Butchers Bluff

Butchers Bluff gets off to an appropriate start with a gratuitous display of breasts as a couple go at it in a pick up. And it's not long after that that they fall victim to The Hogman, an escaped mental patient named Alex (William Instone, The Sawyer Massacre, Damsel of the Doomed), who allegedly lives in this stretch of woods and is responsible for 28 deaths over the past twenty years.

This has caught the attention of a group of college students, after Roger (Michael Fischer, Up on the Housetop, A Stream That Led to Nowhere ) stumbles upon the story, and he and his associates Nicole (Paige Steakley, Sacred Mask, Lowriders vs Zombies from Space) and Derick (Johnny Huang, Attack of the Unknown, Fear the Walking Dead) decide to make a film a documented on the subject for their next assignment for Prof. Hooper's class and for a bit of fun on the side, they bring along their friends Samantha(Samantha Holland,The Massacre on Halloween Night,Eyes of a Roman) Tina (Kayla Anderson,When Wendy Grew Up, Generation Hope)Bobby (Dakota Millett, Time to Fight, Alita: Battle Angel) and Jake (Santiago Sky, Hollow Lake, The Blood Order) for some after hours partying, what else is there to do in the middle of nowhere?

Curious about a local legend, a group of students decides to investigate a famed serial killer said to live in the local woods and begin shooting their documentary about him, only to realize there's a real killer in the woods far more dangerous than they expected and must get out alive.

This was a fairly intriguing if somewhat flawed indie slasher. Among the bright spots here is a rather solid and engaging throwback-style setup that provides this one with the proper tone and feel for this kind of film. The perfect small-town type of story here focusing on the backstory of the kid who went crazy on the kids who bullied him, forcing him into the sanitarium to pay for his crimes, and then escaping to go on a rampage against the citizens makes this appropriately old-school as a nice bit of information on the killer. The idea of tying this into the series of disappearances and missing persons' cases over the years involving the people that are known to be attacked and missing through family reports and missing persons' cases as well as the series of random passersby that get knocked off make everything here settle into a solid enough story to get the filmmakers' attention to do a story on. This gets them into the woods to investigate everything while also making the locals noteworthy for their reluctance and warnings to keep away. That provides a solid setup so that the series of stalking and encounters that take place with the killer loose in the area. The initial series of indie stalking and quick-shot ambushes come into play here with the series of random figures brought into the film to serve as a quick death including the couple who get struck with car trouble on the side of the road, a resident who they try to interview, or the hikers out in the woods looking for a secret stash they believe is in the woods. These set the stage for more involved and engrossing setpieces including the series of attacks in the woods chasing around the group who go out wandering around looking for pieces to their project. Featuring some effective practical effects and creative setups to handle the carnage on display with the hulking killer chasing and slaughtering them through the woods, giving it some likable enough features. There are some issues here holding this one back. The main overriding drawback is the obviously apparent and egregious length here as there's no earthly reason an indie film of this caliber should run over two hours. There's a lot of extra padding here, either letting scenes run on way too long, have no purpose for being there other than to provide a cameo for someone of supposed importance to sell the film on or letting multiple scenes play out that could've been combined into one without letting excessive moments play out. It feels its length quite easily with these unnecessary features and desperately needs a trim to get to a more reasonable and appropriate old-school setup that's being attempted here. That would also be fine in eliminating some of the cliches present here, which tends to become quite apparent early on, making for a not-as-shocking finale as it thinks it is when it drops a revelation coming from a mile away that's supposed to be clever. Overall, these are what manage to hold this one back.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Nudity, a sex scene, and drug use.

While I had indeed never heard about this 2023 horror movie titled "Butchers Bluff" prior to sitting down to watch it here in 2025, I needed no persuasion to do so. Why? Well, it was a movie that I hadn't already seen. And it was also a horror movie, and I am a big fan of all things horror.

The movie's cover was actually the reason why I stopped and took notice of the movie. It was interesting, but at the same time just oozed with a particular low budget, cheesy slasher feel.

The narrative in the movie is pretty slow paced. Sure, the movie starts out nicely enough, but then falls into a sluggish slump and just slowly waddles onwards. So writers William Instone and Renfield Rasputin didn't exactly put together a particularly exciting or entertaining script and storyline. In fact, it was a bit of a struggle to sit through the movie. After what felt like an hour of nothing much happening, I checked the timer on the movie, and only 32 minutes had passed.

Sure, I harbored zero expectations to directors William Instone and Matt Rifley's movie, as it just had a particular low budget feel to it, and the familiar names on the cast list aren't exactly known for their blockbuster movies. But I still opted to watch it and give it the benefit of the doubt.

The movie does have some familiar talents on the cast list, such as Jeremy London, Bill Oberst Jr. And Brinke Stevens. The acting in "Butchers Bluff" were fair, despite the fact that the actors and actresses didn't really have much to work with in terms of script.

My rating of directors William Instone and Matt Rifley's 2023 horror movie "Butchers Bluff" lands on a generous three out of ten stars.

I had been waiting for this movie for a couple of years. I was excited to buy the DVD from Amazon and I'm pleased that it has hit several streaming platforms. I have watched the movie once so far and will revisit again, as I usually get a more in depth experience the second viewing.

My first impressions are good. I loved the way this was shot. It had several interesting camera shots. Scenes were setup well and the lighting was good. Good audio capture occurred (that is a mark of competence that not all low budget movies can claim). I liked the story of local folklore that turned to almost legend status and the slow reveal of the truth. The main characters were interesting enough to keep my interest, the locations were fun to look at, the effects were well done, and the acting was good. I really enjoyed the look of the killer. Bill Oberst Jr. Stole the movie for me. He brought the right amount of creepiness and foreboding energy this type of story needs. This has a very classic slasher feel and quality. I thoroughly enjoyed this and I hope to see more of William Instone's work in the future.

The other reviews will be best for finding out about the film. Mine is more about bringing some balance.

I came across this title by accident and was excited when I saw a 7/10 on IMDb. 7/10 is pretty difficult for horror films to get so thought oh this must be great. Nope, acting was mid and disjointed, editing was off - always too long a pause between characters, pacing was very slow with no real payoff in either creepiness or scares. Other than sharing 80's tropes this really doesn't feel like 80's horror at all. More like everything else Tubi has at the moment.

The 7/10 must be bot inflated because whilst this is not a bad horror film it really is just very average so would realistically be around 4/10.