Jimmy Lynch (Billy McNichol) is a promising high school basketball player. When he was a child, his parents were both killed in a freak road accident, and has since then been looked after by his loving, but slightly overbearing aunt Cheryl (Susan Tyrrell). He returns home one night to find his aunt holding a knife after killing a maintenance man. She had desperately groped him, shouting that she needs a man, only for him to reject her. Det. Carlson (Bo Svenson) is assigned to investigate, and when the bigoted detective finds out that the maintenance man was gay, he suspects Jimmy of also being a homosexual. He then discovers that Jimmy's basketball coach is also gay, and suspects the murder is a result of a big gay love triangle.When I was deciding which Video Nasty to watch next by reading up about them on Wikipedia, this film, also known as Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker, certainly caught my eye and sounded more interesting than the likes of Faces of Death (1978). A Video Nasty exploring homophobia and incest, whilst mixed with a bit of gruesome violence? I was sold! As usual though, I was left disappointed. While the film certainly raises itself above tedium every now and then, it is no more than a standard psycho-biddy film, and those aforementioned themes left relatively unexplored. However Tyrrell turns in an effective performance, and Bo Svenson is certainly very funny (although I doubt that was the intention) as his rather dated gay-bashing cop. Not the worst Nasty by a long, long way, but certainly a missed opportunity. And watch out for a young Bill (listed here as William) Paxton.
Directed by: William Asher
Starring: Jimmy McNichol, Susan Tyrrell, Bo Svenson, Marcia Lewis, Bill Paxton
Country: USA
Rating: **
Tom Gillespie
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