DVD Review: The Butcher

Things turn bad when a group of college co-eds take the scenic route and have a run-in with a mean trucker. After a horrible accident, the kids find out just how mean this trucker is, and wait until they meet his old lady! The Butcher is a decent film. It basically combined elements from all the hillbilly, inbred cannibal movies that were all the rage over the last few years. There's even one scene that's almost identical to one in Wrong Turn. You'll notice pieces of Hills have Eyes, Texas Chainsaw, Wolf Creek, and others all wrapped up in The Butcher. But with all that mimicking, it's still its own movie. Very good acting for the most part, although a few parts were over the top. The direction was solid and the sound was decent enough. All in all, it is a very nice film to wile away a Saturday night to. It's not Angus, but it's not spoiled either. The Butcher chops up ***1/2 out of *****.

DVD Review: Severed-Forest of the Dead

This one came as a surprise for me. I had no previous knowledge of it, there was no promotional push, yet it turns out, it's a very nicely made zombie flick. The DVD was rented out at my local mega-store, so I had to catch this one on pay per view. So as far as the DVD specs are concerned, I have no idea. The film wastes no time getting underway and for that i am grateful. It's filmed in a herky-jerky hand-held kind of way. I think it's a new "zombie movie camerawork" phase filmmakers are going through. The frantic camera does add a bit to the tension, but it's a little over done here. The actors did a very nice job throughout. The story is about a logging company that's using a chemical additive to enhance the growth of trees. There's an unexpected reaction when the chemical comes into contact with humans. It turns them into flesh eating zombies! There are alot of environmental issues on display here, and the filmmakers did a fantastic job of showing both the log worker's and the tree hugger's points of view. And here's another thing that I loved about this movie---It took everything dead seriously! With zombies all around you, and you're quaratined on an island, there are no jokes to be made! The ending may not be for everybody, but I thought it was fitting. Severed is one of the better zombie movies to come out in the last two years. It gets ****1/2 out of *****.