Shriek Of The Mutilated (1974) is a horror-exploitation film by sleaze peddler Michael Findlay. The film follows a college professor and his students on a field trip into the remote forest in search of a Yeti. However, not everything is as it seems as a plot involving cannibal satanists is uncovered and the students are the main course.
Shriek Of The Mutilated is a notoriously bad film, even by Michael Findlay’s standards. In a way Shriek Of The Mutilated doesn’t deserve its reputation. The pacing if off but the film still manages to sustain some tension and the twist ending is executed rather well. Findlay and his estranged wife Roberta Findlay are adept at making the most of very little which proves to be the strong suit of Shriek Of The Mutilated.
Personally, I enjoyed the music of Shriek Of The Mutilated a lot. There’s a silly song about the Yeti that a student performs on acoustic guitar that’s all sorts of catchy. There’s also an instrumental track played early on at a party called “Popcorn” by the band Hot Butter. It’s an early synth number that really rocks even if it doesn’t go with the dancing that the extras are doing.
I’m just a sucker for slowly paced, low budget grindhouse movies. There’s something inviting about Shriek Of The Mutilated and how it ebbs and flows along leisurely. Findlay may not be my favorite purveyor of weirdo schlock (I prefer Roberta’s output) but he does deliver the goods in Shriek Of The Mutilated.
