The New York Butcher
Night of the Walking Dead
USA 2016
produced by Sean Weathers, Aswad Issa (executive), Jerry Landi (associate), Louis Moore (associate) for Full Circle Filmworks
directed by Sean Weathers
starring Erin Brown, Sean Weathers, Sybelle Silverphoenix, Mark C. Fullhardt, Sara Rosenberg, Angelica Sumner, Ben Seligman, Samantha Oren
written by Sean Weathers, songs by Demon Boy
review by Mike Haberfelner
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A serial killer is roaming the streets of New York City, Clive (Sean
Weathers), the New York Butcher. Only his latest victim, journalist
Annabelle (Angelica Sumner), has called the cops on him. Not that that
saves herself from the Butcher, but cop Linda (Erin Brown) catches him
red-handed, and in a sudden panic she shoots him dead. Now she's anything
but a hardened cop, and she has never killed anyone before, so it's little
wonder she starts to suffer from PTSD, can't sleep at all anymore, and is
given paid leave from the force. Eventually, Dr. Phibes (Sybelle
Silverphoenix), Clive's psychiatrist, tracks her down and offers her her
services - which Linda after some reservation gladly accepts. And Dr.
Phibes' treatment, consisting mostly of hypnosis, soon starts to work,
Linda can sleep again and gets calmer - but that said, she also starts
having nightmares in which she is Clive, and Clive's killing people
again, without her being able to do anything about it. But Linda gets
completely freaked out when Clive appears to her, and tells her she is
actually the one doing all these killings she only thinks she dreams about
- but not very willingly, as somehow she might be under the influence of
Dr. Phibes, just like Clive was - and now she and Clive have to find out
what's going on ... A nice little horror thriller that seems to
go along tried and true lines at first, but has a very cool twist about
halfway through, taking the film in weirder but decidedly more interesting
territory. And a rather gritty directorial effort and solid central
performances really make this work. Oh, and if this has at all
gotten you interested, you might want to get the movie (and many of
director Weathers' other movies) here: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/seanweathers/
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