The Butchers (2014) Review – It’s A Serial Killer Buffet

Who doesn’t like the incorporation of infamous serial killers in their horror movies? The blending of reality with the fantasy just seems like a recipe for thrilling success, but does it work in director Steven Paul Judd’s The Butchers? Let’s find out.

As mentioned, there’s a cast of serial killers in this movie that includes the likes of John Wayne Gacy, Ed Gein, Jeffrey Dahmer, the Zodiac Killer, and Jack the Ripper. However, there are some interesting inconsistencies with reality among them, such as Ed Gein being a serial killer (he was more apt to grave robbing than killing, although he did both) and Jack the Ripper’s identity being known (since he was never caught, the twist to make him a she was pretty clever).

Before going into the movie, you gotta know that this is a very low-budget affair. The lighting is fucked, the special effects are cheesy, the editing is choppy, and the acting is fair at best. Understanding that and more, you should be able to enjoy the movie for what it is, which is an excuse to slash! And that’s awesome.

Aside from the serial killers, we have a cast of strangers on a tour bus who get stranded along the way. In search for help they wander into a “town” that’s been converted into a roadside attraction with serial killer memorabilia. Our cast is full of stereotypical tropes, including an ill-behaved goth couple who stumble upon and then read from the book of the dead. When they do this, they resurrect the serial killers.

Mentioning the tropes, we have a couple of bisexual sluts, a ex-military tough guy, a religious fanatic, a fitness nut who might be gay, and a pretty horrible fat-lazy-black-lady-craving-fried-chicken stereotype, among others. I get that we need tropes in horror movies, especially slashers, but why can’t we stay away from pointless racial stereotypes?

While the rest of the group from the bus is out looking for the delinquent goth couple who are out on their own reading spells and having sex, people start getting picked off by serial killers. But we have one guy on the bus who’s ex-military and suffering from PTSD, and he’s badass enough to “kill” the resurrected serial killers. But he’s not alone.

Before the bus group stumbled into the town, some African dude came in and killed the owner. His plan to resurrect the serial killers gets fast-tracked by the goth kids and everybody else gets in the way, especially ex-military dude. See, when the ex-military guy kills a killer, he absorbs the killer’s power, which is what the African guy planned to do. So, we end up with a big fight between the two.

Yup, The Butchers is pretty much that cut and dry. Interesting, but it’s not going to win any awards any time soon.

The Verdict:

I can’t justifiably give The Butchers more than two skulls since the filming, editing, and acting were so poor. However, that doesn't mean this movie is a total loss. If you’re a fan of bad movies, you should see this. Plus the story is pretty interesting. It would be really cool to see what a bigger studio could do with the premise here if more money was thrown at it. At least then there’d be some semblance of originality.