The Butcher

Butcher, The (2006)

** (out of 4)

DTV horror film is in the same vein as countless others. Six college students are on their way to Las Vegas when they decide to turn down an old country road to save some time. They eventually get stranded and then are attacked and slashed by a deformed redneck. We've seen this type of film countless times over the past three decades and I'm sure we'll be seeing them in the next three decades. The film is actually better than a lot of the DTV horror films of today but there are still a lot of problems here. The cast doesn't give very good performances but their characters are at least entertaining. What really kills the film is how stupid the characters are as they are constantly doing the wrong things scene after scene. While stupid characters are a staple of horror films, the ones here are just so stupid that they become rather annoying. There's a small amount of nudity and good amount of gore to keep you awake but that's about it.

There is no doubt that seeing Tiffany Kristensen flash the Butcher is the highlight of this film. Everything else has been seen before in other horror movies.

Obnoxious frat boy, token African-American, lesbians, and, oh-my-gosh, a chainsaw. How original! At least it was put to good use getting rid of the most irritating characters.

Oh, that flash in the beginning, that's it for the nudity. There really isn't much gore in this film. I would have given it a PG-13, instead of an R.

Stay on the main road, people.

as a big slasher film fan i have to say this one, fulfill it's complement: be a horror movie. But there's just something about and it's the fact that: it's just wrong. When i was watching it at one point i though i was watching, wrong turn, then i star thinking about the Texas chainsaw massacre, then hills have eyes and finally i know what you did last summer, the movie it's basically a mix of all these other movies but unsuccessfully did what those other movies did, it's just so predictable, the scrip it's so weak and far beyond scary, instead of that it's so lame, with this thousands of clichés like "don't go in there" "what it's this place" "he's gonna kill us all" you basically know who's gonna die first and why called it "the butcher" there is no butcher in the film and there is not even a good slaughter, they should have call it "i know what the Texas hills wrong turned last summer" or something, honestly i don't know what a company spend money into making this crappy films. I give it a three because, well it's a horror movie after all, invite some friends over and watch it with pop corns in a boring Saturday afternoon. And for the record i should give this movie a zero but the lesbians really help it.

This was one of those horror movies where you hope all the characters get killed quickly, because they're so annoying. They're not just annoying, they are annoying clichés of characters.

Obnoxious frat boy? Check, he's here, let's hope he gets knocked off first. Sexy lesbians? Yup, they play that for the little bit it's worth. Logical, level-headed survivor type girl? Yeah, you'll spot her in the first two minutes. Screaming teenagers? Sure enough.

This is an attempt to get some of the atmosphere of other horror movies and make it work in a mix. It doesn't work, it just comes across as a blatant ripoff without humor or originality of any kind. During the first ten minutes you'll find yourself hoping that the bad guy mops them up quick and then goes to Cancun for a vacation with some margaritas and maybe beach babes. That would have been a huge improvement over what you get, which is the worst and most predictable elements of the last ten slasher movies you saw.

I bought this along with 400 other DVD's when one of our local video retail outlets liquidated and this film is better than the vast majority of that group.

"The Butcher" (2006) is basically a cut-rate combo of "Wrong Turn" (2003) and "Monster Man" (2003). Oddly, I liked this better than either of those films. Perhaps I tapped into the self-reflexive subtext. My reaction would be more negative if it had been a bigger production, but I tend to give a lot of points for quality production design on a limited budget and every bit of their budget makes it onto the screen.

It looks like they shot the film at Camp Roberts, home of the California Army National Guard. Which would account for the use of the deuce and a half (M35) army truck to parody the action on "Duel" and "Monster Man".

Don't seek this one out if you are expecting something original in the old familial horror genre (insert: "The American family as demented in-breds who lure victims to a home they have turned into a slaughterhouse" here). And don't expect a lot of well-staged action adventure segments or high-end special effects. And be prepared for another of those tired indestructible villain twists at the end.

Like "Wrong Turn" they make the clueless mistake of killing off their hottest actress first, although at least here they wait until she has taken off her top.

Fortunately Catherine Wreford's tight abs get plenty of screen time for the remainder of the film, so there is still something nice to look at for those who like that sort of thing. Wreford's "Rachel" is a pretty good plucky heroine (certainly better than Eliza Dushku's "Jessie") and handles the scream queen duties quite well. Annie Mackay (who looks a lot like Kristen Stewart) gives an excellent nonverbal performance.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.