The Love Butcher (1975)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Directors:

Donald M. Jones
Mikel Angel

Writers:

Mikel Angel (writer)
James Evergreen (writer)

Release Date:

1 December 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

He wants more than your love...

Plot:

The twisted tale of Caleb, and his alter ego Lester. After being pushed around too far, Caleb transforms...

Plot Keywords:

Alter Ego | Revenge | Swimming Pool | Nude Woman Murdered | Drowning

Cast

Erik Stern	...	Caleb / Lester
Kay Neer	...	Florence
Jeremiah Beecher	...	Russell
Richard Kennedy	...	Capt. Don Stark (as Edward Roehm)
Robin Sherwood	...	Sheila
Eve Mac	...	Pat
Robert Walter	...	Joe
Louis Ojena	...	Carl
John Stoglin	...	Minister
Marilyn Jones	...	Lena
Joan Vigman	...	Mother
Marcus Flower	...	Little Lester
Darlene Chaffee	...	Flo's Neighbor
Neal Byers	...	Narcotics Officer
Peter Netzband	...	1st Patrol Car Policeman

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

New Zealand:R18 | USA:R | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Company:

Desert

Quotes:

[awakened by rock music blaring on the radio]
Carl: This is a hell of a way to wake up. A cacophony of horse manure.

Top quality seventies trash!

The Love Butcher is undoubtedly a piece of trash, but it's a hell of a lot better than a lot of the trash released in the seventies and anyone who enjoys this sort of movie will definitely enjoy this one! The film takes obvious influence from the king of all psycho movies - that being Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 masterpiece - and could be pigeon-holed in somewhere between the slasher and exploitation genres. Whether or not the film was intended to be humorous is unclear - but the film certainly is very funny in places and director Donald M. Jones has also managed to pack the film with plenty of gore and kill scenes, which is what anyone tuning into this film will want to see. The plot focuses on Caleb; a deformed gardener. Because of his deformity, Caleb is often pushed around by women; and unfortunately for him, most of his employers happen to be slutty examples of the fairer sex. However, Caleb is also Lester; his womanising alter-ego. Lester is a 'ladies man', but also a murderer; and after charming the woman with his good looks, he kills them.

The film is lead by an excellent dual performance from Erik Stern. Of course, the performance is a bit on the silly side; but that fits in with the nature of the film and he plays both of the wildly different sides of his character very well and the scenes between 'them' actually have quite a haunting edge to them. It's clear that the film was made on a low budget and as such it all feels very cheap. However, while it's obvious that the kill scenes etc are fake; the low budget gives the film some real charm and the filmmakers get round this restraint excellently. The plot plays out well although it does feel like ideas are lacking somewhat as the first few kills are mainly just the same thing repeated with a different woman. However, it's done well and the way that the alter-ego charms his victims works well. Aside from the central plot, we also get a police investigation running throughout and this is fairly interesting even though we know who the killer is from the outset. The way that the police discover his identity is a bit suspect; but there is a good resolution to the main plot. Overall, this is a very nice little seventies flick and comes recommended.