Meatcleaver Massacre (1977)

When a professor specializing in ancient rites and rituals is attacked and his family killed by four of his students, he summons an evil spirit to hunt down the attackers and avenge his family.

Director:

Evan Lee

Writers:

Keith Burns (original screenplay), Ray Atherton (original screenplay)

Stars:

Christopher Lee, Larry Justin, J. Arthur Craig

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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 (as Lisette Kramer)
Doug Ely	...	Roddy Cantrell
Maria Arnold	...	Patty (as Natasha)

Storyline

When a professor specializing in ancient rites and rituals is attacked and his family killed by four of his students, he summons an evil spirit to hunt down the attackers and avenge his family.

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Plot Keywords:

cult film | actor | murder of family | ghost | demon | 

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Taglines:

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!

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

March 1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

Moran Chant

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

There is a poster in Dirk's (Doug Senior's) room featuring Chico Marx, Groucho Marx, and Harpo Marx.

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Quotes

Mrs. Cantrell: Here ya go Poopers, don't eat my flowers

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Connections

References Bonnie Scotland (1935)

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Soundtracks

Sunset on Sunset
by Session Musicians

User Reviews

Supernatural Thriller Not As Gory As The Title Implies

Meatcleaver Massacre is a slow moving, extremely dark, supernatural revenge tale.

The story concerns a college professor named Cantrell (James Habif), a leading researcher in the mystical field of the occult and supernatural phenomenon. A devoted family man, in his spare time, he teaches a course at Valley College in Hollywood. One day, following a class, Cantrell confronts a student who is mocking his most recent lecture. He manages to embarrass the student in front of his friends and thus seals his own death warrant.

The student is a dangerous and psychotic thug named Mason Harrue (Larry Justin) who, with his cronies, visits the professor at his home. The initial plan is to scare Cantrell and his family but things go bad and the thugs wind up slaughtering Cantrell's wife and two children. Cantrell remains alive but in a coma.

From his hospital bed, Cantrell calls up an ancient demon named Morak The Avenger, to take violent revenge on those who murdered his family. The hunt is on.

Meatcleaver Massacre is sort of a Deathwish meets The Supernatural type revenge outing. Sadly, the title seems to imply a meatcleaver wielding killer hunting the streets in search of blood, instead we get very little blood and only one scene involving a meatcleaver. The film is relatively tame, even a little boring.

This film has a lot of things wrong with it, including the lame script and slow moving pace. The film is dark, as if the lighting man quit the film after the first day. The acting is amateur at best. The film's major selling point is the appearence of horror legend Christopher Lee. Lee is the dead-pan host who has nothing to do with the film in any way. He merely mentions some events from the past where supernatural events occured. He mentions nothing of the characters or events in the film. The other actors in the cast aren't very good and Larry Justin hams it up just way too much to come off a murderous thug. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when Ed Wood appeared, he was the king of bad movies was he not? Well this is one of the worst. Miss it.