Dr. Butcher M.D. (1980)
In a time of rip-offs there were also rip-offs of rip-offs, and what better example than one of my all time guilty favorites, the gloriously gory and stupendously stupid, the one and only…. “Dr. Butcher M.D.” To understand Doc Butcher you gotta understand the Italian exploitation circuit of the late seventies and early eighties. After the European success and controversy of Ruggero Deodato’s “Cannibal Holocaust” and George Romero’s “Dawn of the Dead”, many in the Italian film industry set out to cash in on what audiences wanted to see…live people being ate by other live people, preferably jungle dwelling cannibals or live people being ate by dead people, the more decomposed they were the better. As long as someone got ate and a boob or two splashed the screen audiences seemingly went home happy. Ah, the golden days of cinema my friends. So, after “Dawn” came Lucio Fulci’s “Zombie” and with that films financial success, the Italian cannibal/zombie sub-genre was underway. After “Dawn” and “Holocaust” proved successful around the world, some genius said, “hey, let’s have both zombies and cannibals in our picture, add a “mad scientist” angle for a twist, and we got a bonafide classic!” Well…
After discovering various half-eaten corpses in a New York hospital, a nurse (the leggy and very booby Alexandra Delli Colli) teams up with “Zombie” vet Ian McCullough as a police type whom determines the cannibals are coming from a mysterious island named Kito, home to many a flesh eating tribe. Out to investigate along with several reporter types, our little group encounters a certain Doctor Obrero (Richard Johnson), a seemingly nice enough doctor who’s doing research (what else?) on the island, since remote islands are the best place for scientific musings. What our snooping group doesn’t know is that the good doc is experimenting on the islands cannibal population, creating a sort of zombie super-race to know doubt rule the world and such. The whole film is actually rubbish of the highest order, but it’s likable rubbish nonetheless, especially if you’re rather drunken and of a forgiving nature. While this baby may not have good acting, a decent story or any other merits of a good film, what it lacks in these characteristics it more than makes up for in good old-fashioned spunk, courtesy of some truly feisty gore sequences. Zombie heads are smashed by outboard motors, eyeballs plucked and eaten, slit throats that spurt very zesty fountains of blood and, of course, various hackings by various sharp instruments. The cartoonish gore never really offends, it’s all so amateurishly done you’ll laugh rather than cover your eyes.
To be clear on this, “Dr. Butcher M.D. (that’s Medical Deviate if ya didn’t know) is the stateside title after Aquarius Releasing got hold of Marino Girolami’s “Queen of the Cannibals” a.k.a. “Zombi Holocaust and a.k.a. a million other titles. Aquarius tacked on a different opening, changed the musical score and altered a scene or two. I haven’t seen the other cuts, and probably never will. I have such a lovey feeling for my grainy old bootleg, complete with the films wonderfully sleazy American trailer that I don’t ever want to see it in any other form. All the gore and nudity is intact on my version, so I’m good to go. Definitely a must view with lots of alcohol handy and is perfect for when you and your friends are in a “Mystery Science Theater" kind of mood.