Much has been written about the outsider-come-mainstream success of the Terrifier franchise, and it is no secret that indie horror is a sprawling, thriving industry unto itself. While the studio film industry is facing a massive paradigm shift, guerilla filmmakers share a bloodline back to George Romero and beyond, putting their nightmares on celluloid (or well arranged electrons) and distributing them out to like minded horror kids.
Butcher’s Bluff sits in an interesting spot among these indie experiences. While it doesn’t break any new ground (what really does any more?), it also doesn’t ever feel like a cover band sleepwalking through their favorite tropes. This is because the movie’s foundation is on a well written story, our old pal Renfield Rasputin teaming up with director William Instone to take their stab at the slasher genre. The result is pure indie joy… the sort of feeling you get when you are unfamiliar with the opening band but they melt your face, or a friend hands you a book you have never heard of but discover that you can’t put it down.
The reason it is so fun is because it removes a lot of the distractions that come with indie horror movies, or indie movies in general, and just focuses on set up and execution… heavy on the execution. Unlike other movies by horror fans for horror fans, like House of 1000 Corpses, any macabre indulgence in the script of Butcher’s Bluff is given straightforward presentation, not rock video dream logic or wanna be Jodorowsky / Lynch surrealism.
The movie pays plenty of homages to the genre with nods and winks, but none of it is on the nose, nor is any of it overt. For instance, NOTLD plays in the background during the movie’s post-title open, you’d only notice it if you know it. All of the horror Easter eggs are like this… non-distracting and non-insistent. If you know you know.
The tropes are there too. The boobs. The kills when people sneak off for sex. The stoners. The beautiful girls. The elaborate back story. The community urban legend. Dead end rows. Bad cell service. Found footage/documentary set up. The remote locale, out in the woods. All of it uses the Legos that are in the modern horror movie box, and that is not a criticism. This is an art of convention… using the same synthesizers or stompboxes as other bands in your chosen genre, but doing your own songs. Butcher’s Bluff is it’s own song.
The performances are fun. No one feels stilted or cold, and everything is played with just a little tongue in cheek. The jokes aren’t yuk yuk yuk style, but the humor reminds us that horror of this sort is supposed to be fun. This is early 80’s, go see a slasher movie with your friends style moviemaking and it is a joy. You aren’t going to get an audition for some A24 think piece of a film here, but neither are you going to get a pandering “premise and padding” paint by numbers, like some of the recent Blumhouse offerings have been.
Speaking of premise, the film’s central baddie is the Hogman… a butcher of a killer who dons an Ed Gein / Texas Chainsaw Massacre style mask made from a boar’s head. It is glorious, both in design and in prop making. Whatever they spent, whoever they hired, every cent is on the screen with that thing. I’d love a Hogman figure for my humble little bookshelf display. All the horror props and sets look great, even when the camera lingers on them.
The film itself looks good, not overly processed or undershot. The makeup and costuming all look organic, and likely were because “indie,” but never looks like actors were just pulled off the street. The establishing shots are brief and appropriate, Texas is as Texas as ever, the lighting is good, and the sound is great. The blood, even at night, is near perfect… no Argento arthouse tones here, just that raspberry crimson that tells us someone is meeting their maker soon.
Popular horror review site Dread Central reviewed the film and gave it a venomous, genre gatekeeper review – calling it over stuffed, unoriginal, and that it felt like a fan film with a messy script. Look – it is easy to write graceless reviews of any media, the sort of armchair critic thing is done to death. The criticisms levied in that review were the type that you could load into your shotgun before even seeing the film.
Is it the tightest script ever shot? No. Does it do anything new that will change the genre? No. But does it entertain? Does it execute? Does it find fun? Does it respect the audience? Does it avoid being unintentionally MST3K/How Did This Get Made worthy? The answer to all of those things is resoundingly “F*** YES” and in the world of indie art, that is a massive triumph.
DC gave it a 1.5/5, which I have many issues with. Not only is it punitively low, it is the range of score that signals potential viewers that it is okay to miss the experience without a second thought. Also, since when does a serviceable movie that doesn’t wander or comedically crumble deserve under a 2.5/5? Typical internet critique culture, and I suspect a sign that the writer(s) in that ivory tower of taste and discernment have never got into the mud and tried to make something as indie creators themselves. Delivering a complete film is, and of itself, a major accomplishment. I invite anyone who feels like a Letterboxd warlord to try it themselves.
We have to stop acting like even a 7.5/10 is a scarlet letter for art, if we should be rating art at all. Let’s discuss merits. Craft. Viewer response. Butcher’s Bluff is light on nuance, but that is by design. It is emulating a sub-genre in the horror movie oeuvre, instead of deconstructing it like Scream or Cabin in the Woods, it jumps into the gut pile and wallows in it.
I don’t imagine the crew gives much credence to catching a stray bullet from the internet. After all, what did Chumbawumba tell us?
The complaint about its length is valid, and might be my only real criticism (missing “emotional core” my ass), although I don’t feel like I could find 30 minutes I’d comfortably be able to cut from the film as shot. I cannot fathom the self-inflicted agony of seeing your vision shot, and shot well, on film then leave that piece of you on the cutting room floor. Unless some segment or scene drags the movie down, unravels the narrative, or spoils the kayfabe, it really is a coin toss to whether or not the artist clips scenes for the sake of the audience, or if the audience buys the ticket for the whole ride for the sake of the art.
The joy of doing indie art is self-indulgence, and sometimes that is motivated by the nagging voice that says this might be the only/last time you get to put ideas on screen. I imagine the reason the film runs 2 hours not 88 minutes is because they didn’t want to leave the sandbox, and I am never going to fault a film crew for that, so long as things move forward, avoid random left turns, and abide by their own rules. Butcher’s Bluff does its thing the entire time, and never once feels like a skin quilt made from other assorted genre victims.
In full disclosure, I was nervous to review this one in regards to my ability to be objective, because of my extreme personal bias and love for Renfield, and my personal predilection for the less gory, less titillating corners of horror. In that I was surprised at how much fun I had watching this one, much more than the later Friday the 13th or Nightmare on Elm Street entries. It has an honesty and earnestness that represents why we make art, even when we are outside of the machine, and in this day and age that alone is worth the ticket price. The fact that the movie is also a rollercoaster ride is absolute bonus. As is any movie with a character named Carl.
The whole team should feel very proud of this movie, from prop makers to actors, writers to editors, all around. I am excited to see where these creatives pop up next, and how they build on such a loud and enjoyable entry into the greater library of horror film.
NOTE: There is some discussion about the platforms this is available on, so I wanted to give a small heads up. It is available on DVD, the full 124 min cut of the movie. Amazon Prime finally added the film for streaming purchase, but in an edited 118 minute version. The 6 minutes that are missing on Prime contain nudity and gore/violence, which smacks of censorship. I would never dissuade someone from checking this out in any form, to support the project, but if you have multiple options, maybe allow yourself the full experience. See https://butchersbluff.com/ for all the places the film can be accessed.