Meatcleaver Massacre (1977)

User Rating:

2.2/10   

Director:

Evan Lee

Writers:

Ray Atherton (writer)
Keith Burns (writer)

Release Date:

March 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Four crazed killers, butchered his wife, son and daughter. From his hospital deathbed he called upon the power of the occult for revenge... And he got it, he really got it!

Plot Keywords:

Teenkill | Demon | Blood | Ghost | Professor

Cast

Christopher Lee	...	On-screen narrator
Larry Justin	...	Mason Harrue
J. Arthur Craig	...	Detective Wexler
James Habif	...	Professor Cantrell
Robert Clark	...	Sean Allen
Doug Senior	...	Dirk Kramer
Bob Mead	...	Phil Jones
Alisa Beaton	...	Darlene
Pat Nagel	...	Sean's Girlfriend
Woody Wise	...	Doctor
Paul Kelleher	...	Detective Shaye
Undine Hampton	...	Mrs. Cantrell
Lisette Kremer	...	Tina Cantrell
Doug Ely	...	Roddy Cantrell
Natasha	...	Patty

Also Known As:

Evil Force (UK) (video title)
Revenge of the Dead
The Hollywood Meatcleaver Massacre

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:18 | Netherlands:16 | USA:R

Trivia:

Actor 'Lee, Christopher' has said that he had no idea he was appearing in this film. He said that he was hired by a different producer to narrate an entirely different film, and that the producer apparently sold Lee's footage, without his permission, to the producers of this film, who then advertised it as "starring Christopher Lee". He initiated legal action against this film's producers, but withdrew it when he was advised that it would be a long, drawn-out and expensive procedure.

Hey look, it's Christopher Lee talking irrelevant nonsense!

The one and only reason why "Meatcleaver Massacre" hasn't vanished into complete obscurity and oblivion just yet is solely the fault of Christopher Lee. This living horror legend appears as the narrator at the beginning and ending of this film and afterwards attempted to initiate a lawsuit against the producers because he wasn't aware for what movie he was hired to narrate. Well, when comparing Lee's monologues to the actual content of the film, I definitely do believe he didn't have a clue about what for the footage would eventually be used for. The narrations at the beginning & end are completely irrelevant to the film's actual substance. Christopher Lee, reliable and stern-voiced as ever, compellingly proclaims wonderful stories about the strength of the soul and how it can be a foreteller of great things to come. I particularly enjoyed the parable about the soul of great knight leaving its host while he was asleep and then afterwards leading him to great undiscovered treasures. Or the cute little saga at the end, about two sorcerers engaging in a magic showdown and gradually involving the entire world. In other words, I actually enjoyed listening to Christopher Lee a lot more than I did watching the mediocre middle-section of the film. If this man would have lectured at my university, perhaps I would have attended some more of the classes. But in all honesty, the rest of the film isn't as bad as reputed to be. "Meatcleaver Massacre" – which doesn't contain any sequences with meat cleavers whatsoever – is a standard and derivative story about spiritual retribution, occult summoning and teenage hoodlums. Professor at college and expert in demonology Dr. Cantrell embarrasses one of his students, tough kid Mason Harrue, in front of his friends. The kid is obviously quite offended because he promptly recruits three of his docile friends to pay a nightly visit to the professor's house. The gang sadistically murders the professor's wife, son, daughter and dog. The dog's name was Poopers, so I guess the poor thing is better off dead. Prof. Cantrell himself survives the attack – though just barely – but has enough strength left to summon an avenging demon from his hospital bed. The demon, which remains invisible throughout in order to save budget and because probably nobody knew what it should look like, imaginatively ticks off the assailants one by one but keeps something extra special in store for Mason. "Meatcleaver Massacre" is a largely unoriginal film with several tedious moments and amateurish production values, but I've seen movies that are a lot worse. The dialogs are quite hilarious ("The professor is lying in his coma like a carrot") and the murder sequences are pretty decent (especially the head-crushed under car hood moment). All in all, this is still a much better film than "Funny Man" in which – to my recollection – Christopher Lee appeared voluntarily!