocked and appalled - exactly what this kind of film should leave you doing.The plot is simple. A chemical created by Nazi experimentation is discovered in modern-day Germany. Once released, it causes all sorts of horrific bloodshed, mutation, and madness. People try to find a way to survive, but most end up as piles of pulsating guts by the time the end credits roll.The acting is, at times, amateur, but with a production like this, its expected. If you're looking for a wonderful throwback to the heyday of German underground splatter, look no further than Mutation!

MUTATION (or, in director's cut form K7B:MUTATION) is the first of a trilogy of apocalyptic zombie films from director Marc Fehse. Actually, zombies are only a prevalent feature of the films. Much like Italy's new horror king, Ivan Zuccon, Fehse channels Lovecraft through the kaleidoscope vision of '70s splatter films. Shot on video- and looking it- MUTATION nevertheless overcomes almost all of shortcomings in inventive ways. The CGI effect can be absolutely brutal, or cartoonish- but always make sense in context to the scene that employs them. This is psychotronic underground film-making and as such is certainly not for everyone. But it stands far above most other underground horror efforts and should definitely be experienced by anyone seriously interested in horror films outside Hollywood. The second film in the series, GENERATION DEAD, is even better.