BEAUTY QUEEN BUTCHER

Phyllis (Rhona Brody) is a frumpy high school student, despised by a clique of good-looking pupils led by poisonous blonde Muffy (Kathryn A Mensik). When Muffy and pals spy a poster advertising a school beauty contest they become excited about entering it. Their interest is heightened when they get the idea of entering Phyllis into the competition as a joke.

She returns home one evening to her pet cat - her only family since her parents died - and finds the entry form in her post. Not realising it's a prank, Phyllis shows the form to her nerdy friend Cameron the following morning, then later to her school canteen colleague Alma.

Between them, they manage to convince the initially reluctant Phyllis that she should enter the context. As Cameron puts it, "This is your chance to show the world you're not just a fat slob"!

So Phyllis signs up for the contest. Her first task is to attend an evening class with all the other entrants and learn how to behave as a beauty candidate. This causes much amusement for Muffy and her gang, as they share their co-ordinator Betty's disgust for Phyllis. Although, Betty can hardly talk - it's a man in drag ...

After four weeks of intensive training (the pretty girls working out and practicing their talent showcases; Phyllis scoffing junk food and fretting with Cameron over what she'll wear) the pageant finally arrives.

Phyllis is devastated when the crown goes to Muffy, and further hurt when Muffy later tells her backstage that she's repulsive and should drop down dead. Phyllis retreats to her lonely old house and pigs out in depression. But before long the ever dependable Cameron is calling on her, and takes her out for bowling and a meal to lift her spirits.

Unfortunately, this gives Muffy and her friends the opportunity to break into Phyllis' home and microwave her cat. Finally, over an hour into the movie, it seems they may have pushed Phyllis too far ...

BUTCHER is an inexpensive shot-on-video event. It looks drab and is way too long at almost two hours in length. It's also very light on the grue, which isn't too great a deal - other than the fact that the film clearly sells itself as a gore flick.

What BUTCHER does offer is spunky performances from it's young cast, a so-bad-it's-almost-good script full of corny gags, decently fleshed-out textbook characters and an unusual amount of focus on exposition. Jill Zurborg's direction is safe but proficient, and the films ticks along nicely thanks to plenty of cruel, camp dialogue.

The first hour is agreeable fare, despite the fact we've seen it all countless times before. When Phyllis eventually cracks, it's almost a shame that she does. The movie becomes little more than a generic slasher flick with occasional one-liners thrown in for the final fifty minutes.

Camp Motion Pictures' disc opens with the usual forced promo reel showcasing gory highlights from films such as CANNIBAL CAMPOUT and VIDEO VIOLENCE.

BUTCHER is presented uncut in a respectable full-frame transfer, preserving it's original aspect ratio. It's a nice sharp picture with good colour levels and bright images.

The 2.0 English audio is efficient enough, but a tad muffled at times. I suspect this is more to do with the source material than any mastering flaws.

Static menus do not include a scene-selection menu, but the film does have remote access via 15 chapters.

Extras are unusually sparse for a Camp release.

They include a 10-minute Behind The Scenes featurette which was shot on video at the time of making the movie (1991). It includes on-location interviews with cast and crew members, along with some moderately interesting footage of scene set-ups, outtakes and bloopers. A disclaimer at the opening of this bonus apologises for the soft picture and hissing audio.

The only other "extras" on offer are a trailer for BUTCHER, plus the usual array of Camp trailers - CANNIBAL CAMPOUT, WOODCHIPPER MASSACRE, GHOUL SCHOOL (2 trailers), VIDEO VIOLENCE, VIDEO VIOLENCE 2 and THE ZOMBIE BLOODBATH TRILOGY.

One of the better shot-on-video horrors that I've seen recently, although expect more comedy than terror. Worth investigating ...

Review by Stu Willis