THE LOVE BUTCHER (1975)
Directed by Donald M. Jones/Mikel Angel
Video Screams DVD-R
Reviewed 09.01.05
Buy it from Video Screams!
Review by Joseph A. Ziemba

THE FILM
At a time like this, I could really use a guy like Don Knotts. We've already got the moron/Casanova dual role, the music from a z-rate children's holiday special, and an infinite supply of goofy faces from our male lead. Maybe if ol' Ralph Furley lent the magic touch, The Love Butcher wouldn't be so depressing. And maybe my last name is Ogroff.

Let's not dawdle. The Love Butcher starts out as a tongue-in-cheek black comedy. About halfway through, things get all artsy and serious. In turn, the anti-women tirades no longer exist as hilariously stupid bad film ammo. Only through a steady stream of uncomfortable situations does the film reveal its true calling as a sexist outhouse of stupidity. Co-directed by Donald Jones, who would go on to birth The Forest, and exploitation actor Mikel Angel, it's got to take a certain something to plaster your name on a project that revels in such mean-spirited attitudes. Unfortunately, that certain something is nowhere to be found. Oh, and since you asked: no, my shoelaces aren't tied too tight. I'm just trying to get through this one.

Several women in a California suburb employ the gardening services of Caleb (Erik Stern), a dimwitted cripple with Coke bottle glasses and a mouth full of cotton balls. When the ladies give him the 'tude, Caleb retires to his grungy apartment and transforms into Lester. A self proclaimed "Adonis to all women," Lester dons different disguises (Ben Stiller must have cribbed years of material from the record salesman bit) before seducing and violently killing the women that irk him. Thankfully, we never see the sexual side of Lester's violence, which is only mentioned by a couple of 'roid-raged cops. There's a subplot involving a reporter and his girlfriend. We spend about five minutes getting to know each woman and her beau before the blood spurts. Well, at least they tried.

Looking past the subject matter, The Love Butcher gets a few things right; the squirm-inducing pool scene, Erik Stern's half hilarious/half frightening emoting as Caleb/Lester, and the startling, gory climax. At times, the photography hints at something more than the bad edits and hideous post-dubbing that pester a majority of the film. The big downfall here is the script; obviously written by men with a misogynist chip on their shoulder (hey, it was the co-directors and some other guy!), it's hard to get past that fact when the dialogue constantly reminds us. The balance is forever tipped, especially since none of the female characters survive and Caleb seemingly escapes unscathed. If Jones and company lightened up on the wanton trash talk, the film would've been much more effective, not to mention enjoyable. I guess it's just a sign of the times.

In the end, Lester's hijinks kind of ruined my night. Too overboard to be funny and too grimy to provide much entertainment. Now where's that copy of The Private Eyes?

AUDIO AND VIDEO
The film didn't light my world on fire, but the presentation of Video Screams's DVD-R is tiptop. Obviously culled from a pristine old Monterey tape (I've got one on the shelf myself, though it's in need of medical attention), the picture looks as good as it can. The cropped, pan and scan print ranks high on clarity, along with the mono sound. The audio was out of sync for a bit towards the end, but I have a feeling that was the case with the source tape. No compression ravaging was evident.

EXTRAS
Nothing to see here, thanks.

FINAL THOUGHTS
In the words of Caleb, "I don't wanna die. I wanna live. I wanna loooove." Me too, buddy! After the first twenty minutes, The Love Butcher was thick with tasteless situations, most of which occur at the expense of women. Not my cup of tea.

Caleb at large


Seriously...DO IT


Lester the grouch


Love butcherin'