Treacherous cavewoman Dina is put to death by the leader of her tribe, Neandra, for sneaking around with her man, super cave stud Rex. When her body is taken overnight, the tribe believes a dangerous beast, or perhaps a butcher, is among them. Not able to accept that she has let anything bad happen to her tribe, Neadra denies anything more than a small tiger is responsible for the mystery. However, one by one, the tribeswomen are slain by the mythical butcher who is possessed to kill by his love for Dina’s ghost until she has her revenge.
Before getting started, I must admit that I love caveman horror movies (or the limited few that exist). I watch Neanderthal Man semi-regularly, I intentionally spent money on a copy of Memorial Valley Massacre, and I’ve even had my noggin squeezed by late Eegah! actor Richard Kiel. So when I heard Troma was releasing “the first prehistoric slasher film,” I became excited. Shot on 16mm by seventeen-year-old Kansas Bowling, B.C. Butcher plays less like a slasher movie and more like a comedic 1950’s drive-in flick along the lines of The Wild Women of Wongo or Prehistoric Women. It seriously feels like watching a long lost cheese-fest resurrected by Something Weird Video, and that is the film’s biggest selling point.
The groovy, retro nature of B.C. Butcher is highlighted by a fun cast of characters and absurd attack scenes. Like the best of the worst from the golden age of B-movies, the performances here are all overacted to the nth degree. The attack scenes are sparse and quick with most of the blood and guts being spilt during the film’s opening execution, which will possibly disappoint those who may be expecting the slasher movie this was partially marketed as. The makeup of the butcher is simply a hideous mask with little to no effort on the part of the effects team to try to blend it with the actor’s face; though, the makeup of Dina the corpse is effective, if inconsistent.
B.C. Butcher is a fast paced movie, clocking in at only 51 minutes. The editing is brisk and leaves no room for boring filler (yet exciting filler is left all over the place). The wardrobe is almost entirely made from leopard-print fabric, only adding to the film’s drive-in production aesthetic. The location appears to be exclusively on or near a Southern California hiking trail (that I’ve probably been on), reminding me of yet another old popcorn movie called Equinox (coincidentally, also featuring a large caveman). The soundtrack is a mix of oldies and garage rock, and in one scene we have pioneering KROQ DJ Rodney Bingenheimer introducing a prehistoric rock group for a brief musical number. This movie really wants to keep the viewer’s attention, and just might.
With B.C. Butcher, director Bowling is practicing an art of indie filmmaking once thought abandoned upon the arrival of the 70’s. Instead of being an authentic caveman movie, this is truly an authentic caveman B-movie. Very much teen-oriented like a lot of the old features of this sort, Butcher is low on violence but high on fun. It’s not much to look at, but it’s a solid and unpretentious effort by some much-needed young talent. –N. Weaver
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