Mutants of Nature Cove

Right off the bat - I do NOT want to see another stupid, sub-standard remake of movies from my mom's era. I can just watch the originals and be better entertained. No, what's needed is more movies like Mutants Of Nature Cove. This movie is a true shining gem! The well crafted storyline, the actors' performances, the camera work, the Mutants attack (which look creepily real) - all worked for me. I was hoping it wouldn't end when I did and I could've seen the story continue on beyond the movie's ending point, which is why I gave it less than 10 stars. Other than that - near perfect execution of a movie. I was involved in the storyline and actually was invested in the main characters. When that happens, you have made a truly great movie, like this one.

This movie was extremely entertaining for a few good reasons: well crafted, tight screenplay with no obvious plot holes,; characters that were clearly defined, that you either rooted for or hated, non-stereotypical Native American characters who didn't stumble around outside a teepee, bourbon bottle in hand, looking for someone to light a big cigar;

Not sure why I watched the entire movie here, it started off with the most terrible green screen beach effect you've ever witnessed. The plot wasnt much better - a bunch of people of varying ages spend a day on a clothing optional beach unfortunately populated by the mutants of the title whose bite causes them to hallucinate. We have a crude attempt at political commentary when it is suggested the creatures are created by nuclear waste, or sea plastic pollution, or something. There's also a very weird obsession with face masks which comes off as curiously outdated, much like the creature effects. The impression that the cast were all acting individually and the scenes spliced together afterwards really make this feel like a lockdown project for someone.

Overall though, something worked here and I dont know what it was. Maybe it's just the confidence of the cast who are all naked for 99% of the movie without it feeling sexual in even the smallest way. Not just the girls either, everyones naked from the skinny teens to the chubby middle aged guys. Maybe it's just the absurdity of trying to figure out who the hell this film was supposed to appeal to.

5/10 worth a watch just don't expect too much.

OK, warning: If you have a lot of hangups about nakedness, this is so not the movie for you. The trailer alone has more nudity than most movies, and it's not deceptive in any way. Other than where the cast first walks onto the nude beach they will be sunbathing on, it's mostly nudity of all sorts of people at all sorts of angles. Props to whoever came up with the photos for IMDB for even finding anything that would work on this site.

Second... yeah, it uses green screen to plop in a background and sometimes to get people who were filmed separately to appear on screen at the same time. That's actually, and maybe unfortunately, extremely common these days. The only real difference is this movie is so obvious about it. Look at the photos here on IMDB. They carted sand inside a building with green walls and went to town. Sometimes the background is pretty reasonable, sometimes it's weird old computer clip art. Ditto for extras and props. It all kind of feels like the QuickTime events you would see on 1990's video games . Better, but similar.

The plot? Crazy. Who knows how much of it was supposed to be the hallucinations caused by the mutants. Much of it, I'd guess. Nearly all of it? I had written the story off as meaningless, but then the end bit calls back to earlier plot points to make you realize it *was* going somewhere after all. Huh. That's actually surprising, and slightly better than a lot of low budget movies going through the motions with no real purpose.

It's difficult to call the cast a bunch of unknowns when it's uncertain how many of them used aliases. LL Elly seems like the most amusing fake name. Lucy Diamante, on the other hand, is a real actress with 11 credits so far -- although sometimes aliases become the actor's professional name after a while, so who knows. Even the writer/director Beau Mann is an alias, but a transparent one once you figure it out. With the acting, some is bad, some is passable. But with the way this was assembled together artificially, and with the script they were given -- assuming that all of them even had scripts, which I can't be sure of -- I wouldn't use any of it to prejudge their other work.

With a movie rating you have to balance a number of factors and also keep in mind what they were trying to do. This feels like it was an extended proof of concept nudist resort / COVID quarantine project / funny no-budget sci-fi film. They got the nudist part right, anyway. There's no boom-chick-a-wow-wow music or anything, and you can't exactly call a nudist beach gratuitous when it shows nudity.

Even with the bonus points for being daring and upfront with the main goal of the film, the most I can honestly rate this is 5 stars. I defy anyone to say it's even average for a film -- but it's maybe just below that.

In an era dominated by superficiality and pretense, Mutants of Nature Cove emerges as a beacon of authenticity and human connection. Directed by visionary filmmaker Beau Mann, this daring exploration into the essence of humanity through nudity transcends mere cinematic boundaries, delivering a profound and thought-provoking experience.

From the opening frames, Mutants Of nature Cove challenges societal norms and invites viewers on an introspective journey. The decision to portray nudity not as a mere spectacle but as a raw expression of human vulnerability and liberation is bold yet remarkably effective. Each scene, meticulously crafted, unveils layers of emotion and truth, weaving together a tapestry of stories that celebrate the diversity of human experience.

This is a very strange movie. It's essentially a low-budget 1960s beach picture, but with a completely nude cast.

Yes, completely nude. Every inch of every actor in this movie is on full display for almost the entire running time. But it's done in a strangely innocent way. No one makes comments or leers, the nudity is just kind of present. Naked strangers casually meet and chat in a completely non-sexual manner, and at some point you kind of get desensitized to it all.

The naked people vary from attractive models (most of the women) to old, chubby dudes (actual nudists?)

The movie itself is shot almost entirely on green screen. It's like 300, but if they had no money or visual style. The camera is basically completely locked down, and the compositing is about the worst you've ever seen. The "beach" backgrounds often look like old PC screensavers. Your local TV weather broadcast looks better than this.

Interestingly, it seems that a lot of the people were photographed separately and then edited together. Makes for very awkward dialogue scenes, with long pauses and actors looking in the wrong direction.

So, is this some kind of pro-nudist, body positivity movie? Not really.

The actual "plot" is that the titular mutants live on this beach (thanks to pollution or something), and they like to bite people on the ass. When you get bitten, you start having hallucinations, and there's also a crazy witch lady screaming incantations into the sky...

Strange stuff. Some basic sci-fi/horror elements and gags. What little blood and gore there is comes off very tame due to the amateur production. The "mutants" look like rejects from an episode of Gumby, they have a very "claymation" quality to them. No one is going to scared during this movie.

Strangest of all, they tried to pad out the wide shots of the "beach" with completely CGI people in the background. But these aren't particularly good graphics, it looks like the people from a Barbie video game that came out 20 years ago.

All that said...this movie has something going for it. It's so strange and aloof that it almost transcends the low budget. I am still thinking about it a day later. For $5, this will be one I plan to revisit in the future.

I'd love to see some behind the scenes stuff in this one, just to find out what the hell they were thinking!

All in all, it's a strange, kind of fun 90 minutes with a ton of full frontal nudity. I can see this being a hit in college dorms if nothing else, it lends itself to drinking games and the like.