Shriek of the Mutilated (Michael Findlay, 1974)

Dr. Ernest Prell (Alan Brock) takes his student Keith Henshaw (Michael Harris) to a restaurant, where they are served an exotic dish called gin sung. Prell is organizing a field trip to investigate yeti sightings. Meanwhile, other students of his are throwing a party, which we know is swingin' because there's a popcorn maker. A former student, Spencer Ste. Claire (Tom Graile), drinks heavily and talks about Prell's last yeti-hunting expedition, of which the two were the only survivors. On returning home, Ste. Claire argues with his wife and stabs her with an electric carving knife, then crawls into the bathtub fully clothed with a can of beer. The dying April (Luci Brandt) throws the toaster into the tub, electrocuting her husband. Prell, Keith, Keith's girlfriend Karen Hunter (Bloodsucking Freaks' Jennifer Stock), Tom Nash (Invasion of the Blood Farmers' Jack Neubeck), and Lynn Kelly (Darcy Brown), take a van to Boot Island, where Prell's friend Dr. Karl Werner (Tawm Ellis) lives. Werner recently encountered the yeti. He also has a mute Indian (as in Native American) servant named Laughing Crow (Ivan Agar). Gin sung is served for dinner once again. First Tom, and then Lynn fall victim to the yeti, and ultimately Keith learns the truth about the beast and just what gin sung is...

The phrase "so bad, it's good" has been used to describe a lot of movies, and it fits Shriek of the Mutilated to a T. Most of the performances are awful, not surprising since most of the cast had no other credits before or since. Tom Graile and Jennifer Stock in particular overact like mad. The yeti's presence is accompanied by a heartbeat sound effect, which I have to think was a tired cliche even in the '70s. The fashions are hideous, especially Darcy Brown's enormous glasses. Despite a yeti being core to the plot, there's no snow in the film. A flashback to Werner's encounter with the yeti is supposed to take place at night, but is clearly shot in broad daylight. Tom sings a crappy song about the creature. April Ste. Claire manages to electrocute her hubby via an unplugged toaster in the bathtub. Ivan Agar is one of the least convincing white guys playing Native Americans of all time. The jaw-dropping ending reveals that the film is part of a different horror subgenre then we thought it was, and gives us some ethnic stereotyping while we're at it. The last shot and line were probably meant to be creepy, but are more likely to make the viewer laugh his or her ass off. But then, what else can one expect from sleaze legend Michael Findlay, who along with his wife and partner Roberta made Snuff, a film which raised controversy because an actress' actual death was supposedly filmed, even though the scene in question is blatantly fake, with the actress allegedly being disembowled played by a different (and differently dressed!) one then we've seen in the film prior to that point? Connoisseurs of trash cinema, do not miss this film!