The Butchering By Fatal Follower

The Butchering (2015)
Fatal Follower

*Out Now at Walmart for $9.96, Amazon and other retailers as The Butchering*

Braxton Butcher – aka The Butchering – is a 2015 British serial killer thriller written and directed by Leo McGuigan (The Morrigan), making his feature debut. The What’s Next Films production stars Shaun Blaney, Jenna Byrne and Vicky Allen.

Every town has a devil. For the small community of Braxton, that devil is Tommy Miller. A bullied and tormented teen who finally snapped, killing his friends and family at the annual Braxton town hall party, Miller escaped into the woods, never to be seen or heard from again.

Ten years later, a group of fresh-faced teens finds themselves targeted by a masked man in a hooded cloak. It’s up to Detective Ryan Fenton and his fish-out-of-water partner to protect the town from Miller’s clutches; there’s just one issue – Ryan himself is a survivor of the original massacre. Is Miller opening up a new chapter, or has he returned to attend to some unfinished busines?

Verdict-> (spoilers ahead)

This movie wears its Scream 2 appreciation dead on both sleeves, which isn’t a bad thing. The latter is naturally the superior film, but this one is a fun throwback to teen slashers of the 90’s.Not only is there one reveal, or two…but three killers revealed in this one, and despite having a lack of emotional depth or motive for the killings, it did have a fun quality to it. 

It’s overly long at an hour and 45 minutes, if they would have trimmed the thrown in detective side plot, the movie would have been much more enjoyable, as it kind of messes with the tone, because this isn’t a serial killer thriller from the 90’s…it just isn’t that smart.

I dug the mask, as it looked similar to the one used in Final Stab (2001), and the hooded fur coat was a major nod to Urban Legend, the killers were all nostalgia when it boiled down to it.

It’s a little Scream 2 (its even referenced in the movie once) and a little Urban Legend, you may have some fun with it. Go in with low expectations!

6/10