For those of you who are unaware, Horror – as a genre unto itself – took one of its biggest and boldest steps forward in the 1970’s.
Previous to that decade, audiences were scared silly more often than not with what might be best described as some larger-than-life creations or glimpses at what risks were unintentionally achieved through the bastardization of science or flirtations with supernatural entities. Movies had a fair number of monster entries, but a good deal of them were entirely impractical creations, ones that really worked more on the watchers ability to suspend disbelief in order to be truly frightened. But all of that changed in the 1970’s as storytellers really got down into the dirty details of what brought watchers to the edges of their seats. This was real-life stuff – or, admittedly, the old school stuff rendered with greater authenticity – and buckets of blood being spilled in pursuit of box office glory kinda/sorta became the norm.
In the late 1970’s and into the early 1980’s, the video explosion granted wider and wider access to mythmakers; and it became a time where any Tom, Dick, Harry, Marcia, Jan, or Cindy could throw something together – good or bad – and get it on film, find themselves a distribution outlet, and launch new careers. It was this technological advent that ultimately paved the way for slasher films; and anyone interested can do a deep dive into the plethora of indie chillers that came and went back then, with a few franchises even cropping up as a result. Tentpole intellectual properties like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Friday The 13th, and Halloween exist decades later, but the films still owe a debt to the 1970’s that can only be repaid … in blood!
Because experiences of this type still resonate today, releases like Butcher’s Bluff (2023) can still find a bit of exposure on the festival circuit or across any number of streaming platforms today. It’s a bloody yarn that works much like those thrillers of old, meaning it tries to establish a world to play in quickly and cheaply while at the same time delivering a body count that might make even Jason Voorhees blush. (Google the name, if you don’t know it … and shame on you, by the way.) As imperfect as it is, Bluff still manages to justify enough of its existence for crowds who still worship at Horror’s altar, though I’d argue it could’ve increased its box office returns with a vastly slimmer edit.
(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
Previous to that decade, audiences were scared silly more often than not with what might be best described as some larger-than-life creations or glimpses at what risks were unintentionally achieved through the bastardization of science or flirtations with supernatural entities. Movies had a fair number of monster entries, but a good deal of them were entirely impractical creations, ones that really worked more on the watchers ability to suspend disbelief in order to be truly frightened. But all of that changed in the 1970’s as storytellers really got down into the dirty details of what brought watchers to the edges of their seats. This was real-life stuff – or, admittedly, the old school stuff rendered with greater authenticity – and buckets of blood being spilled in pursuit of box office glory kinda/sorta became the norm.
In the late 1970’s and into the early 1980’s, the video explosion granted wider and wider access to mythmakers; and it became a time where any Tom, Dick, Harry, Marcia, Jan, or Cindy could throw something together – good or bad – and get it on film, find themselves a distribution outlet, and launch new careers. It was this technological advent that ultimately paved the way for slasher films; and anyone interested can do a deep dive into the plethora of indie chillers that came and went back then, with a few franchises even cropping up as a result. Tentpole intellectual properties like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Friday The 13th, and Halloween exist decades later, but the films still owe a debt to the 1970’s that can only be repaid … in blood!
Because experiences of this type still resonate today, releases like Butcher’s Bluff (2023) can still find a bit of exposure on the festival circuit or across any number of streaming platforms today. It’s a bloody yarn that works much like those thrillers of old, meaning it tries to establish a world to play in quickly and cheaply while at the same time delivering a body count that might make even Jason Voorhees blush. (Google the name, if you don’t know it … and shame on you, by the way.) As imperfect as it is, Bluff still manages to justify enough of its existence for crowds who still worship at Horror’s altar, though I’d argue it could’ve increased its box office returns with a vastly slimmer edit.
(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“When four college students set out to investigate the legend of the Hogman for their film thesis, they expect to uncover little more than small-town folklore. But as they dig deeper into the dark history of Emerald Falls, they realize the brutal killer may be more than just a myth. Wearing a grotesque hog mask, the Hogman is a relentless force of terror, hunting down anyone who crosses into his domain. As the students' project turns into a desperate fight for survival, they must unravel the truth behind the blood-soaked legend before they become his next victims.”
Succinctly put, Butcher’s Bluff is the kind of film that doesn’t need a great deal of explanation, minimizing the need for me to dissect it in any great respect.
Basically, it’s a slasher film – the kind that practically everyone alive today understands the formula for – with a dash of local legends thrown in for good measure. There’s this kid, you see, and he was grievously, grievously wrong in his youth, so much so that it stifled any healthy development. As he grew, so did his appetite for destroying anything that didn’t fit peacefully within the parameters of his smalltown world. Rather than spend countless hours in expensive and ultimately useless therapy, he chooses to act out on his worst impulses, hacking all of those who trespass in his space into little more than bloody pulp. Yes, it’s the ultimate ‘hard knock life,’ but – then again – who cares? If anyone did, then our central killer wouldn’t have ended up like this in the first place.
But being such a formulaic encounter doesn’t forgive Bluff’s sins, of which quite a few are committed.
Chiefly, its young cast – every single one of them little more than ‘victims in waiting’ – is far too bland. There isn’t really a distinguishable one among them – meaning that unlike far superior pictures – the audience doesn’t have one to root for. Staying true to form, there’s even a ‘final girl’ in the picture – yes, she’s comely with ample female goodness we’ve grown to appreciate – but given that we’ve not spent sufficient time ‘falling in love with her’ theatrically her plight ends up meaning next to nothing. That’s a big miss.
Secondly, far too much of Bluff feels like it was almost note-for-note inspired by those aforementioned superior pictures. In a world where imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, too many of these sequences work like jazz riffs on what other directors have already brought to the screen. When there’s absolutely nothing wrong with coopted a shot or two from what’s been done before, it starts to feel counterfeit if you can’t back it up with ideas – or characters – entirely of your own. That doesn’t happen here, and it, too, is a bit of a miss … or misfire.
Furthermore – and perhaps this is Bluff’s greatest sin – the story stretches on far longer than it ultimately needs, especially given the fact that it looks so much like what viewers expect of some backwoods mongoloid gone hacking-hacking-hacking crazy. Don’t get me wrong: the Hog Man – as a dastardly centerpiece – is original enough to have his own feature film, and yet if that’s the case why must his adventure resemble so much of what Friday The 13th’s Jason, Halloween’s Michael Myers, Texas Chainsaw’s Leatherface, and Hatchet’s Victor Crowley have already been through? And if their journeys are so similar, then why must Hog Man’s take so much more time getting to his big ending than those other notable killers? There are scenes that, simply, didn’t need to be in Bluff; and a trim of the editorial type was most definitely in order.
“When four college students set out to investigate the legend of the Hogman for their film thesis, they expect to uncover little more than small-town folklore. But as they dig deeper into the dark history of Emerald Falls, they realize the brutal killer may be more than just a myth. Wearing a grotesque hog mask, the Hogman is a relentless force of terror, hunting down anyone who crosses into his domain. As the students' project turns into a desperate fight for survival, they must unravel the truth behind the blood-soaked legend before they become his next victims.”
Succinctly put, Butcher’s Bluff is the kind of film that doesn’t need a great deal of explanation, minimizing the need for me to dissect it in any great respect.
Basically, it’s a slasher film – the kind that practically everyone alive today understands the formula for – with a dash of local legends thrown in for good measure. There’s this kid, you see, and he was grievously, grievously wrong in his youth, so much so that it stifled any healthy development. As he grew, so did his appetite for destroying anything that didn’t fit peacefully within the parameters of his smalltown world. Rather than spend countless hours in expensive and ultimately useless therapy, he chooses to act out on his worst impulses, hacking all of those who trespass in his space into little more than bloody pulp. Yes, it’s the ultimate ‘hard knock life,’ but – then again – who cares? If anyone did, then our central killer wouldn’t have ended up like this in the first place.
But being such a formulaic encounter doesn’t forgive Bluff’s sins, of which quite a few are committed.
Chiefly, its young cast – every single one of them little more than ‘victims in waiting’ – is far too bland. There isn’t really a distinguishable one among them – meaning that unlike far superior pictures – the audience doesn’t have one to root for. Staying true to form, there’s even a ‘final girl’ in the picture – yes, she’s comely with ample female goodness we’ve grown to appreciate – but given that we’ve not spent sufficient time ‘falling in love with her’ theatrically her plight ends up meaning next to nothing. That’s a big miss.
Secondly, far too much of Bluff feels like it was almost note-for-note inspired by those aforementioned superior pictures. In a world where imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, too many of these sequences work like jazz riffs on what other directors have already brought to the screen. When there’s absolutely nothing wrong with coopted a shot or two from what’s been done before, it starts to feel counterfeit if you can’t back it up with ideas – or characters – entirely of your own. That doesn’t happen here, and it, too, is a bit of a miss … or misfire.
Furthermore – and perhaps this is Bluff’s greatest sin – the story stretches on far longer than it ultimately needs, especially given the fact that it looks so much like what viewers expect of some backwoods mongoloid gone hacking-hacking-hacking crazy. Don’t get me wrong: the Hog Man – as a dastardly centerpiece – is original enough to have his own feature film, and yet if that’s the case why must his adventure resemble so much of what Friday The 13th’s Jason, Halloween’s Michael Myers, Texas Chainsaw’s Leatherface, and Hatchet’s Victor Crowley have already been through? And if their journeys are so similar, then why must Hog Man’s take so much more time getting to his big ending than those other notable killers? There are scenes that, simply, didn’t need to be in Bluff; and a trim of the editorial type was most definitely in order.
Again, none of these complaints should diminish the unadulterated fun some will have with the picture. As it stands, it looks great. It feels at home in its own raggedy shoes. It delivers an impressive body count in just the way a respectable Horror feature should. Still, there’s no explanation for why the bloodthirsty Alex Grimley suddenly decided to increase his killing spree by an astonishing fourteen additions when it’s established that in the past twenty years he’s only murdered twice that. A greater reason was needed to place our bloody madman in this time and place; and that – along with a snip here and a snip there in the editing booth – might’ve made this one worthy of a sequel.
Granted, it’s left wide open for another chapter, but the true risk is whether anyone will ultimately show, am I right?
Butcher’s Bluff (2023) was produced by Dull Knife Productions, Thunder Mountain Films, and Spicy Ramen Productions. Presently, the film shows available for streaming purchase via a variety of internet platforms. As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert and I’m not exactly well known for shouting the praises of cinematography generally, I’ll admit that I found a great deal of Bluff to be exceptionally well conceived: all of it is, thankfully, accomplished with in-camera practical effects, and that’s a solid throwback to the way things used to be done for old school Horror enthusiasts. (FYI: yes, there were a few sequences that could’ve been trimmed or filmed differently for greater effect, but as a low budget slasher flick this one was pretty smart.) Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? Alas, I viewed this one via streaming, so there were no assorted extras under consideration.
Recommended, but …
The upside to experiencing a modest thrill ride like Butcher’s Bluff (2023) is that – even though you’ve likely seen a lot of it before – it has a workmanship-like quality that makes it look like it could share universes with any number of like-minded productions. Of course, the downside is much the same, that the end result isn’t different enough from so much of what’s come before and still being accomplished today that it lacks any true distinctiveness nor the inherent ability to stand on its own. While purists will likely be pleased, newcomers and even casual watchers might get bored quickly, especially with its 120-minute running time. Chillers work best when they respect a greater economy in getting to the good stuff; that said, this butcher should’ve cleaved off about 20-30 minutes for a finer cut.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Breaking Glass Pictures provided me with complimentary streaming access to Butcher’s Bluff (2023) by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
Granted, it’s left wide open for another chapter, but the true risk is whether anyone will ultimately show, am I right?
Butcher’s Bluff (2023) was produced by Dull Knife Productions, Thunder Mountain Films, and Spicy Ramen Productions. Presently, the film shows available for streaming purchase via a variety of internet platforms. As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert and I’m not exactly well known for shouting the praises of cinematography generally, I’ll admit that I found a great deal of Bluff to be exceptionally well conceived: all of it is, thankfully, accomplished with in-camera practical effects, and that’s a solid throwback to the way things used to be done for old school Horror enthusiasts. (FYI: yes, there were a few sequences that could’ve been trimmed or filmed differently for greater effect, but as a low budget slasher flick this one was pretty smart.) Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? Alas, I viewed this one via streaming, so there were no assorted extras under consideration.
Recommended, but …
The upside to experiencing a modest thrill ride like Butcher’s Bluff (2023) is that – even though you’ve likely seen a lot of it before – it has a workmanship-like quality that makes it look like it could share universes with any number of like-minded productions. Of course, the downside is much the same, that the end result isn’t different enough from so much of what’s come before and still being accomplished today that it lacks any true distinctiveness nor the inherent ability to stand on its own. While purists will likely be pleased, newcomers and even casual watchers might get bored quickly, especially with its 120-minute running time. Chillers work best when they respect a greater economy in getting to the good stuff; that said, this butcher should’ve cleaved off about 20-30 minutes for a finer cut.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Breaking Glass Pictures provided me with complimentary streaming access to Butcher’s Bluff (2023) by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
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