Butcher Boys

When you watch Butcher Boys, don't expect classy, artfully structured horror. Don't expect a movie that takes itself seriously. Really, don't expect anything except a movie that captures the manic spirit of the original cycle of Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies and why shouldn't it, as it is co-written and produced by Kim Henkel (co-writer of part 1 and and writer and director of part 4).

The premise is pretty simple. A group of well off young people get into an altercation with a pair of jock douche bags and in the ensuing chaos, they run across the titular gang of fine young cannibals. The villains are dangerous, psychotic young men with bizarre ides about class and proper diet.

That's about it as far as the story goes and, honestly, the first half of the movie is kind of weak. It's basically one long chase sequence that goes on longer than it has to. But just when I was about to lose interest altogether, things got crazy, much crazies than the average movie of this kind. I don't want to give anything away but suffice to say that by the end, you'll see a hulking, deformed cannibal bashing a war vet in a wheelchair in the face with a chunk of concrete he's swinging from a chain and that's not the wildest, weirdest part of the finale!

The camera work is okay, the acting is of mixed quality, the score is great, the script is thin, the gore effects solid, and generally the quality is all over the place. Many people will hate Butcher Boys. There's just no way a movie this strange can be to everyone's taste. However, if you're a fan of weird, wild cinema, Butcher Boys is a must.

Four kids out for some fun upset the wrong gang of cannibal greasers and are chased around a city at night while being picked off one by one. The script for Butcher boys was written by the writer of the original Texas chainsaw massacre with most of the ideas from that movie being regurgitated here only slightly tweaked. Several scenes are reused which dampens the impact as you've seen it before. It also borrows from other films most notably Judgement night.

In its favour Butcher boys does have a pleasingly nihilistic tone as once the film gets going nothing is explained. Who are these rockabilly cannibals? Why are the cops scared of them? Just what is that weird restaurant/gentlemans club they're running all about? But the tentative approach to the violence portrayed is at odds with the gonzo storytelling. Apart from two or three slightly graphic scenes the blood and gore is fairly minimal. This could be due to budget constraints. If I so I would have maybe saved the money spent on the constant nighttime aerial shots and spent that money on more prosthetic effects. A little more violence would have pushed this film up another notch on the crazy level making it that little bit more memorable. The nihilism does eventually reach it's apex in the finale when all hell breaks lose. Unfortunately this scene also turns a few things already set up in the film on its head. Making you question even further the lack of coherence.

I did find watching Butcher boys a fairly frustrating experience. I could definitely feel the opportunity for a good if not great movie in there somewhere. Visually it's very competent, it's well filmed and has a certain visual style all credit to the directors achieving this on a minimal budget. The sound and score are also strong. On the whole the performances are good with the odd exception. The problem lies mainly with the script, it borrows too much from other films, some of it could be classed as a knowing wink or nod to the writers previous work. Although had it been written by anyone else I think we'd be calling it plagiarism.

In the end I was left neither loving or hating the film hence the score. Maybe on a second viewing I'd like it more, but at the moment the only taste left in my mouth is vanilla.

It is very over the top crazy multiple things happening you never really form attachments to any of the characters but I really enjoyed this movie. I like quirky weird story lines and I love weird concepts in movies such as cannibalism (spell check) I did only watch this movie because I was bored and nothing else was on but if you're into weird nonsense movies this is one for you. After you will be asking what did I just watch. I do think this movie is a hit or miss for people. I am seeing people either really hated it or people really likes it. No middle base here. It ended on very weird terms I almost thought it wasn't over. Like all that and this is the end but again I did enjoy it and I don't think this movie gets the props that it deserves.

While I was watching this movie there was plenty of times I couldn't stop myself from thinking I was watching an anime. The way the guys walk, talk, that sniffing thing. At first, I thought the writer went bananas when wrote the script but in the middle of the story I got it. It has gore and remind me of Hostel at the beginning, then it turns out to be more like Scary Movie. The story is good, you need to know that it is an anime like story to enjoy it. So wait for something like uni- dimensional characters, unnecessary dialogs and somethings with a bad explication. I laugh with some of the butcher boys, I guess they wanted to do them as crazy guys who are mad in all the possible ways, their personalities reminded me of Deadpool. The dog and that dress, they're comic. The end is like what the…? I loved and hated this movie. That so bad that it's good thing. A good movie to relax if you relax with screams and this kind of crap. It has a lot of potential, it just was not used so well. PS: English is my second language, so I'm sorry about any mistakes.

Alas, another great indie horror film with a ridiculously low rating on IMDb. This means that fans of the genre will possibly overlook this insanely terrifying and deliciously, bizarre horror film. The genius behind the original Texas Chainsaw, Kim Henkel is responsible for this film, which is referred to as the 'spiritual sequel' to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974). And to be completely honest with you, Butcher Boys does what none of the Chainsaw franchise could do. It terrified me exactly the way the original film did, which is pretty remarkable. The flow of Butcher Boys was so unexpected, that I was on edge the entire time, as well as feeling confused about what the hell was going on as I was decades ago when I watched TC- Massacre for the first time. Do not listen to any of the other critics or haters in regards to this film. I am completely annoyed by the ignorant reviews that badmouth this great indie. If you love horror/thriller films that focus on making you feel a combination of fear and confusion, then you will have a real good time with Butcher Boys. My only issue with this film is the sound editing. There were way too many scenes where the dialogue was drowned out by other sounds; it was very frustrating. But that's still not enough to disregard this very entertaining film. I also want to point out that this film had 9 cameo appearances by members of the original TC-Massacre franchise, which is pretty bad-ass for fans of the original. I think this was a really great bizarre horror film that shouldn't be missed by fans of indie horror. If you do decide to give this film a whirl and you love it as much as I did, please rate it on IMDb… It deserves a much higher rating!

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