Ozone Attack of the Red Neck Mutants (1986)

You know I spent far too many of my Saturday nights as a teenager watching some dreadful ‘80s direct to video movies.  Much like the old days of the Drive-in the VHS market allowed many regional filmmakers to crank out product that they knew would end up on the shelves of Mom and Pop video stores all over the country.  Many of these movies were just plain bad, but some had a certain bit of charm to them.  I think that Ozone Attack of the Red Neck Mutants is one of those movies.

The story here is about a small town that filled with locals that have been exposed to too much sun because the Ozone has been depleted by a chemical spill.  In addition to the locals we also have a crusading environmentalist and her ex boyfriend or maybe boyfriend want to be (never quite sure).  Before you can say rural stereotype they are running from the locals, both mutant and otherwise.  The rest of the movie is basically one bloody set piece after another as the blood flows and the gore is plentiful. 

You know I would never say that this was a well-written movie, because it isn’t.  We have characters introduced solely to kill them off in sticky and bloody ways.  The pacing is uneven, especially when our “heroes” sit down for a nice down home picnic.  In spite of the bodies piling up and terrible things happening no one seems to be worried about any of it.  But by God none of this really matters to me.  What Ozone Attack of the Red Neck Mutants (great title) does well is be fun.  The characters are silly and over the top, as are some of the situations that they are put in.  There is some absurdly funny dialogue and even a small variety show with a couple of down home comedians.  Sure the movie isn’t perfect, but I laughed and can truthfully say that not once was I bored.  Can you ask more from a movie?

I also wanted to talk some about the technical bits of the movie.  The movie looks a bit grainy and the sound isn’t perfect.  But it also has that charm that only a low budget movie shot on film (8 mm is what I was told) can bring to the screen.  So I’ll forgive an occasionally fuzzy picture and bad dubbing.  I mean who hasn’t wanted to hear a flushing sound from an outhouse?  Oh and one thing the movie does a damn fine job with is the gore and special effects.  This is a bloody movie that sprays the fake blood everywhere.  All of the effects are practical and sure many of them are really “rubbery” looking at times.  But again for a low budget movie this delivers the goods and has a certain charm to it. 

Ozone Attack of the Red Neck Mutants is the kind of movie that you are either going to love or hate.  I had a blast with it, so you know where I stand.  But then again I like some pretty terrible flicks.  The DVD is a bit pricey, but if you get the chance to check it out and dig ‘80s direct to video flicks I think you will have some fun with it.

2 ½ out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer

© Copyright 2010 John Shatzer