I originally saw this about six years ago, and when I stumbled across the video again recently in my garage, I just had to re-watch it to see if the film was as bizarre as I'd remembered. Yes, it is. Shot at a local amusement park in Florida called Pirate's World (used in other Barry Mahon films too), MUSICAL MUTINY features some local Florida musical artists (a Janis Joplin sound-alike, a Judy Collins folkie, and some vaguely interesting trippy 1969-70 rock bands who are almost good enough to have their records reissued on Rockadelic or Gear Fab...almost), and headliners Iron Butterfly, who do three or four songs, including the complete almost-twenty-minute In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, which they lip-sync! The static technique of the film--familiar to any fan of Mahon's who has watched THE SEX KILLER or PAGAN ISLAND-- actually gives the film a kind of documentary quality, which makes it far more interesting to watch than any phony Hollywood attempt at being hip. There's little I can add to Son Of Cathode's excellent analysis of this curio--except to say that if you are at all interested in off-the-wall low budget, locally made films of the 60's/ 70's, then MUSICAL MUTINY is a must-see. Iron Butterfly fans out there should remember that the band NEVER plays live in this movie. They appear on a stage, playing along (not always very closely) to their records, and we see crowd reaction shots, but there is no live performance in this movie (although we do hear the singer make a few comments before one of the songs). Now, I'll have to see MONDO DAYTONA/GET DOWN GRAND FUNK!
