Product Details

• Actors: Artist Not Provided
• Directors: Jin Won Kim
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: Korean
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Vivendi Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: October 27, 2009
• Run Time: 75 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B002FE5XUQ
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #112,119 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

JIN WON KIM'S THE BUTCHER - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 4 1/2 stars. Not just brutal but very effective, October 22, 2009

By 

MutantChaos - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jin Won Kim's The Butcher (DVD)

When you see a film titled THE BUTCHER and there is a bloody guy with a pig mask on the cover you know you aren't exactly getting a family film so I mostly knew what I was in for. Having seen some of the other films in the Asia Extreme line, I think this lived up to its promise of topping the rest of them for how "extreme" it is, but it was more than just a gore-fest and it got under my skin more than I thought it would.

THE BUTCHER is a POV style horror film from Korea with a simple plot - a group of snuff producers are making their latest film. They have cameras and each of the 4 captives has a helmet-cam on as well (most of the film is seen from the point of view of one of the victims). POV films are hit and miss for me, but this was good use of the technique.

I knew this was going to be a nasty film and although it was very violent and bloody at times, it was actually a bit less viscerally gory than I expected - what I did not expect was how mentally disturbing it was. Based on the plot and if you just watched the first part of the film it may come off as an "August Underground"-style movie, which is OK for some people but a type of film that I don't personally get into that much. THE BUTCHER can work on that surface level, but when you get farther into the film, it gets deeper and when it was over I still thought about it for a couple of days, I couldn't get it out of my head. There really isn't much to the plot, but the pieces of background and character interaction they do give you, especially between two of the victims, took it to another level so instead of being just another gross-out endurance test (yawn!) it was more deeply disturbing and hit me the same way MARTYRS did.

It's not a fun popcorn flick and I can't say I "enjoyed" it per se, but it affected me in a way most films don't, so I have to say it was a good film.

While the movie was a 5 for me, I have to be a nitpicker and knock the review down half a star and call it 4 1/2 because of the DVD. The picture and sound are fine, but the subtitles occasionally slipped into "Engrish" which bugged me. You can still follow along with the film just fine but I thought it was kind of annoying. There were also a couple of special features, including an alternate ending that you can see why they didn't originally use.

If you are looking for the more creepy, spooky Asian horror like THE RING or REINCARNATION, do not watch this film. But if you don't mind gore and disturbing fare like MARTYRS, HOSTEL, INSIDE or Asian horror like Takashi Miike does it, I recommend this.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More tension than gore..., February 11, 2010

By 

Kenneth A. Seward (Las Vegas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jin Won Kim's The Butcher (DVD)

I'd been looking for this movie for a while... because, based on the trailer, it looked pretty intense... and it is, but not in an OTT gory sort of way.
It leaves a LOT of stuff to your imagination and I like that. My imagination works fine and usually will come up with stuff that's worse than anything they'd show on screen.
It's true that there isn't much plot or character development... but there are subtleties there for folks who are willing to pay attention. The 'villain's' don't come off so much as psychopathic serial killers as they do average sociopathic business men... more pragmatic than angry.
In reading other reviews I've noticed that most are split between, "Oh my god, this is so horrible, what a piece of filth! I thought I was renting a Teletubbies movie!!!" vs. "Bah, they didn't even show the first people being chainsawed to death, what a rip off... not nearly as gory as the movie I saw last night about baby eaters!!!". Both of which I think are missing obvious points... it's obvious what the movie is, no way to be surprised that it's graphic bloody mock-snuff... but on the other hand, just because it isn't chock full of (fake looking) gore scenes like the stuff from Toe Tag doesn't mean it's not fairly intense horror.
There aren't many people I'd recommend this too... but for the one's I think would be interested I'd give it a solid recommendation. It's certainly a lot more to the point than dorky stuff like Saw and Hostel.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I LIKED IT!, December 31, 2010

By 

creatureart (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jin Won Kim's The Butcher (DVD)

If your a fan of the mock snuff-film and can appreciate what it takes to make a film look and feel as real as possible, then Im sure you'll find a spot in your collection for Jin Won Kim's THE BUTCHER. While not so original,it does feel mostly authentic with a very slight suspension of disbelief. The acting is believable and the tension is visceral. Not the best of the it's sub-genre but definitely not the worst.
***1/2!