The Butcher

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.

If you saw the new version of Texas Chainsaw Masacre, Wrong Turn, People Under the Stairs, and a few others, you've already seen this movie. It steals scenes and almost line by line from these others. It is so predictable, I knew what characters were going to do or say down to their exact words a minute before they did just that. There's a chainsaw, there's even an engagement ring, bottled body parts, barbed-wire , and even the ending is a copied. Also, the acting, especially from the mother, is terrible. Absolutely nothing is particularly original. Do not waste your time. It stinks. And as a horror movie, there's not even too much horror. Also it is mis-titled. Was obviously supposed to be called "The Farmer" or something like that judging from what probably was intended as a signature line "It's Harvest Time!". There's no mention of anything connected to a butcher. P.S. Venom is a MUCH better movie.

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.

Did you saw Texas Chainsaw Massacre, See No Evil, Wrong Turn, Hills have eyes, Wolf Creek, House of 1000 Corpses, 1001 maniacs? If yes - you wont see anything NEW. Again some teenagers going into trip and of course their car is broken... YES - it happens in the woods, in isolated place, and YES - they're haunted by some ugly freak... I rated it 4, but if I would never saw those movies that i mention in the beginning, i would give 6. I think that Texas Chainsaw producers should do something with that... almost all movies i watched past 2 years are similar. Aren't laws protect the story? I got tired of this... I guess within 3 months I will see another "edited" copy of same story.

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.