BUTCHERS
Directed by Adrian Langley
Starring: Simon Philips, Michael Swatton, Julie Mainville, Anne-Caroline Binette, James Gerald Hicks, Nick Allan,, Blake Canning, Samantha De Benedet
Following the death of their overbearing mother, siblings Owen and Oswald lead a life of terror and death, preying on stranded travellers and feeding them to their brother Oxford. When their car breaks down on the backroads, Jenna, Taylor, Mike and Steve find themselves totally out of luck…
Make no mistake, Butchers is a horrible, nihilistic and hateful experience. It is also very well made.
The film starts as Owen and Oswald finish burying their mother, and a car breaks down nearby, stranding a young couple. The man is murdered immediately but the woman, Celeste, is abducted and kept as a sex slave for the pair.
The story then jumps ahead by many months, as we see that Celeste is not only still their prisoner but now is heavily pregnant, carrying the child for either Owen or Oswald. The thought of this pair being involved with rearing a child is horrifying in itself, let alone what Celeste has had to endure to survive this long! And you just know that no doctor is going to be present when she gives birth…
Then the story introduces two young couples on a road-trip, celebrating one of their birthdays. There is an interesting dynamic to the group as Mike, who is with Jenna, is having an affair with Taylor, cheating on her boyfriend Steve. It’s a little disappointing that this doesn't feed more into the choices some of the characters make later on but it does add some interesting dynamic to the usual relationship drama. Oddly, the couples split up to deal with the broken-down car, with Michael and Taylor walking to a nearby gas station (run by Owen), while Steve and Jenna hang out at the car. This allows the aforementioned exposition to be provided and for Owen and Oswald to separately get their hands on each of them, delivering scenes reminiscent of both Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Wrong Turn.
There is a lot of violence in the film and most of it is aimed at and perpetrated upon the female characters. Owen is a sociopath who sees other humans as "bags of meat". He sees himself as fair-handed though, and as long as the women obey his commands they can continue to live as his sex slaves. However it is clear from the extreme punishments he doles out that he is also a complete sadist. Simon Philips actually gives his best performance here, reining in his usual shoutiness and delivering a performance which matches the tone of the film. Oswald isn't in as much control of his actions as Owen, he has a tendency to lash out in horrific violence when he gets angry and hates the way he is treated by his brother. One of the more extreme moments comes when he metes out a punishment which is quite shocking.
Butchers doesn't bring anything new to the table, but it does a good job of mixing tropes from the likes of Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the Wrong Turn franchises. For example the introduction of a new character half-way through the film will not be a surprise to most seasoned horror fans.
Although there is a lot of violence in the film, it isn't particularly explicitly gory. Bodies are chopped up just out of frame, or the camera focuses on the chopping motion rather than the actual impact. The camera and the actors sell it so well though that you will convince yourself you’ve seen more than you actually have. That doesn't mean we don't see the consequences of the violence - one character receives a nasty slash across the back and then their hamstrings (in a scene which reminded me of the Norwegian classic, Rovdyr).
The issue with Butchers is that it seems to revel in the subjugation of its female victims and the script is quick to punish those who manage fleeting victories against their captors. A lot of horror films justify this with the Final Girl, who will eventually turn the tables and provide the audience with some catharsis. However, director Adrian Langley and Daniel Weissenberger's script seems to laugh at the concept, and provides characters whose dumb, self-centred decisions right up to the last minute of the film could rob them of survival.
THE VERDICT
What is most shocking about Butchers is how well its been made. This isn't a low-budget grimefest, it's definitely on a similar level to last year's THE DARE. The artistic and technical production elements are very high, with some interesting camera moves and framing of scenes. Other than the nihilism and misogyny on show and a climax I'm still on the fence about, this is a sterling piece of work.