Director William Asher is best known for his work in TV situation comedy (I Love Lucy, Bewitched) and for the string of Beach Party movies he made in the 1960s. But he occasionally veered into darker territory, as with this 1981 film—part horror movie and part psychological thriller—which was also shown under the title Night Warning.
Susan Tyrrell stars as Cheryl, who raised her nephew (Jimmy McNichol) since his infancy after his parents were killed in an auto accident. Now a high school senior and basketball star, Billy is a candidate for a college scholarship; he has also become romantically involved with his pretty classmate Julia (Julia Duffy).
Both circumstances are deeply troubling to Cheryl, who is—quite literally—insanely possessive of the boy. He witnesses her stabbing Phil Brody (Caskey Swaim), a television repairman she has unsuccessfully tried to seduce, to death in their kitchen. She claims Phil was trying to rape her, but when bigoted policeman Joe Carlson (Bo Svenson) learns that Brody was the lover of Billy’s gay coach Tom Landers (Steve Eastin), he theorizes that Billy, jealous of their relationship, was really the killer and that Cheryl is covering up his crime; he pursues this notion with virtually manic intensity.
Cheryl, meanwhile, grows increasingly unhinged and drugs the boy’s milk so that he will collapse on the court during the big game, lose any chance of a scholarship, and remain with her. She also attacks anyone she sees as threatening her hold over the boy—Julia, overly inquisitive neighbor Margie (Marcia Lewis), and Carlson’s fellow cop Cook (Britt Leach). And when Billy discovers the truth about her past, she turns on him as well.
The simmering undercurrents of homosexuality and incest made the film unusual among slasher movies of the time, which were targeted at teen audiences, and might have played a part in its limited distribution and a generally cool reception at the time of its original release. But in the intervening years, it has gained a cult following, with the gloriously over-the-top performances by Tyrrell and Svenson attracting particular attention. (It also represented the first credited screen appearance by Bill Paxton, as Billy’s rival for dominance on the basketball squad.)
Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker is an oddity not only in Asher’s filmography but among the teen horror movies of the eighties, and while hardly a classic, it certainly stands out from the crowd. The Code Red transfer is excellent, and extras include two audio commentaries, one by co-writers Steven Breimer and Alan Jay Glueckman and the other by Jimmy McNichol; interviews with McNichol, Breimer, Tyrrell, Eastin, and make-up artist Allan A. Apone; and the theatrical trailer. A strong optional purchase, especially for horror collections.