Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray (Website Exclusive Slipcover)

Yes, the story of Oedipus Rex has provided us with psychosexual terror in the form of the mother, the matriarch – a role that can be loving and destructive all at once. Such a thing sets the stage for what’s to come in Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker, although you’re probably still unprepared for just how malignant that motherhood can be come when in the hands of Susan Tyrell. This is much more than just another entry in the slasher film cycle of the 1980s, it offers the kind of tour-de-force happenings and histrionics to match the well-tuned, sleazy script that wasn’t written with too much padding. The result is a genre classic that dives into the darkness of Americana. 

Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker follows the story of Billy Lynch (Jimmy McNichol), a young boy who came under the care of his nice but overprotective aunt Cheryl (Susan Tyrell) after his parents died in a car crash. Flash forward several years after the crash and Billy is getting ready to head off the college, and he got an offer from University of Denver that he’s excited about. But Cheryl, you see, lives her life for Billy and cannot let him go. And when Cheryl murders the TV repairman and tries to cover the story up, their small town is thrown into chaos as the bodies keep piling up. 

Malignant motherhood is the focus here, and Susan Tyrell brings the whacked-out histrionics to bring this 80s genre film to the next level. Not to mention the very clearly gay overtones in the film, in which the murdered the TV repairman is discovered to be in a relationship with Billy’s high school coach, Tom (Steve Eastin). The local sheriff can’t quite understand why Cheryl would lie and say that the repairman tried to rape her. Well, that’s because she’s had enough of being disconnected from Billy and will do absolutely everything to keep him under her thumb. When Cheryl walks in on Billy and his high school crush getting it on in their house, so continues a mother’s wrath.

Director William Asher revels in the story as much as the incident, which makes this a bit of a rarity among the film’s peers. While others were shoving thin-plotted slashers in front of the eyes of audiences, some were finding the reflective transgression available in the genre’s tropes. While Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker may not have the kind of bloodletting required for most ardent slasher fans, it’s a beautifully ribald and sleazy time in the American suburbs. 

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-rays
Mommy loves you…or so the sickos at Severin Films have led us to believe with their two-disc (4K and Blu-ray) set of Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker. Housed in a standard black amaray case with a nice slipcover over it, this release comes with a UHD100 for the 4K disc and a BD50 for the standard Blu-ray. Both discs boot up to standard menu screens with options to play the film, explore bonus features, set up audio and select chapters.

Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker is here to give you the guilt that only a mother can with a brand-new 2160p presentation sourced from a new 4K scan of the original camera negative. As someone who has owned the original 2017 Blu-ray release from Code Red, which was sourced from a 2K scan of the original camera negative, I can say with the utmost confidence that this is the best the film has ever looked at home. There’s still some slight frame judder and some dust damage in some frames, but that’s a very minor note in what’s an overall beautiful, filmic presentation. Film grain is well-defined and never too chunky, those early 80s pastels are tuned in just right and flesh tones are true. This isn’t the kind of film that will always look like it should have been exposed to 2160p with HDR, but the rock-solid encoding and well-done scan make it look better than ever. Black levels are enhanced and provide great, inky depth amidst the grain field, plus the highlights prevent being blown out with the delicate HDR grade. 

This release comes with a single 2.0 mono audio track using the DTS-HD MA codec, and on the whole it’s a pleasing presentation of a source that definitely suffers a bit in mixing during the heightened moments. Dialogue is always clear and mixed well, it’s just the climax that can sound a bit too muddied with all the various high-pitch sources being thrown together. Such is a matter of fact in a low-budget production of this sort, however the presentation here is good and resolves everything the best It can.

As for supplements, Severin has done their due diligence and carried over some legacy supplements to pair with their newly-produced features that really expand the knowledge around this genre oddity. There are three audio commentaries to choose from, plus the new interviews with cast and crew prove what can happen when you’ve got a great label guiding the conversation and editing for time. You compare these new interviews to the flabby legacy interviews and it’s easy to see who did it better. 

4K UHD Disc

• Audio commentary with star Jimmy McNichol
• Audio commentary with co-writer/producer Steve Breimer and co-writer Alan Jay Glueckman, moderated by Mondo Digital’s Nathaniel Thompson
• Audio Commentary with co-producer and unit production manager Eugene Mazzola
• Trailer (HD 1:29)

Blu-ray Disc

• Audio commentary with star Jimmy McNichol
• Audio commentary with co-writer/producer Steve Breimer and co-writer Alan Jay Glueckman, moderated by Mondo Digital’s Nathaniel Thompson
• Audio Commentary with co-producer and unit production manager Eugene Mazzola
• Extreme Prejudice – Interview with actor Bo Svenson (HD 9:49)
• Point And Shoot – Interview with director of photography Robbie Greenberg (HD 15:04)
• Family Dynamics – Interview with editor Ted Nicolaou (HD 16:51)
• Legacy interviews (HD 46:20)
• Trailer (HD 1:29)

Watch out for aunt Cheryl, she’s starting to act really weird! Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker arrives on 4K Blu-ray from the weirdos over at Severin Films with a two-disc set that offers a great new 4K presentation of the film, plus a great selection of legacy and newly-produced supplements. Fill up your glass of milk and get ready for some really transgressive sleaze, as this release comes Highly Recommended!

Order Your Copy of Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker on 4K UHD 

Standard Edition Also Available