Customer Reviews

Butchered

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Butchered (2010) Despite some 21st century cars and technology, what we have here is an old school horror flick that could have been made in, say, 1979, after John Carpenter's Halloween made scarepics Big Business again, but before Tom Savini brought on the gore in Friday the 13th (1980). The story gets going with the convicted murderer called The Butcher escaping custody and picking up right where he left off. And by picking up, I mean as in sharp implements he puts to bloody use. In the meantime, while he's dodging the police and picking off a couple of victims, we meet our leads, seven high school students just graduated and about to go their separate ways. To celebrate their friendship they boat out to an island just offshore for a weekend of partying they hope will forever stay in their memories. Unfortunately for them, the Butcher just landed his stolen boat on the other side of the island, and when he gets through with them, there might just be nothing left of them but memories. All in all, this one shapes up as not bad. It's obvious this was a very low budget affair, but it moves along, clocking in at a spare 71 minutes. Probably the biggest problem I have with the film is not in its production, but in the marketing. Calling the film Butchered and touting it as unrated on the box sets up expectations that are not so much not carried through as I'm guessing not ever planned for. Quite simply, the direction, credited to Charles Stewart, Jr, co-writer/producer Sheila Brothers, and co-writer/producer/actor Shaun O'Rourke doesn't dwell on the kills. They are quick, snappy sequences more interested in eliciting a jump from the audience than a grab for the barf bag. There are some gruesome moments, but the movie doesn't shove them in your face and linger on the blood and guts, which is why it seems so much like a movie made 30 years ago. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. Without going into spoilers, the body count is a respectable double digit number, and I'm not counting the victims the Butcher killed to get his nickname or the murdered police dog everyone seems to mention a lot. I think the film is unrated because it wasn't submitted to the ratings board, not because it is the ne plus ultra of extreme gore and sex. Speaking of sex, we do get a couple of nice nude scenes sprinkled in, always a plus in this kind of endeavor. I would call this a solid R based on the violence, nudity, and language. Breaking it down, the film looks very nice, with crisp cinematography and gorgeous seaside locations; the script is decent, with some funny lines, if no game changing twists or turns; the acting is okay, although sadly the better actors stay on shore instead of going to the island; and always important - the killer: The Butcher is a big brute of a guy, at his best in the night scenes, framed in fog with his big ol' axe; and losing some of his scary mojo in the last few scenes as we see him a bit too well. This isn't the best horror film you'll ever see, and I'd guarantee it isn't the worst one either. It's worth a look for those so inclined, so check it out! Starring Tim Woodward Jr, Melissa Lukon, Shaun O'Rourke, Cari Moskow, and DJ Naylor as The Butcher.

The movie starts out cleverly. A mass killer, a butcher, named "Skinner" (get it!) is on the loose. A woman goes to her home, house #9 (turn me on dead man) and her door is unlocked. She hears a noise and checks it out....and she has accidentally shut the cat into a room, something I have done 1,000 times and a few TIMES by accident. Then before the credits are done she is strung up topless and bleeding.

Once the credits are over, so is the clever stuff. The acting goes down hill as a group of kids who seem at odds with each other half the time,head off to an island for the weekend. As they pull away from the shore and get about 10 feet out they lose the proverbial phone reception, although the one boy does have a radio so he can contact his brother in an emergency.

This is no house on the island as they camp out in two man/woman tents. In a serious breach of slasher etiquette the killer (D.J. Naylor) doesn't wait until nightfall until he selects his first victim. The slasher, like all good slashers can meander faster than any scared teen can sprint. The island killings, which should have been slow and deliberate with good spacing between them was not. He doesn't strip and torture his victims like he did during the opening credits. Instead they opted to fill their 90 minutes excessively building the character of Dylan and the issues with his family, which didn't play much into slasher aspect of the film.

sex, f-bombs, blood, gore, nudity

As mentioned in fellow reviewers comments, BUTCHERED harkens back to 70's slashers. There is a lot of "safe" gore and few surprises and includes a predictable final scene. My problem with BUTCHERED lies within its cliche-written and padded script that obstructs the suspense and the cast's ineffectual performances.
Again, the supposed high school grads look ten years older than 17 but what's new?
BUTCHERED isn't the worst movie I've ever seen but there are many much better.

After a good opening scene this cheap 'movie' descends into boredom with a quickness! I love cheap horror movies but only the ones that are entertaining! This is one seriously boring crapfest. Only watch this thing if your idea of a good horror movie is: 1 - watching a bunch of lame people stand around talking at a party for a long time (small talk - nothing of substance), 2 - watching people lounge on a boat for a long time. 3 - watching people running endlessly through the woods for 10 minutes at a time with occasional shots of a killer's feet walking only to end in a cheesy shot of a murder weapon being raised and then a cop-out cutaway with no FX! Absolutely NO effort is made to entertain the audience. This is one of the really crappy ones folks.

Butchered is about as bloodless and lifeless as a slasher movie can get. About half of the deaths occur offscreen, and the ones that occur onscreen aren't exactly anything to get excited about. This might have been fine thirty years ago, but today in the more is more era of horror filmmaking it just doesn't hack it. Fairly recent movies like Hatchet, Gutterballs, and My Bloody Valentine pushed the envelope in terms of gore and nastiness. They were also fun, and I would definately recommend you check those out if you're looking for a good slasher movie because Butchered is not good.

The only things that save it from being a one star movie is a little t & a and some cheesy, sometimes funny, humor early on. It also must be noted that Butchered only runs 71 minutes, 67 minutes not counting closing credits. And you'd expect a movie that short to be a non-stop, fast paced flick. Unfortunately, that's not the case. Butchered is full of filler and exposition. And if you haven't already guessed, it's one of the worst slashers I've seen along with Ripper and Barricade.

Fun, campy low budget movie.. a definite throw back to 80's thriller. Crazy murderer escapes, resumes killing spree on unsuspecting group of young people...but that's what made it nostalgic.
A predictable plot, a touch of humor, edge of your seat moments, and a little slice and dice made for a fun to watch horror movie.

There was good production value in this movie. Despite that it is low budget, they have aerial and underwater photography. There is a cameo appearance by David Schifter, who, according to imdb is the most recognizable face in the movie. Too bad he is wasted as a TV reporter in the begining. I give this sexy teen thriller 4/5 stars.