very weak, unfortunately

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

"Butchered" is a neatly packed, burst of low-budget slasher horror directed by Charles Stewart Jr. with co-directors Sheila Brothers and Shaun O'Rourke. Honestly I hope those are more honorary co-directing credits, because I don't see why a film that falls just over an hour really needs multiple directors, but whateve. That is no issue really. "Butchered"stars the standard cast of characters played by Timothy Woodward Jr., Nikki Beall, Cory Broadwater, Robert Covington, Kit Johnson, D.J. Naylor, Jaime Moffett, plus a few other actors in a story that follows a group of friends, who take off on vacay to a small secluded island, off the coast of the Carolinas. The story is a nice, classic nightmare of slasher fanfare that places the young up against the force of a homicidal psycho, butcher. The set- up is thought out, leading us through a nice, "all fall down" scenario that, considering the budget and talent, manages to create an easy, story arc. The dialog is a bit underwhelming, and melodramatic, but it gets you there fundamentally. Personally I think the writing is too "over-thought" with the material seeming cliché and unauthentic. However this is only a slight hindrance and nothing that effects the ability to watch the film. Some characters are more driven to emote the stories intentions while a couple stagger through the lines and scenes systematically. Still this is a "slice-n-dice" flick so all they need to do is be there and die for the camera. This they definitely do. The acting is the quality you would expect in a low-budget flick like this, like I stated before some actors give a better performance than others. The actual dialog and character development is sort of weak, often creating disconnected and unconvincing performances. Still there are moments when the acting and dramatic character interactions pick-up and deliver, giving us some suspense and enough connection to move the story along. The actual story is a pretty nice "birth of a slasher" narrative with recognizable 80 slasher influence. As for the special effects and sound effects in "Butchered" I am split on both. The music and instrumental created the desired effect that Stewart was aiming for, my issue is I felt it was hokey, white-washed and too damn sugary. Plus the timing for these elements coming in to the scenes, guiding the feeling of the story, often seemed "over produced" and a bit too clichéd. It created an unintended cheese factor that came off more Disney than horror. The special effects on the other hand worked for most of the kill scenes, with nice camera angles, little editing tricks that leave the gore implied, like the vintage horror films used, give credibility to the scenes.The blood and visceral elements are practical effects. They are limited with most deaths and brutality implied, but enough shows to create a nice effect. The killer is a menacing monster guy with the stoic brutality of any antagonist in slasher horror. I know it sounds like I didn't like the film but I did, actually. It isn't anything special but for a cut-down film that is only a few minutes over an hour, "Butchered" gives a comparable, quick, slasher nightmare.

The tag-line says "It's in the vein of classic horror". I guess so, if you took all the great 80's slasher flicks and condensed them to an hour.The premise is the usual, partying teens trapped on an island with an escaped serial killer, insert nude girl here and flying axe there and you've basically seen the movie.It's unbelievably short, clocking in at about 1h18min. The entire movie could have been cut down to 45 minutes if you cut out the opening credits and scenes of them partying in slow motion. The movie was pretty much bloodless and unsuspenseful. If they took out the nudity and the profanity, it probably would have gotten a PG rating.So, if you have about an hour to kill (no pun intended), go ahead and take a look. If anything to laugh at the cliché factor.

Available in the Midnight Horror Collection from Echo Bridge called Backwoods Butchers, Butchered was decent viewing.Although obviously shot on an extremely low budget,there are a few decent moments to be found here. The opening scene, culminating in an homage (or steal) of a scene found in Exorcist III, built up fair tension and the montage/opening credits looked pretty professional. But the wooden acting from most of the young cast and the lack of originality in the killings brings the movie down big time in my opinion. Practically everyone was dispatched with an axe to the chest, it got repetitive.I wanted to be kind to this independent horror film, but it just has too many faults. I do respect the fact that the makers are obviously inspired by stronger horror film, but it's a shame that this one didn't turn out too strong.

Butchered (2010) What we have here is an old school horror flick that could have been made after John Carpenter's Halloween put scarepics back in as Big Business again, but before Tom Savini brought on the graphic violence in Friday the 13th (1980). The story gets going with the convicted murderer called The Butcher escaping custody and picking up right where he left off. And by picking up, I mean as in sharp implements he puts to bloody use. In the meantime, while he's dodging the police and picking off a couple of victims, we meet our leads, seven high school students just graduated and about to go their separate ways. To celebrate their friendship they boat out to an island just offshore for a weekend of partying they hope will forever stay in their memories. Unfortunately for them, the Butcher just landed his stolen boat on the other side of the island, and when he gets through with them, there might just be nothing left of them but memories. All in all, this one shapes up as not bad. It's obvious this was a very low budget affair, but it moves along, clocking in at a spare 71 minutes. Probably the biggest problem I have with the film is not in its production, but in the marketing. Calling the film Butchered and touting it as unrated on the box sets up expectations that are not so much not carried through as I'm guessing not ever planned for. Quite simply, the direction, credited to Charles Stewart, Jr, co-writer/producer Sheila Brothers, and co-writer/producer/actor Shaun O'Rourke doesn't dwell on the kills. They are quick, snappy sequences more interested in eliciting a jump from the audience than a grab for the barf bag. There are some gruesome moments, but the movie doesn't shove them in your face and linger on the blood and guts, which is why it seems so much like a movie made 30 years ago. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. Without going into spoilers, the body count is a respectable double digit number, and I'm not counting the victims the Butcher killed to get his nickname or the murdered police dog everyone seems to mention a lot. I think the film is unrated because it wasn't submitted to the ratings board, not because it is the ne plus ultra of extreme gore and sex. Speaking of sex, we do get a couple of nice nude scenes sprinkled in, always a plus in this kind of endeavor. I would call this a solid R based on the violence, nudity, and language. Breaking it down, the film looks very nice, with crisp cinematography and gorgeous seaside locations; the script is decent, with some funny lines, if no game changing twists or turns; the acting is okay, although sadly the better actors stay on shore instead of going to the island; and always important - the killer: The Butcher is a big brute of a guy, at his best in the night scenes, framed in fog with his big ol' axe; and losing some of his scary mojo in the last few scenes as we see him a bit too well. This isn't the best horror film you'll ever see, and I'd guarantee it isn't the worst one either. It's worth a look for those so inclined, so check it out! Starring Tim Woodward Jr, Melissa Lukon, Shaun O'Rourke, Cari Moskow, and DJ Naylor as The Butcher.