In honor of the 40th anniversary of BUTCHER, BAKER, NIGHTMARE MAKER (aka NIGHT WARNING) I wanted to write a little something about the film. The first time I saw BUTCHER, BAKER, NIGHTMARE MAKER, I was like, “WTF is this movie?!?” I couldn’t believe that William Asher, director of several of the BEACH PARTY movies, which were a symbol of wholesomeness in the 1960s, had directed such a distasteful picture. Asher’s wife was Elizabeth Montgomery, and I can’t even image what the film would’ve been like had she been in it. I just couldn’t get my head around it.
I’ve recently rewatched the film for this piece, and although Jimmy McNichol is supposed to be the star of BUTCHER, BAKER, NIGHTMARE MAKER, the star is actually Susan Tyrrell. And holy shit is she the star. I don’t care that Jimmy McNichol was top billed, Tyrrell is it, friends. Oh, what a batshit performance she gave. There’s over-the-top, and then there’s Susan Tyrrell over-the-top.
Let me back up here and give a little re-cap of the movie. Jimmy McNichol stars as Billy, a 17-year-old basketball player living with his Aunt Cheryl (Tyrrell) because his parents were killed in a car accident when Billy was a baby. I’ll just say that the relationship between Billy and his aunt just ain’t right. Cheryl treats him both as a young child and as a boyfriend. Billy has a girlfriend, Julia (played by Julia Duffy of Newhart fame). Now, Aunt Cheryl is none too happy about this relationship and calls Julia a slut, to her face, at one point. Billy tells his aunt that he wants to get a basketball scholarship to go away to school with Julia. Aunt Cheryl loses it and plots to keep Billy at home with her any way she can, including drugging Billy and killing anyone who gets in her way.
Oh wait, I forgot to mention that Aunt Cheryl in the beginning of the film has killed the TV repairman because he spurned her sweaty, bare-breasted advances. Billy came in in the middle of the killing and, of course, grabbed the knife so when the neighbors came in, they thought Billy was the killer. So, did the police. Nobody was arrested but, throughout the film, the crime is being investigated by Detective Carlson, played by Bo Svenson in one of the more repellent characters I’ve ever seen in a film. And that’s saying something. Okay, I think you’re caught up now.
Aunt Cheryl’s relationship with Billy is completely off the rails. She’s both in love with him as her child and as a lover. She rubs his body, walks in on him about to take a shower, glares at him seductively. Well, seductively for Susan Tyrrell. It comes out more like a weird sneer and a wink. Anyway, it’s clear she wants to fuck him. They film Billy in a super-sexual way, too. He’s often shirtless and sweaty throughout the film. They never mention incest, but it’s clear that Aunt Cheryl loves Billy, and then she also is in love with Billy.
Back to McNichol for a moment. At one point, he (along with his kid sister Kristy) was a thing back in the late 1970s. He was a teen idol for some reason. I never got it, really. He can’t sing and, judging by his work in this film, he can’t really act, either. Tyrrell and Svenson run rings around him, and he just can’t keep up.
I’m not sure if they were directed to do this but Billy and Julia were acting as if they were in one of those BEACH PARTY movies Asher made in the ’60s. They had been dating a year and were still very chaste. They were all “golly gee” and awkward with each other. It was a strange choice.
The look of the film is that of a television movie. Clearly it wasn’t because of all the language and nudity but it looked cheaply made. There were a few odd choices made in the editing process, too, with some bad cuts and a couple of weird freeze frames. I guess it’s fitting since the whole movie is strange itself.
The rampant homophobia has to be addressed. Detective Carlson uses so many slurs throughout the movie. Aunt Cheryl also uses slurs and says that gay men are sick, etc. The film does depict the one character in the film who is gay in a positive light, though. While the other characters in the film treat him poorly (including one Bill Paxton), he’s never shown in a negative light.
Paxton was apparently supposed to be the star of this movie, and I think they missed the boat there because this movie would’ve been 100% better with Paxton as Billy. Instead, he has a small role, as Eddie, a fellow basketball star who hates Billy. Paxton’s role is pretty much Chet from WEIRD SCIENCE. He’s also heavy with the homophobia.
BUTCHER, BAKER, NIGHTMARE MAKER is one weird ass film. It’s totally a genre picture. I still can’t believe William Asher directed an exploitation movie. I suppose he wanted to stay relevant. Despite all of the negative things I’ve pointed out, I still do like the movie. It’s all about Susan Tyrrell, really. For whatever reason you come into this movie, it’s Tyrrell and her performance that you leave with. And that’s enough for me.
Tags: Alan Jay Glueckman, Anniversaries, Bill Paxton, Bo Svenson, Boon Collins, Bruce Langhorne, Elizabeth Montgomery, Horror, Jan De Bont, Jimmy McNichol, Julia Duffy, Marcia Lewis, Michael Miller, Robbie Greenberg, Sophocles, Stephen Breimer, Susan Tyrrell, Ted Nicolaou, The 1980s, William Asher
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