Surprisingly incoherent and boring

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Out of all the cheesy, godawful, low budget exploitation thrillers that hit grindhouse cinemas in the US in the 1970s, THE LOVE BUTCHER has to be one of the funniest – albeit unintentionally. This laugh riot offers an unusual spin on the PSYCHO storyline, which is no surprise: the Hitchcock thriller enjoyed something of a renaissance during the decade, with filmmaker after filmmaker riffing on its plot when making their own sleazy versions of the story. I've seen a fair few of these now and THE LOVE BUTCHER stands head and shoulders above the rest purely because it's so entertainingly bad.In an outstanding performance, Erik Stern essays a dual performance as Caleb the gardener and Lester the lady killer. Caleb is a self-confessed, self-loathing gimp, crippled and half-blind; he's scorned by the women whose gardens he tends throughout the day. By night, Caleb turns into the smooth, suave and physically perfect Lester, a man who beds beautiful women before offing them with a series of deadly garden implements. Yes, this is a story of schizophrenia packed with scenes of somebody talking to himself, very effective scenes I might add and years before Peter Jackson got the same idea when he turned Gollum into a split-personality psychopath in his LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy. The finger-twirling musical interlude in the mirror is hands-down the funniest thing I've seen in years.The theme is over done and the film itself far from boring, indeed it's actually very well paced with good interplay between time spent with the murderer and his victims and the traditional police procedural investigation. There are some shocks and surprises along the way, along with a little gore and nudity, although the film has surprisingly little of the latter two qualities that are usually plentiful in such films. While Stern is scene-stealing unforgettable in one of the most over-the-top performances of all time as the titular psychopath, he's assisted by some other fine talent: the unknown Kay Neer in her single screen appearance as a lovely, warm-heated potential victim; B-movie veteran Robin Sherwood (DEATH WISH II) as a man-hater and character actor Richard Kennedy as the cop hot on Stern's heels.Director Donald Jones made something of a career out of quickly forgotten exploitation quickies. His first film was ABDUCTED, also known as SCHOOLGIRLS IN CHAINS, which explored very similar territory to this one: in essence it was another PSYCHO type film about insanity and women getting murdered. He later made THE FOREST, another insanely rare movie, this time a backwoods slasher that has a certain atmosphere to it. His career ended with the 1993 softcore comedy HOUSEWIFE FROM HELL, which is a shame, as although his films may not be exactly high quality, they're certainly fun to watch.

It was the early nineties and me and my 2 stoner flatmates loved hiring dodgy horror movie at the local video shop. From time to time i would pick up this whilst trying to choose a rental in the store, and sing the title to the tune of "The Love Boat" to my whacked mates - I'd usually get a laugh. One day i showed up at home with this under my arm. We blew a joint and watched in awe/horror/hysterics. The 3 of us all found the last scene quite disturbing. So much so that whilst the the credits rolled, one of my flatmates stood up from his chair, walk to the video player, ejected the tape, placed it under an upturned milk crate in the middle of the living room, and left.This movie is gold.

Revived by the video boom in the 80's.Why? This was a puerile mess.The acting was so horrible, it's no surprise most of these folks never worked again. And the ones that did were relegated to TV spots.Erik Stern 'stars' as twins. One ugly, one handsome, both evil. His acting was almost laughably bad. I spent the whole time trying to figure out if he was serious or not.I rented this because of its graphic packaging. Boy did I get taken. The best scenes are right on the box. There, now YOU don't have to see it. You're welcome.

This is a very funny ,albeit gruesome, slasher movie. While the characters seem to be taking themselves very seriously, the audience has little choice but to chuckle with every over the top scene. It's gotta be satire don't you think? I guess the only saving grace is that there don't seem to be any copies readily available. In any case, a humorously morbid little diversion.