REVIEW: ‘Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker’ features scarily good performance by Susan Tyrrell
Photo: Susan Tyrrell stars in Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker, a horror movie from 1981. Photo courtesy of Severin Films / Provided by Foundry Comm with permission.
On its surface, the horror film Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker has all the hallmarks of a cheese-fest. The movie was released in 1981 and features an incestuous plot that devolves into a slasher flick. There are sexual relations amongst teenagers that are then punished by a sadistic killer, and the police are always one step behind because they don’t know how to conduct solid investigative work. These story components feel like so many other horror movies from that influential decade, but Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker, directed by William Asher, is different … and good, like really good.
One of the reasons this movie ascends above the rest is because of a towering performance by Susan Tyrrell, who plays the character of Cheryl Roberts. She is a loving aunt who takes in her orphaned nephew, Billy Lynch (Jimmy McNichol). He grows up under her watchful eye, and things get weird when Aunt Cheryl decides to cross boundaries and be too protective over her nephew, so protective that she refuses to let him dream of going away to college. And don’t even get started on what happens when Billy brings home a girlfriend. There can be no partner in the equation because Cheryl sees herself as aunt, mother, lover, confidante to Billy, and anyone who stands in the way will be quickly dispatched in a violent manner.
Bo Svenson turns up as a prejudicial police detective named Joe Carlson. He’s assigned to the case of a homicide that takes place at Cheryl’s residence, the details of which should not be spoiled. It becomes evident right away that he has problems with people who are different than himself, and his form of investigative work is essentially brute force and harsh stereotyping. No wonder he doesn’t see what’s right in front of him: Cheryl may be the problem that’s plaguing this small town. Be on the lookout for an early Bill Paxton cameo and a performance by Newhart’s Julia Duffy.
Asher’s film is a marvel, equal parts shocking, scary, creepy and unsettling. The performances are uniformly solid, which is saying something for a horror movie from the 1980s, and Tyrrell is a cut above the rest, falling into believable madness as more and more fingers are pointed at her and her nephew. It’s a wonderful, no-holds-barred performance that is worth the price of admission.
Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker, sometimes known as Night Warning, has recently premiered on UHD courtesy of Severin Films. The two-disc set offers a host of special features, including an audio commentary by McNichol; another commentary by two co-writers of the film, Steve Breimer and Alan Jay Glueckman; and a third commentary by co-producer and unit production manager Eugene Mazzola. There are also interviews with Svenson, director of photography Robbie Greenberg, editor Ted Nicolaou, and many cast and crew members.
Severin Films does justice to this forgotten classic from the early 1980s, which actually predates many other slasher flicks and horror gems from the decade. This solid film is must-see viewing for nostalgia hounds because Tyrrell’s performance should go down as one of the best the genre has to offer, right up there with Betsy Palmer in Friday the 13th and Beatrice Pons in Mother’s Day.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker (1981). Directed by William Asher. Written by Steve Breimer, Alan Jay Glueckman and Boon Collins. Starring Susan Tyrrell, Jimmy McNichol, Bo Svenson, Julia Duffy and Bill Paxton. Running time: 93 minutes. Rating: 
Click here for more information on Severin’s UHD release.
