Critique: The dogs have the best roles in this cheap movie which is neither scary nor funny. The four skulls stem in equal parts from the direction, the pace at the very end, and the creativity in the invention of weapons by the out-manned vacationers. The mumbling of the mutants is a great deal more irritating than it is scary. The darkness becomes a drain rather quickly too and forms a deadly gas when mixed with the lethally slow pace of the three quarters. It evokes a great deal more frustration than horror. The redneck at the beginning is the guy Cooky from the Pace Picante taco sauce commercials. The father is everyone's father on vacation. As Air Force bombers buzz the truck and the map is clearly labeled test site he screams for everyone to shut up and insists they're not lost as the axle snaps. It's not as bad as it seems, but it's hard to tell with all those damn mutants mumbling and it so dark. Dead mother Ethel played alongside Susan Hayward in her Oscar winning role in "I Want to Live". Dee Wallace graduated from crummy mutant films to the best alien film of all time - ET. Due to its breakthrough nature, regarded as a classic.

Plot Summary: Ruby the redneck wants to escape from Jupiter and the pack. She wants to leave with redneck guy. As they prepare to leave, a retired police officer, Bob Carter, his extended family, and their German Shepherds headed for a California vacation make an unwise turn onto an army test site in search of gas and water and a silver mine in the dessert the parents inherited for their silver anniversary. The redneck warns them not to take his family back there. The silver's been gone for forty years and there's nothing but animals there, no people or "nobody you'd want to meet". Besides, it's been used for a nuclear test site. The nervous gas station guy warns them to stay on the main road and have a good time in California. As they leave, the redneck's truck is blown up by the someone. Having ignored his advice, they soon experience the requisite horror movie car trouble and what good is a broken axle if it doesn't occur in a dessert inhabited by cannibalistic nuclear test victim mutants? Turkey buzzards circle overhead as persons monitor the crippled trailer, while drueling over Bob's daughters Brenda and Lynn. Also along are his son-in-law Doug and idiot-jock son Bobby. As Bob and Doug prepare to look for help, they gather to pray that the good lord looks over them. The watchers communicate by walky-talky and Pluto reports "Easy pickins". Right then the lead Shepherd, "Beauty", begins to act up. The other Shepherd "Beast" is quietly concerned. Beauty bolts and idiot Bobby runs after. Beauty engages the enemy and howls pathetically. Idiot boy discovers his mangled dog and heads back.falls and whacks his head while the women freeze.and baby Det. Bob winds up at the gas station shooting at the old redneck who attacked him mistook him for someone else. Redneck tells of his 20 pound baby hairy as a monkey nearly tore wife Martha apart. 10 years old full grown he killed all their animals and burnt the house down killing his baby daughter he abandoned his beaten child in 1939 where he paired with an abducted whore to raise a race of monsters. At that point in the story the two men are set upon Papa Jup and Big Bob is staked to the ground through his hands. As the little camp settles in for the night, their gas is siphoned. At 11:00pm, Bobby decides they'd better search for Big Bob. He calls Beast and hears what sounds like the dog whining. As he gets Doug and Lynn out of the station wagon the bald mutant PeeWee is looting the camper and takes to Brenda's room when an explosion distracts the campers and Dog enters the camper and eats the pet Lovebirds, stops PeeWee from raping Brenda. Dog thinks Brenda and her baby are fat and juicy. The family finds Big Bob all burnt but still alive. Dog shoots mom and Brenda he and PeeWee abduct the baby but promise to come back. Mercury is happy until beast kills him. Back at the mutant camp Papa Jupiter finally has time to address Ruby's attempted runaway with Grampa Fred, and they prepare to eat the "Thanksgiving Baby" as the two camps regroup. The bad guys are enraged by the discovery of Mercury's dead body. It looks like both sides are in for heavy losses and the creative killathon appears to be a standoff until a turncoat seals the fate of one of the parties.