Saturday, October 01, 2022

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 1: Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker (1981)

Let's start this countdown off with a bang, and perhaps one of the craziest 80's horror movies I've ever seen: Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker, a tale worthy of the Greeks. An Oedipus tale, to be exact.

Jimmy McNichol (who looks exactly like his sister, Kristy, though they aren't actually twins), is teenager Billy Lynch, who has lived with his aunt Cheryl since the death (in an absolutely insane car crash) of his parents when he was a child.

Cheryl loves Billy. A lot. Like, a LOT a lot. And isn't too happy at the prospect of him leaving home and going to college. So she plans to do something about it.

Cheryl is played by Susan Tyrrell, and she is the main reason to watch this movie. Her performance is absolutely hilarious and unhinged, especially towards the end. Just thinking of some of the facial expressions she makes after she's lost all her marbles still makes me crack up. It's a performance up there with Bette Davis's in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?

The movie also features Bill Paxton in an early role, in full Bill Paxton mode, and a surprisingly (for its time) heroic gay character. Seek this one out. It's worth it.

I watched Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker on Shudder.

1 comment:

Caffeinated Joe said...

Definitely an odd movie with some strange social commentary! Happy October!