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Cast: Kim Sung-il, You Dong-Hun
Relentlessly gruesome, South Korean filmmaker Kim Jin-Won's torture flick chronicles the making of a snuff film from two perspectives: that of the sadistic producers and that of the unfortunate "stars." Their terror captured through vérité-style camera work, the victims are made to endure the agonizing screams of their fellow captives before meeting their own grim fate at the hands the titular butcher in his bloody abattoir.
A pretty simple plot here, a group of snuff producers are making their latest film. They have cameras and each of the 4 captives has a helmet-cam on as well. Compared to "Saw" and "The Blair Witch Project" mainly do to the contain and the way the film was shot but let me tell you the comparisons end there. If you go by the DVD cover and/or the trailer for the film you are going to think right away that this is just another senseless gore fest and you would be right partly at least, the gore is certainly there and it is upsetting but the film is more disturbing when you begin to find out about a few of the victims and their backgrounds. The gore upsets you but the psychological terror takes the film to another level. I suppose it is hard to say you like a film this disturbing but I did enjoy it and it seems that Asian cinema is the leader in producing horror movies the way most true fans want to see them, when you sit down to a horror film from any Asian country you know you are not going to get a watered down horror flick you are so use to seeing in theaters nowadays. So credit has to go to Jin Won Kim for making a film that shocks, disturbs and even upsets those that watch it, those things might sound just plain wrong to a lot of people but in the end the film leaves you thinking about it days later and if that was what the film-makers were after then they succeeded. I cannot recommend this to everyone but if you like your horror the way it was intended to be made then I highly recommend picking this up. The Butcher is as gross and disturbing as it is captivating, I could not take my eyes off of it and you will not be able to either. Skip "Saw" and witness pure terror, own this DVD today. The DVD comes with Special Features that include:
Alternate Ending
Behind The Scene Photos
Storyboard Sketches
Original Theatrical Trailer
Released by Palisades Tartan
***** Out Of *****