A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

The quote in the review's subject is the actual tagline for this 2010 straight-to-video horror quickie poetically entitled …"Butchered". Hmm, I guess someone confused classic horror with amateur nonsense. Yes I'm looking at you Mr. and Mrs. Writers/Co-directors! But then again, you honestly can't be too harsh in your criticism because basically they only had the modest ambition to make a very straightforward and rudimentary slasher picture to bring homage to all the trash released during the glorious 1980's. "Butchered" is a (barely) 70 minutes long series of ancient clichés, usual stereotypes and a whole lot of predictable situations. Somewhere in a quiet harbor town in North Carolina – of all places - there's a deranged axe-wielding serial killer on the lam. His name is Terence Skinner and he used to work in the butcher shop of his parents, but then went bonkers after his return from the Gulf war and massacred more than 40 people. Or at least that's what the journalist explains during the opening credits, which have some pretty cool musical guidance as well. In the nearby town, a handful of teenagers decide to spend one last weekend partying together before they head off for college. They go to a little island to camp and have random sex, but guess who they bump into there! All the potboiler elements that you except to see are well-presented: campfire stories, mobile phones without a signal, people stupidly splitting up to search missing friends and agonizing dialogs like "Oh my God, we're so going to die!!". "No, shut up, we're not going to die!". In good old 80's tradition, you can also immediately predict the order in which the teenagers are going to knocked off. Starting with the cute looking but redundant random girls, onwards to the sex-obsessed dumb friend and then quickly towards the loyal black guy and his girlfriend. The gore and the killings are disappointingly lame and monotonous. We're talking mainly about swinging and flying axes, but we aren't seeing the actual impact. Terence Skinner is a boring and unimaginative killer without any sort of charisma or "specialty". There's one sequence in which his silhouette stands motionless amidst the trees and covered in fog. I rather liked that sight because it promptly reminded me of "Madman" and that's a personal favorite (better call it "guilty pleasure") of mine. "Butchered" is available on a cheap disc together with three other masterpieces of amateur horror, so if you pick up a DVD like that at Walmart, you pretty much know what to expect.

A bunch of high school seniors go to a secluded island to party prior to heading off to college. The kids run afoul of a vicious axe-brandishing psycho Gulf War veteran known as the Butcher (an effectively menacing portrayal by hulking behemoth D.J. Naylor). Directors Charles Stweart, Jr., Sheila Brothers, and Shaun O'Rourke relate the familiar, but still engrossing story at a constant brisk pace, develop a good deal of tension, present characters who are both well drawn and sympathetic, deliver a fair amount of graphic gore, and sprinkle a decent dab of tasty gratuitous female nudity for good measure. The competent acting from the solid no-name cast rates as another big plus, with especially praiseworthy contributions by Tim Woodward, Jr. as the willful, conflicted Dylan, Melissa Lukon as the sweet Jenna, Kristina Sipes as the perky Hope, Shaun O'Rourke as Dylan's regretful older brother Brody, and Kit Johnson as hot brunette babe Chloe. Joseph Colyer's sharp cinematography gives this picture an impressive polished look. The lively and rattling score by Tommy Brothers and Jack Bowden Faulker hits the stirring'n'shivery spot. Moreover, the tight 71 minute running time ensures that this movie never becomes dull or overstays its welcome. A worthwhile little slice'n'dice opus.

Being an Avid Fan of Horror movies, I had high hopes of this film - Sadly, those hopes were dashed. Quickly. I was expecting this horror/thriller film that was worthy of being a big part of my library, and now I know it will never be. I'm expecting a Horror Film that actually scares you. Instead, I got bad acting and a weak storyline. This is NOT what makes a great horror movie. Granted, Most horror movies do have cheesy dialog at times, but the good ones don't have the cheesy dialog all the way through. Another issue I have is with the horror scenes - There is nothing wrong with a little gore in some death scenes, let alone a special effect or two. *POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT* And I'm pretty sure there is a TON of voice-over work in the latter part of the film, more then usual. If there is only one thing to take from this movie, it's the fact that this movie serves as a baseline as to what you don't do when you are making a horror film. This movie is NOT worth the time.

Butchered (2010) What we have here is an old school horror flick that could have been made after John Carpenter's Halloween put scarepics back in as Big Business again, but before Tom Savini brought on the graphic violence in Friday the 13th (1980). The story gets going with the convicted murderer called The Butcher escaping custody and picking up right where he left off. And by picking up, I mean as in sharp implements he puts to bloody use. In the meantime, while he's dodging the police and picking off a couple of victims, we meet our leads, seven high school students just graduated and about to go their separate ways. To celebrate their friendship they boat out to an island just offshore for a weekend of partying they hope will forever stay in their memories. Unfortunately for them, the Butcher just landed his stolen boat on the other side of the island, and when he gets through with them, there might just be nothing left of them but memories. All in all, this one shapes up as not bad. It's obvious this was a very low budget affair, but it moves along, clocking in at a spare 71 minutes. Probably the biggest problem I have with the film is not in its production, but in the marketing. Calling the film Butchered and touting it as unrated on the box sets up expectations that are not so much not carried through as I'm guessing not ever planned for. Quite simply, the direction, credited to Charles Stewart, Jr, co-writer/producer Sheila Brothers, and co-writer/producer/actor Shaun O'Rourke doesn't dwell on the kills. They are quick, snappy sequences more interested in eliciting a jump from the audience than a grab for the barf bag. There are some gruesome moments, but the movie doesn't shove them in your face and linger on the blood and guts, which is why it seems so much like a movie made 30 years ago. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. Without going into spoilers, the body count is a respectable double digit number, and I'm not counting the victims the Butcher killed to get his nickname or the murdered police dog everyone seems to mention a lot. I think the film is unrated because it wasn't submitted to the ratings board, not because it is the ne plus ultra of extreme gore and sex. Speaking of sex, we do get a couple of nice nude scenes sprinkled in, always a plus in this kind of endeavor. I would call this a solid R based on the violence, nudity, and language. Breaking it down, the film looks very nice, with crisp cinematography and gorgeous seaside locations; the script is decent, with some funny lines, if no game changing twists or turns; the acting is okay, although sadly the better actors stay on shore instead of going to the island; and always important - the killer: The Butcher is a big brute of a guy, at his best in the night scenes, framed in fog with his big ol' axe; and losing some of his scary mojo in the last few scenes as we see him a bit too well. This isn't the best horror film you'll ever see, and I'd guarantee it isn't the worst one either. It's worth a look for those so inclined, so check it out! Starring Tim Woodward Jr, Melissa Lukon, Shaun O'Rourke, Cari Moskow, and DJ Naylor as The Butcher.