Released in the middle of the nineties, Roger Donaldson’s “The Mutant” doesn’t deserve its reputation as a narcissist that sticks to him. The film leaves the Prime Video platform in a few days. The opportunity to (re)discover it.
If you’ve never seen The Mutant, there’s a good chance its title or poster means something to you. Released in theaters in 1995, this B-movie quickly became a little classic on the VHS shelves. Its popularity is not really based on its quality – rather criticized over the years – but on its numerous broadcasts on television and its scenes which are the Source of several traumas.
A creature signed by an iconic artist
The story begins with the escape of a little girl subject to scientific experiments. Created from extra-terrestrial DNA, she becomes a highly sought-after fugitive. Everywhere she goes, deaths multiply. The man responsible for her creation hires a team of researchers to track her down and stop her before it’s too late.
It’s a certainty : The Mutant by Roger Donaldson is no match for science fiction masterpieces. Nevertheless, the film remains a good blockbuster, generous in its horrific imagery and which combines, here and there, several interesting ideas. It starts with the design of the monster. It is signed HR Giger, the artist behind the famous Xenomorph in Ridley Scott’s Alien.
The other specificity is its heroine, Sil. She is played by Canadian top model Natasha Henstridge. Here she signs her first role in the cinema. It is interesting to observe the meeting between horror and beauty. Before La Mutante and with the exception of a few films, like La Féline, women’s bodies were less often subject to body horror.
The Female Fly?
In a way, Roger Donaldson’s film can be seen as the female equivalent of David Cronenberg’s The Fly – although the latter is, obviously, a much better film. The Mutant offers many striking scenes, such as the one which takes place in a swimming pool. How not to mention the evolution of the creature that emerges from its cocoon in the carriage of a train. A most striking horrific image.
Thirty years after its release, this science fiction thriller has aged somewhat, especially when it comes to digital effects. It still retains a certain charm for those who are eager for thrills – provided they avoid the sequels.
La Mutante which will soon be on the Prime Video platform.
