Rating: C
Dir: Rick Roessler
Star: Don Barrett, Joe B. Barton, Sherry Leigh, William Houck
It might have taken 38 years – probably close to a record for a horror movie – but a sequel to this was submitted to our film festival. Figured we should warm up by watching the original. It is surprisingly well-shot, and the actual horror elements are not bad. The problem is the stuff around them, which is at best painfully generic. It takes place in rural America, where the amusingly-named Lester Bacon (Barrett) and his hulking, idiot son Buddy (Barton), previously ran a local abattoir for decades. However, they got run out of business, and now their property is under threat of redevelopment. You will not be surprised to hear, they are unhappy about this.
In terms of meat-packing murder, the tone here is generally closer to Motel Hell than The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. It has an EC Comics cackle and a wink, rather than offering a relentless parade of anguish. Lester is quite sympathetic, believing the skill needed for butchery is an under-rated art, and resenting the modern, mechanized approach which he considers soulless. Admittedly, Buddy has already been thinning the herd before any justification appears, knocking off a couple of courting teens for no better reason than they disturbed his pigs. In the middle, it is mostly Les’s enemies that meet the meat-hook, before the remaining teens decide to go exploring the disused factory on a dare. You will not be surprised to hear, this does not go well either.
Never less than predictable, you know who the final girl is going to be from the start. It’s Liz (Leigh), daughter of the local sheriff (Houck): the sensible one of her group, who also knows a bit about horror movies. We are certainly uninterested in the small town soap opera stylings, such as the “Pig Out” dance being held by the local radio station. We are here for the promise made by the alluring video cover – a hulking idiot rending human flesh – and the film only comes to life when Lester and/or Buddy are on-screen. The kills are kinda bloody, albeit never especially convincing, although there is a grim segment involving an industrial meat-grinder, which is less comedic than the rest.
The film also opens with footage of an operating slaughterhouse, setting an uneasy tone. Well, for any vegans in the audience: the rest of us might just be left craving a bacon sandwich. The makers clearly had access to a genuine location, and that certainly provides some creepy atmosphere. Yet this only shows up the lack of character possessed by any of the victims, who demonstrate the eighties slasher cliché of being forgettable at best, and frequently unlikable. The result is the kind of movie which would likely pass muster somewhere in the middle of an all-night VHS marathon in the late eighties, and I sincerely doubt the world has exactly been crying out for a sequel. Especially considering Buddy must surely now be chasing teenagers round with the aid of a Zimmer frame.