So far, it outdoes Three on a Meathook.
"School was hell, but vacation was murder!"
— Tagline
The Mutilator (also known as Fall Break) is a 1985 Slasher Movie.
As a child, young Ed, Jr. accidentally kills his mother while goofing around when he was cleaning his dad's M1 Garand (on the patriarch's birthday, no less). Big Ed, distraught by his wife's death, is angry to the point that he non-verbally threatens to use the weapon on his child, who runs off. Big Ed drags his wife's corpse to his lounge, drowning his sorrows and even outright trying to let the dead body drink up.
Years later, the boy and his friends have nothing to do while on break from school, but Big Ed calls to ask his son for a favor; apparently his beach condo needs cleaning out and Ed Jr. is just the man for the job. So Ed takes his pals off to the house. When they get there, Ed's dad is nowhere to be found. Neither is his battle axe.
This movie contains examples of:
- Absurdly Sharp Blade: Big Ed's battle axe. He manages to chop off the leg of a police officer with it, AFTER BEING LITERALLY CUT IN HALF AT THE WAIST WITH HIS SEVERED UPPER BODY LYING ON THE GROUND. Anyone who knows anything about the human body and leverage knows only this trope and another one allows something like that.
- Accidental Murder: Along with Ed shooting his mother, it's mentioned Big Ed once ran over a swimmer with a skiboat.
- An Arm and a Leg: A police officer who inspects Big Ed's halved body gets his legs chopped off by the still-living maniac.
- Ax-Crazy: Big Ed. So axe crazy he dreams about murdering his own son, and then tries to make it a reality. Bonus points for carrying around an actual axe most of the film.
- Better Manhandle the Murder Weapon: After discovering his son's accidental matricide, Big Ed threatens him with the gun he used, then drags his wife's corpse into the sitting room.
- Car Fu: Big Ed's death, where a car the survivor's commandeers is rammed full speed in reverse, into a wall. That somehow cuts the Patriarch in half.
- Chainsaw Good: Mike gets disemboweled with an outboard motor... it's close enough to a motorized saw to count.
- Chekhov's Gun: Everything that appears in the first half that could be potentially used as a weapon, is used as a weapon.
- Coup de Grâce: After hooking Sue in the groin, Big Ed chops her head off with his axe.
- Covers Always Lie: There are no blond women, and no one is hung from pegs while still alive.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: What's worse than being impaled with a giant gaff hook? Being impaled through the vagina and out the stomach with it.
- Curiosity Killed the Cast: The police officer gets beheaded while looking around the condo, Ralph dies looking for Mike and Linda, and Sue dies looking for him.
- Determinator: Big Ed gets battered, has a sharp tool thrown into his head, gets knifed in the chest, and knocked around with a car, and even after being crushed in half he still manages to summon the strength to slice a man's legs off before finally expiring.
- Freudian Excuse: Big Ed fell into an alcoholic depression after the death of his wife, and developed a deep-seated hatred of his son, which reached a boiling point by the events of the film.
- Gone Swimming, Clothes Stolen: After drowning Linda and taking her out of the pool, Big Ed takes her and Mike's clothes, and leaves a trail using them.
- Gorn: As expected of a 80's slasher movie, it doesn't spare the fake blood and guts. In fact, it was supposed to be even Gorier but unfortunately there were several production problems that kinda made this difficult.
- Great White Hunter: "Well, he likes to come down with his drinking buddies, and they swap lies about the good old days about when they were great white hunters and macho men."
- Half the Man He Used to Be: While Big Ed is clinging to the back of the car, Pam reverses it and slams him into a wall with enough force to halve him at the waist.
- Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday: Big Ed's wife is killed on his birthday, while the rest of the film takes place during fall break, which is presumably close to Thanksgiving Day.
- Hunting the Most Dangerous Game: "Dad used to tell me that he'd hunted everything... but man."
- I Have Boobs, You Must Obey!: "Well, maybe you should go and try and find them, at least make sure they're all right? And, uh, I got something to show you when you get back..."
- I Just Shot Marvin in the Face: The gun cabinet is left unlocked with a child in the house, and the guns inside it are apparently all loaded.
- Improvised Weapon: After Big Ed stabs a hole through the car roof and starts strangling Ed through it, Pam burns his hand with the cigarette lighter.
- Indulgent Fantasy Segue: Big Ed daydreams about strangling, shooting and slitting the throat of Young Ed.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: After his wife is killed, Big Ed has a bit of gut-rot... and then shares it with the woman's corpse.
- Knee Capping: When Ed tries to stop his father from attacking Pam, Big Ed responds by stabbing him the leg.
- Meaningful Background Event: In the car, as Pam is helping Ed make a tourniquet for his leg, you can see Big Ed get up and start moving towards them through the windshield.
- Peek-a-Boo Corpse: Ed and Pam find Sue lying on a workbench, and when they approach, her head falls off. And upon opening a door a couple seconds later, the two discover the rest of those killed by Big Ed.
- Police Are Useless: "Besides, there are no cops." Well, there's one patrolling the beach, but he is gotten rid without too much trouble.
- Spikes of Doom: After killing Linda, Mike, and the officer, Big Ed sticks their heads on large spikes jutting out of the wall of his Creepy Basement.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: In regards to the police officer:Pam: "Practice?"
- Traumatic C-Section: Ed tells his friends about how his father once caught a shark and slit it open, causing a dozen or so baby sharks to come flopping out.
- Trophy Room: Big Ed's is filled with animals, weapons, random stuff he's picked up, and pictures (including one of a swimmer he accidentally hit... the first sign of his instability).
- Undercrank: Used when Ralph rushes out of the bedroom to look for Mike and Linda, after Sue promises him she has "something" to show him when he gets back.
