Hosting Provided By HORRORFIND.COM
To find out about advertising on the Horrorfind Network Click Here
When I was in the midst of one of the biggest waves of my movie collecting, I searched far and wide for one of the least original films from the Italian cannibal/zombie wave of the 70’s and 80’s: Dr. Butcher, MD (Medical Deviate). I must say that the title is what first got me to search this title out (as was the case with I Dismember Mama, The Driller Killer and I Drink Your Blood [my interest in I Drink Your Blood was reinforced by viewing the trailer, as was the case with this movie]). As I began to research this movie, I realized that this was actually part of the cannibal/zombie subgenre and not of the general gore craze of the early 80’s (I also learned of its European title, Zombi Holocaust). I also realized that I HAD to have this movie!
I searched every video store within a 25 mile radius, and only found it in two video stores; neither was willing to sell.
When I went to my first Fangoria convention (back in January of 1998), I was exposed to the wealth of VHS bootleg dealers (who called themselves “importers”) who dubbed import VHS and laserdisc versions (uncut and/or widescreen) of European and domestic films. I knew very little about the business and figured it was the best (and only) way for me to get a hold of some elusive titles. It was at that convention that I got Cannibal Holocaust, Oasis of the Zombies and the Japanese print of this movie (under the title of Dr. Butcher, MD). The dealer played the trailer for me, and I immediately whipped out my wallet. Cha-ching!
The picture was fuzzy, the pubic hair (there was very little) was “fogged” out (the Japanese are not offended by much, but pubic hair is taboo) and there were large, distracting subtitles at the bottom of the screen. The image, as was the case with most other Japanese prints, was too dark to make out details in darker scenes. I was a little disappointed, but was very excited that I got a hold of this film in widescreen (the 16mm opening was full frame).
The following year, I decided to get a hold of the original, longer cut of the film (the US version, Dr. Butcher, was trimmed of expositional footage and re-scored AND had an opening tacked on of a zombie rising from the grave), Zombi Holocaust. It was a German print. A little clearer image, but with German subtitles this time around. I then got a hold of the Paragon Video release Dr. Butcher for $1.50. $41.50 invested in this movie. I knew it was getting ridiculous. But such was the life of a completist video collector.
Fast-forward two years later to Kim’s Video in Manhattan, yours truly shelled out yet another $20.00. But this time, it was for the (at the time) out-of-print Dragon Entertainment DVD of Zombi Holocaust.
The beginning of the film deals with a few cannibal murders in a Manhattan university hospital. The offender is caught (it was the nurse; Pacific Islander) who has a tattoo on his chest belonging to a cannibal tribe in the South Pacific; he commits suicide. This prompts an investigation that leads to the archipelago where Dr. Butcher (under the name of Dr. Obrero [Dr. Obrien in German prints]) operates. The people investigating know Dr. Obrero as a benevolent doctor who tries to cure the natives of various illnesses. As it turns out, the good doctor actually does destructive surgery on the natives, creating an army of mangled zombies. He also prompts the natives to practice cannibalism.
The investigators fall prey to the cannibals, leaving a couple of survivors to unravel the mystery of Dr. Obrero…..
The picture quality on this particular DVD (which was released in the US on the Media Blasters label) is decent. At a non-anamorphic aspect ratio of 1.66:1, the picture sports some graininess. However, the picture looks better than any previous VHS or laserdisc presentation (except for Dragon Entertainment’s laserdisc presentation of this movie, which is the same). The colors are a little washed out. However, the reds seen in this print are some of the most vibrant reds I’ve ever seen onscreen. Those, of course, are the gore scenes!
There are two audio tracks to this movie: a Dolby Digital 2.0 mono mix in the English language and a Dolby Digital 2.1 German track. The .1 is obviously the subwoofer channel. The German soundtrack is much bassier (understandably), and is actually quite different from the English track; some of the music is a bit different and the track utilizes more ambient sound effects (for instance, the jungle scenes).
The extras are interesting. Although the packaging (all in German) implies that there are three theatrical trailers on this disc, there are only two. The Dr. Butcher trailer for the North American release and the Zombies unter Cannibalen trailer for the German release are included. The Dr. Butcher trailer is the same trailer I had seen on the Japanese laserdisc release. The German trailer was something new for me. “Dr. Obrien” and “zombiemonster” were wonderfully hilarious terms to hear when thrown in with a language I did not understand.
There was a filmography (all in German) with text way too small to read. There was also a deleted scene (cut from the main movie in this release, but intact in the Dr. Butcher print) of an encounter with cannibals outside the jungle included as an extra. The cover art is pretty standard, capturing pics of some of the main zombies. The insert folds out to a wonderful collage of scenes from the movie.
Although Media Blasters has come out with a far superior DVD release of this film, this gem of a DVD would be worth owning if one could track it down. The presence of the German trailer is a wonderful bonus. Good luck finding it, though.