B.C. Butcher

If you've seen a single Troma film, you are practically an expert in what they infamously produce. They are almost a genre unto themselves. To call them bad isn't really an insult, it's mission accomplished. And describing what's wrong with them is high praise. B.C. Butcher happens to be one of their more accessible films and guaranteed to be the most unique slasher spoof ever.

B.C. bimbo #1 finds out that B.C. bimbo #2 has been doing it with her boyfriend, and so disembowels her with a spear. Left for dead, but not quite dead, a hideous hermit caveman scoops her up and takes her home. Bimbo #2 telepathically sends him on a killing spree of revenge. It's all amusing nonsense. Obviously, everyone involved in making this movie is in on the joke.

I don't know how many in the cast are recognizable to anyone else, but Kato Kaelin, famous for being O.J. Simpson's tenant at the time of the football hero's killing spree, appears to be having a great time hamming it up for the camera. He's fun to watch. And Rodney Bingenheimer, longtime L.A. D.J. and alternative music star maker has a cameo.

The gore is deliberately poor. However, there are several really good independent rock songs. I don't know if there's a soundtrack album, but there should be. If you like camp, this is likely to entertain. And if you're not sure you want to waste 90 minutes, cheer up! It's only 51 minutes long.

NO nudity, NO skimpy outfits! Now that is out of the way, let's review the film. First this is a Troma release and if you know anything about Troma you know it is pretty much a Z-movie grindhouse, expect bad...everything. This is one of the better(relatively) films from them, the acting is somewhere between bad and adequate, the limited special effects are simple and obvious. the photography is fine(surprise!), the actors, outside of the two children, a goat and a duck, are average looking. The two good things this film has are the opening song "Alley Oop" by The Argyles and the soundtrack/incidental music. It's a simple story, Rex, played by Kato Kaelin(remember him?) is romancing all the women in the tribe and the 'Alpha' female finds out about one and kills her, some random dude finds her, takes her back to his place and is then taken over by her spirit and exacts revenge for her by killing Rex and the other females in the tribe. Pretty much a waste of time, best used as white noise for some mindless chores. (MIght have been better if they threw some bad 70s pron in there, but I doubt it)

I'm actually very hesitant about writing a review for this movie. First, I've never seen a Troma film before, and second, this is the first full-length feature by a teenager. I got a link and password for an electronic screener a few days ago, but put it off until now. Having had no expectations of any kind, I did find BC BUTCHER impressive in the sense that took quite a bit of doing for it to get made, and for the enthusiasm of its young director. As for what I liked, the film was knowingly silly and never took itself seriously. Although maybe not a laugh-riot, there were a handful of moments that made me chuckle. For instance, when the lead cave woman kills the "beast," which is a stuffed leopard. I thought that was kind of cute. I also liked the score and soundtrack, although one song in particular got used a little too much. In general, the effects weren't too good, but were decent enough for a low-budget film (and this was shot on 16mm). What didn't work for me was the (hopefully intentionally) bad performances by pretty much the entire cast. From what it looked like, they had fun, but the dialogue and plot sometimes got a little too stupid for their own good. Occupying sort of a neutral zone were continuity errors and anachronisms which, again, may have been completely intentional. Overall, since I was able to see this for free, I'm not complaining. Maybe Troma just isn't for me, although I would need to see a few more to make sure. As for the director, Kansas Bowling, I wish her well and hope she goes on to greater things. You have to start somewhere, and BC BUTCHER wasn't a bad place to start.

I'll make this short and sweet. If you like Troma films, you should dig B.C. Butcher even though - how can I put this gently - it doesn't go to extremes like the typical Troma film does. I found it surprising and actually quite interesting that the movie is pretty tame by Troma standards. That is a compliment, not an insult. Maybe just because it is a Troma film, I was expecting it to be more graphic? But graphic doesn't make a film good, being good makes a film good and this one was fun to watch. The women are beautiful and the guys funny, and you could tell the entire cast were having a good time. 99% of movies are too long, so I had no problem at all with it only being 51 minutes in length either. If you are sick to death of hearing about politics and human rights like me, crank this cool film up and escape...and laugh a little. With Troma, you either "get it" or you don't, and when it came to B.C. Butcher, thankfully I "got it".

If you are looking for a serious movie, then you couldn't be more wrong. But as a parody of prehistoric amazon cannibalism sexploitation slasher genres, this is right on the spot.