Butcher Baker Nightmare Maker

Part psychological drama, part slasher horror… This warped tale from 1981 sees character actress Susan Tyrrell in top form as an overprotective and possessive aunt, hell-bent on stopping her teenage nephew from accepting a scholarship at Denver University… at all costs! BUTCHER BAKER NIGHTMARE MAKER is now available as a Special Edition 4K UHD / Blu-ray release and looks better than ever.

In a brief prequel sequence, we see Cheryl Roberts (Susan Tyrrell) holding a little toddler, Billy Lynch, in her arms and waving goodbye to the little boy’s youngish parents, who are off on a brief holiday. However, the parents never reach their holiday destination due to a nasty freak accident along a mountain road. Years pass, and said toddler is now a high school senior (Jimmy McNichol) with a particular talent for basketball. Ever since his parent’s accident, Aunt Cheryl has looked after him and as far as she is concerned, their little world is a happy one – only occasionally interrupted by her nosy yet well-meaning neighbour Margie (Marcia Lewis) who drops by for a chat and some coffee, sometimes with hubby in tow.

The seemingly cosy vibe in the Roberts household changes when Billy, who has been offered a scholarship to study at the University of Denver, approaches his 17th birthday: although initially supportive of the idea, Aunt Cheryl suddenly doesn’t seem keen anymore about the idea of Billy leaving the house, accusing him of being ungrateful and selfish and he would do better staying with her and contributing to the household. Billy, his ambitions of becoming a professional basketball player aside, has another reason for wanting to relocate to Denver because in his current high school, he is bullied by one of his fellow teammates, Eddie (a young Bill Paxton) who is jealous of the fact that Billy gets on well with Tom Landers (Steve Eastin), the team’s coach.

Aunt Cheryl asks Billy to arrange for Phil Brody (Caskey Swaim), the local TV-repairman, to drop by and fix her telly. Brody arrives while Billy is on a date with Julia (Julia Duffy), the high school newspaper photographer. After Brody finishes repairing the TV-Set, Cheryl, who tarted herself up for the occasion, makes sexual advances towards Brody, who pushes her off in disgust. Incensed, she grabs a knife and butchers him precisely when Billy returns from his date and witnesses the murder through the window. His aunt, however, claims it was self-defence as it was Brody who tried to rape her. Enter Detective Joe Carlson (Bo Svenson), a bigoted cop is ever there was one who reckons he has it all worked out: Phil Brody was a ‘fag” and was in a homosexual relationship with Billy’s basketball coach Tom… prompting Billy to stab Brody in a jealous rage, with his aunt now taking the rap for it. Wow! Meanwhile, Sergeant Cook (Britt Leach), an altogether more sensible individual always as loggerheads with Detective Carlson, smells a rat and points out to Carlson that Billy could not have stabbed Brody out of jealousy because he’s in a romantic relationship with Julia. Not that knucklehead Carlson is interested in any of Cook’s theories.

When an important basketball game approaches, Aunt Cheryl begins to spike Billy’s milk to ensure he is slightly drowsy and won’t qualify for entering Denver University though that’s just the tip of the iceberg. A lot worse is to come when Cheryl discovers Billy and Julia in bed together though really, it’s nothing compared to what Billy is about to discover about his increasingly deranged aunt and about himself… As the body count rises and Detective Carlson still refuses to believe that there’s something seriously wrong with Cheryl Roberts, the stage is set for a twisted and bloody climax that is as shocking as it is just.

Susan Tyrrell and Bo Svenson are both excellent as two individuals whose minds are utterly warped though in the case of Svenson’s character ‘Detective Carlson’ one must wonder how he ever got into the police force and made it to the status of Detective to begin with. Jimmy McNichol is perfect casting as the naïve Billy Lynch who simply cannot see the writing on the wall as far as his aunt is concerned, until it is too late. Of course, he and his love interest Julia are the quintessential dopey high school students who commit every stupid mistake one can possibly make while trying to fight evil, at times it seems as if they don’t have a single brain cell between them. If their characters had appeared in Wes Craven’s ‘Scream’ they’d be slaughtered within five minutes thanks to their own stupidity!

Although BUTCHER BAKER NIGHTMARE MAKER has a reputation as one of those 1980’s video nasties, it isn’t any nastier than the original ‘Halloween’ or ‘Friday the 13th’ flicks and just as entertaining (if you’re a fan of this particular genre). Director William Asher (veteran of cosy TV-fare such as ‘I Love Lucy’ and ‘Bewitched’) does a fine job with a script occasionally deprived of any logic.

Bonus material includes audio commentaries, Cast & Crew interviews, Trailer and TV Spot.