The Mutation tells the story of an allegedly mutated lab rat that goes on a bender after killing the lead scientist of an experiment. Cops are on the lookout for the random killings of this creature but no one seems to know what its next move will be, even though they seem to know too much about it. Are they too lazy to catch it or are they powerless against this godless creation?

As one of the characters says, “you only know what people let you see,” you won’t get much to see here as a dramatic plot overlaps the gory action it promises on the trailer. The Mutation tries to put itself as a B-movie with the soul of a high-school AV club project.

The story is ridiculously dumb. The least qualified characters keep formulating theories about the mutant rat and the rest always agree on it, and somehow, they’re right. There’s no gap left to fill in with doubt, mystery or even a twist— whatever the characters think or say it gets set on stone. This flaw makes it clear the characters are poorly written to the point you can tell who’s to blame for everything. To justify my point. To justify my point of view, there is a scene in which the mutant rat arrives at a restaurant where one of the policemen is dining. The reaction time to draw his weapon takes around five victims. Even a waitress does more to stop the creature than the cop who sits around watching each consumer get dismembered by his ineptitude. There is no need to point out shortcomings in the acting because it is not the cast’s fault the script is flawed— it’s unfixable even with their acting chops.

On a good note, the only credit I can give it is the use of lighting to portray its different settings. It has certain elements it replicates from ’80s classics where the use of smoke and colored lights was overused to give it some tension to the scenes that included more action sequences or for its creepy settings when you knew the villain would pop out. It also has some gore during the kills— but not as much as one could hope for to save this film from a treacherous fate.

The Mutation ironically never happens. Instead, it remains in a dormant state permutating as loosely as possible around the silliest motley ever fabricated for a monster movie. It’ll be up to the viewer to decide if it’s a mutant rat, Master Splinter or a giant dog high on LSD with a thirst for blood. I guess the problem with it is it takes itself too seriously instead of acknowledging its faults.

3 OUT OF 10 LAB COATS