''Bloodthirsty Butchers'' is a 1970

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

directed by

Andy Milligan Andrew Jackson Milligan Jr. (February 12, 1929 – June 3, 1991) was an American playwright, screenwriter, actor, and filmmaker, whose work includes 27 movies made between 1965 and 1988. In spite of the fact that he directed a number of movie ...

and starring Michael Cox, Linda Driver, Jane Helay, and Bernard Kaler. It is an adaptation of the notorious story of

Sweeney Todd Sweeney Todd is a fictional character who first appeared as the villain of the penny dreadful serial ''The String of Pearls'' (1846–47). The original tale became a feature of 19th-century melodrama and London urban legend, legend. A barber fr ...

. The film was released as a

double feature The double feature is a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatres would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown. Opera use Opera ho ...

with ''Torture Dungeon''.

Plot

An updated version of the Sweeney Todd legend, this melodrama tells the tale of a murderous barber, Sweeney Todd, who supplies raw meat for his neighbor,

Mrs. Lovett Mrs. Lovett is a fictional character appearing in many adaptations of the story ''Sweeney Todd''. Her first name is most commonly referred to as Nellie, although she has also been referred to as Amelia, Margery, Maggie, Sarah, Shirley, Wilhelmina ...

, who runs a pie shop. Amid the resulting carnage is a romantic sub-plot, although the film focuses mainly on the gore.

Cast

* Annabella Wood as

Johanna Johanna is a feminine name, a variant form of Joanna that originated in Latin in the Middle Ages, including an -h- by analogy with the Latin masculine name Johannes. The original Greek form ''Iōanna'' lacks a medial /h/ because in Greek /h/ cou ...

Berwick Kaler Berwick Kaler (born 31 October 1946) is a British actor most famous for playing the dame in York Theatre Royal's annual pantomime, which he also wrote and directed. He has been awarded the freedom of the city, and in 2002 received an honorary de ...

Tobias Ragg Tobias is the transliteration of the Greek which is a translation of the Hebrew biblical name he, טוֹבִיה, Toviyah, JahGod is good, label=none. With the biblical Book of Tobias being present in the Deuterocanon/Apocrypha of the Bible, To ...

* Jane Helay as

* John Miranda as

Release

''Bloodthirsty Butchers'' premiered on 23 January 1970 and was re-released in a special screening of the ''Milligan Mania'' as part of the Cinedelphia Film Festival on 10 April 2015 over

Exhumed Films Exhumed Films is an American "organization devoted to showing horror movies for the benefit of their fans." History Based in Philadelphia, Exhumed Films was founded in 1997 by Dan Fraga, Joseph A. Gervasi, Harry Guerro and Jesse Nelson to exhibit ...

.“CUB,” Naschy, Milligan, “COMBAT SHOCK” and more at Philadelphia festival/screenings
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Home media

''Bloodthirsty Butchers'' was first released on VHS in the mid 1980s by the defunct video company Midnight Video. The film was released for the first time on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

by Films Around The World Inc. on January 1, 2013. The company would re-released the film on August 28, 2018.

Reception

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

'' rated the film one out of four stars, calling it a "gory and typically cheap retelling of the Sweeney Todd legend".

References

External links

* * * * 1970 films 1970s exploitation films 1970 independent films 1970 horror films American exploitation films American independent films American serial killer films Films set in London Sweeney Todd Films about cannibalism 1970s English-language films Films directed by Andy Milligan 1970s American films English-language horror films {{1970s-horror-film-stub