Butchered (2010)

Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Released to video in 2010 and directed by Charles Stewart Jr., "Butchered" details events on the coast of North Carolina when a group of high school grads take one last camping trip to their favorite party island. Unfortunately, a mad butcher is on the loose.While this is a micro-budget slasher flick with the typical problems therein (e.g. sound) it's competently made and delivers the goods for what it is. Some thought was actually put into the script as the likable main characters are effectively fleshed-out. The acting ain't bad either, at least for obscure no-names. There are a few fetching nubile females and you can't beat the North Carolina coastal cinematography. If you like the Friday the 13th flicks and can handle no-budget independent productions "Butchered" is worth checking out.The film runs 71 minutes and was shot in Wilmington, North Carolina, and nearby Carolina Beach State Park. The script was written by Shaun O'Rourke, Sheila Brothers & Roxanne Marchand.GRADE: B-

The tag-line says "It's in the vein of classic horror". I guess so, if you took all the great 80's slasher flicks and condensed them to an hour.The premise is the usual, partying teens trapped on an island with an escaped serial killer, insert nude girl here and flying axe there and you've basically seen the movie.It's unbelievably short, clocking in at about 1h18min. The entire movie could have been cut down to 45 minutes if you cut out the opening credits and scenes of them partying in slow motion. The movie was pretty much bloodless and unsuspenseful. If they took out the nudity and the profanity, it probably would have gotten a PG rating.So, if you have about an hour to kill (no pun intended), go ahead and take a look. If anything to laugh at the cliché factor.

While most might argue that the Butcher was a terrible movie, I try to find the positive side of the light. While they weren't laying any new mile stones for the horror genre they did have a good back story to the main character. I liked the idea that he was a Desert Storm Vet who went nuts, but I would have liked it a lot more had they made him a little less "big and dumb." In the beginning we see a great montage of torture and gore, but when push comes to shove all he does is hack up the characters on the island. Why didn't he torture them? Why didn't he make things out of their bodies? Some butcher. There are a couple of nice nudity scenes in the film, hot chicks, okay dialogue, nice cinematography and editing. 71 minutes made it just barely a feature, why they couldn't have filmed another 20 minutes of footage is beyond me. It could have been a masterpiece of indie horror but they just didn't get all the way to the finish line.

Available in the Midnight Horror Collection from Echo Bridge called Backwoods Butchers, Butchered was decent viewing.Although obviously shot on an extremely low budget,there are a few decent moments to be found here. The opening scene, culminating in an homage (or steal) of a scene found in Exorcist III, built up fair tension and the montage/opening credits looked pretty professional. But the wooden acting from most of the young cast and the lack of originality in the killings brings the movie down big time in my opinion. Practically everyone was dispatched with an axe to the chest, it got repetitive.I wanted to be kind to this independent horror film, but it just has too many faults. I do respect the fact that the makers are obviously inspired by stronger horror film, but it's a shame that this one didn't turn out too strong.