The Best Mutant Movies (2020): Movie Monsters

By Steve Hutchison

Steve Hutchison reviews 60 of his favorite mutant movies. Each article includes a synopsis, a review, and a rating. The movies are ranked. How many have you seen?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Steve Hutchison
• Release date: Feb 15, 2023
• ISBN: 9781778870842

Steve Hutchison

Artist, developer and entrepreneur in film, video games and communications Steve Hutchison co-founded Shade.ca Art and Code in 1999, then Terror.ca and its French equivalent Terreur.ca in 2000. With his background as an artist and integrator, Steve worked on such games as Capcom's Street Fighter, PopCap's Bejeweled, Tetris, Bandai/Namco's Pac-Man and Mattel's Skip-Bo & Phase 10 as a localization manager, 2-D artist and usability expert. Having acquired skills in gamification, he invented a unique horror movie review system that is filterable, searchable and sortable by moods, genres, subgenres and antagonists. Horror movie fans love it, and so do horror authors and filmmakers, as it is a great source of inspiration. In March 2013, Steve launched Tales of Terror, with the same goals in mind but with a much finer technology and a complex engine, something that wasn’t possible initially. He has since published countless horror-themed books.

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Tales of Terror’s

Movie Monsters 2020

The Best Mutant Movies

INTRODUCTION

Steve Hutchison reviews 60 of his favorite mutant movies. Each article includes a synopsis, a review, and a rating. The movies are ranked. How many have you seen?

#1

Gremlins

1984

A high-maintenance creature gives birth to an army of small devils after being exposed to water.

8/8

Gremlins is a highly superior cinematographic experience in image and sound. It is meant for children and adults alike, but is rather oriented at the former. It’s a horror movie that avoids violence and death using creative detours, and, simply put, instead plays on the fears of ugliness and propagation. This all happens around Christmas time and the odd resulting ambiance is a delight.

The film is virtually flawless and an obvious fruit of effort. With some of the best animatronics, puppetry and creature design to ever hit the screen, it’s a nicely packaged story supported by lovable characters and spiced up by a dream team of performers who are wisely directed and scripted. Everybody on board seems aware of the fact that they have one of the best gimmicks in film history.

Gremlins is about a cute creature whose allergies trigger self-duplicating terror and destruction. In the context of Christmas, under keen lighting, when wrapped in comedy then glitter, and supported by an immersing score, this otherwise sinister film becomes a fantasy of its own before your entertained eyes. It belongs to all genres, yet none, and is unarguably one of the best pictures ever made.

#2

Gremlins 2: The New Batch

1990

An innocent allergic creature gives birth to a hoard of morphing monsters inside a commercial skyscraper after being exposed to water.

8/8

Gremlins 2 starts with a short Bugs Bunny gag as if to establish it is now a perked version of itself. It’s slightly more suitable to a younger audience but it’s dark enough to please anyone. It still feels like horror fantasy but it behaves much more like a sadistic cartoon. The previous protagonists aged a bit and their paths all happen to converge to a specific block in New York City.

Most of the plot takes place in a prestigious high-tech high rise used for business, commerce and science, giving Gremlins 2 a prestigious stature. None of it is taken seriously and it’s hilarious. When things go bad; worse than they’ve been so far, the makers’ ambition and skills shine through. The creatures are now fully lit, revealing more and even better animatronics than 1984’s Gremlins’.

The concept of metamorphosis is pushed further and turned into an ongoing joke. The actors are given intricate roles and are a colorful delight. The animation techniques used have evolved. The production quality is higher, too, and the sets are very atmospheric. Perfect gateway to horror for kids, Gremlins 2 chooses to be fun, surrealist and comedic but doesn’t forget its more sinister roots.

#3

The Fly

1986

A scientist in love gradually turns into a fly after experimenting with a teleportation method he discovered.

8/8

The Fly is one of the best body horror movies ever made. As such, it succeeds where most werewolf films failed and features grander effects and make-up. The visuals are astonishingly elaborate and get increasingly disgusting as the story unfolds. The transformation sequence spans over several scenes and the tragedy is deeply felt because the two leads convey a wide range of emotions over time.

Dialogue is meticulously calculated. There is an aura of remorse and regrets that the hook foreshadows. 1986’s The Fly remakes a 1958 film by the same title that can