Doctor Butcher M.D. / Zombie Holocaust 2 Blu-rays

WARNING SPOILERS!!! "...and He Makes House Calls!" Retire all your blurry and dark Paragon and ThrillerVideo fullscreen VHS tapes of this Americanized version of ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST (released by Terry Levene's Aquarius Releasing in 1981) because Severin Films found vault elements of this much-requested title in New York and released it on a two-disc Blu-Ray set (with the original Italian film, which was previously released on DVD by Shriek Show with a reversible cover), loaded with great extras that brought back long-suppressed memories of my time seeing films in Times Square. I prefer this version over the original or one reason: Walter E. Sear's effective electronic music score, which adds a lot to what is basically a mash-up of Italian cannibal and zombie genres, making the film move at a much quicker pace (Nico Fidenco's score in the original adds nothing to the film in my opinion). The film opens with unrelated footage from an unfinished 7-part 1978 zombie anthology film called TALES THAT WILL TEAR YOUR HEART OUT (There is more footage of this film as an extra on the Blu-Ray, where we also learn Wes Craven was also one of the seven directors). We then watch as some disguised stranger enters the morgue of a teaching hospital in New York City, where he saws off the hand of a male corpse. This hospital has been experiencing a series of missing body parts and organs, so they set up a trap for the thief. We then see the thief cut out the heart of a still-living patient (some trap!) and begins to eat it, but he is caught by Dr. Drydock (Walter Patriarca; CANNIBAL APOCALYPSE - 1980) and it turns out he is an orderly at the hospital named Toran (Turam Quibo; ADIOS SABATA - 1970, using the name "Joseph Persaud"), a native of the Moluccas tribe in the West Indies who pray to Kito, the Cannibal God. Before Dr. Drydock can question him, Toran bolts and jumps through a hospital window, falling to his death (an obvious dummy loses its right arm when it hits the pavement!). Nurse Lori Ridgeway (Alexandra Delli Colli; NEW YORK RIPPER - 1982) notices that Toran has the symbol of Kito tattooed on his chest, a symbol that represents a tribe of cannibals in the Moluccas Islands. Lori knows this because she is an anthropology nut and she has a ceremonial dagger with the symbol of Kito hanging on a wall in her home (it ends up missing). We then see Lori traveling to the West Indies with Dr. Peter Chandler (Ian McCulloch; CONTAMINATION - 1980), N.Y. Express reporter Susan Kelly (Sherry Buchanan; EYES BEHIND THE STARS - 1977), whose newspaper is financing this expedition, and jack-of-all-trades George Harper (Peter O'Neal; his only film), Once they arrive on one of the islands, they are greeted by Dr. Obrero (Donald O'Brien; GHOSTHOUSE - 1987) and he assigns Molotto (Dakar; real name: Alejandro Dakar; ATOR, THE FIGHTING EAGLE - 1982) to guide them on their expedition to find the tribe that worship Kito. That night, Lori finds a severed, rotting head (complete with maggots) in her bed, along with the symbol of Kito drawn in blood on the sheet. Dr. Obrero assures Lori that if the natives wanted her dead she would be dead (How comforting!). The next morning they begin their expedition through the jungle (without Dr. Obrero), but it is obvious that Molotto is not leading them to their intended destination. The party lose some of their native crew to spiked booby-traps and they are eventually taken prisoner by a tribe of cannibals, who devour George alive (they slice open George's stomach and chow down on his intestines; they even poke out his eyes with their fingers and eat them!), but just when it looks like curtains for Peter and Lori (Susan is nowhere to be found), some rotting zombies appear in the jungle and scare the cannibals away. Lori, Peter and Molotto run quickly through the jungle and discover that Dr. Obrero is waiting for them. Just what is he doing in the jungle? Peter grows suspicious of Dr. Obrero and rightfully so. It seems the not-so-good doctor wants them to leave the island as quickly as possible. But just what exactly is he up to? Peter aims to find out and takes Lori with him (they decline Dr. Obrero's offer to have Molotto show them the way). After surviving zombie attacks and other jungle booby-traps (Peter kills one zombie with the spinning blades of an outboard motor to its head), they finally discover what Dr. Obrero is doing. They think they see Susan, but it turns out to be a zombie wearing Susan's scalp! We see Dr. Obrero operating on a still-alive (but hairless and scalpless) Susan (he cuts her vocal cords because her screams annoy him!). Dr. Obrero is actually the Dr. Butcher of the title and he is trying to transplant living brains into dead bodies, thereby being the first person to successfully perform a brain transplant. All his previous tries have been failures (which is why there are zombies everywhere) and he tells Peter that he hopes to expand human life by over a hundred years, but he believes he needs civilized brains for his operation to be successful. He plans on using Peter's brain to reach his goal. Will Dr. Butcher be successful? Filmed on the same sets as director Lucio Fulci's gut-munching classic ZOMBIE (1979; also starring Ian McCulloch), this film bears striking similarities to that movie. They both contain extreme gore and eating of body parts, the zombie makeups are nearly the same (although both are done by different special effect makeup artists) and contain some amazing nudity from the female cast (Alexandra Delli Colli does a totally nude sequence at the end of the film that will remind fans of cannibal cinema of Ursula Andress' scene in MOUNTAIN [SLAVE] OF THE CANNIBAL GOD - 1978. Alexandra is a beautiful woman and this is why nudity is important in horror films!). This was director Marino Girolami's (VIOLENT ROME - 1975; A SPECIAL COP IN ACTION - 1976), here using his "Frank Martin" pseudonym, only horror film (he passed away in 1994). He was the father of exploitation vets, director Enzo G. Castellari (THE LAST SHARK - 1981; THE NEW BARBARIANS - 1983; LIGHT BLAST - 1985) and actor Ennio Girolami (THE FEAST OF SATAN - 1971; DAY OF THE COBRA - 1980). The screenplay of DR. BUTCHER was written by Romano Scandariato (EMANUELLE AND THE LAST CANNIBALS [a.k.a. TRAP THEM AND KILL THEM] - 1977) based on a story by Fabrizio De Angelis, director/writer of such films as OPERATION NAM (1989) and KILLER CROCODILE (1989). But the real treat on this double Blu-Ray set is not the films at all, but the interview with 86 year-old Terry Levene, who regales us with the history of Aquarius Releasing (They distributed some of the goriest Italian films during the '70s, including the unredeemable BURIED ALIVE [a.k.a. BEYOND THE DARKNESS - 1979; just listening to Levene's opinion of this film is worth the price of admission!], MAKE THEM DIE SLOWLY [a.k.a. CANNIBAL FEROX - 1981] and 7 DOORS OF DEATH [a.k.a. THE BEYOND - 1981], all heavy moneymakers for Aquarius). Levene looks like a balding and slightly overweight Jewish man who has a fondness for saying "So on and so forth...", yet his knowledge of the films he distributed and the history of "The Deuce" (Times Square) are second to none. I could have watched him talking for over two hours and be satisfied with my purchase (Levene had an office above the Selwyn Theater, located in the heart of The Deuce, where I originally saw this film.), but there are many other extras on the disc, including: a tour of Times Square with Temple Of Schlock's Chris Poggiali and filmmaker Roy Frumkes (STREET TRASH - 1987), who share many stories about their time at the Deuce; an entertaining interview with Gore Gazette's Rick Sullivan, who discusses the William Castle-like promotion he did for this film (The "Butchermobile', a flatbed truck where Psychotronic Video's Michael Weldon played a victim to Gary Hertz's Doctor Butcher, while Sullivan ballyhooed the film over a loud speaker), his encounters with Bill Landis (whom I have nothing but bad memories of, but that's a story for another day) and the U.S. Postal Service raiding his house for selling underage VHS videos of Traci Lords (Sullivan said one Postal Agent told him, "If you used UPS, we wouldn't be here"!); and so much more. This may be my favorite Blu-Ray set of all time (it even comes with a replica barf bag, which was originally handed out to patrons when it played in Aquarius Theaters). Thanks, Severin, for bringing back all those memories I long thought I forgot! Everyone who has ever stepped foot in Times Square should search out this Blu-Ray. It's essential. The film is Unrated.

Epic Blu Ray from Severin. Not a single bad word to say about it. The 88 Films Blu Ray would've been nice to own but it's only Region B. However, the amount of bonus features on this one are far superior to the 88 Films. I haven't seen the Media Blasters Blu Ray but I've read quite a few bad reviews on it. So anyway, back to the Severin Blu Ray. Perfect HD transfer, tons of interviews, 2 different versions of the film, trailers, reversible sleeve, and what Blu Ray would be complete without a barf bag? And at a really sweet price. Well done, Severin. Classic Italian gore, classic English dubbing, and a great score. This Blu Ray will look great on your shelf next to Burial Ground, Contamination, and of course, Zombi 2.

I’m not going to review the film (actually 2 cuts of the same movie), except to say that it’s one of the better made Italian gore films of it’s era. I prefer the “Zombie Holocaust” (Italian) version because Americans almost always ruin foreign horror films by removing the good stuff and inserting filler. The American “Dr. Butcher” edit is still worth a watching at least once though.People either love these low budget Italian zombie and cannibal films...or they don’t, and I’m not going to try to convince anybody that they should like this brutal exploitation film. If you’re reading this review you probably know what you like anyway. I will say that there is one scene in particular that still disturbs me to this day, almost 40 years after the film was made, and to me that says a lot about the effectiveness of this film.What makes the Severin edition worth acquiring is the abundance of entertaining and informative special features, as well as the excellent restoration. This Severin edition is and probably always will be the definitive edition of this historical (and historic) “video nasty”.

These two Blu-rays are titled differently but they are exactly the same except for the extras so don't expect to see two different versions. I don't lie the fact that the cover depicts Doctor Butcher as a sadistic rappest, he never did that. In fact there were no sexual scenes at all, only some brief nudity. I wouldn't recommend.

the two movies are really one with dr. butcher having some zombie scenes tacked on to the beginning.the rest of the two movies are the same.i prefer the cannibal holocaust version.After cannibals are found in a hospital,4 people go to the island the cannibals came from to study them.bad move.they run into zombies and a mad doctor who experiments on peoples brains.the movie has everything enough nudity,cannibalism,zombies and gross out surgery scenes.Its a horror lovers delight.

Yay! Cannibals and zombies collide in this ultimute Italian trash gore fest. Severin does this release right, reversible art, two discs featuring the doctor butcher cut, the zombie holocaust cut and a myriad of fabulous bonus features. Personally I like the zombie holocaust cut much better, less annoying music and unnecessary introductions. Seriously if your a fan of Italian horror buy the Severin dvd or blu ray you will not be disappointed.

The item came really fast, in perfect condition.Everything is as described. The story is great - classic zombie horror movie ,picture quality is perfect.100 % entertainment.The Blu-ray disc from United States is REGION FREE and uncut, there's two versions of the film.The price is cheap so, don't hesitate - BUY IT NOW!

Very comprehensive 2 disc edition with both cuts of the movie. I prefer Zombie Holocaust version...Severin is like the Criterion for cult films...they really put a lot of TLC into these .

Just as expected. Quality product at a good price and fast delivery.

I thought I had a great deal when I paid for two instead of one movie. I received the product and there was indeed two blu-ray discs, one entitled, "Doctor Butcher M.D." and the other one entitled, "Zombi Holocaust". But to my surprise, they are both the SAME movie with a DIFFERENT title. The only difference is that "Zombi Holocaust" at 89 minutes is 7 minutes longer than "Doctor Butcher M.D." at 82 minutes.The only surprise was the special features. The disc entitled, "Zombi Holocaust" had features related to the film. The other one did not.Viewer beware: gory and bloody parts (i.e. cannibalism) and some artistic nudity. Not recommended for young children under 13.The story and production design, including make-up for the zombies, is the typical low budget type. But remember that horror pictures prior to 1981 did not receive a large budget for sets, makeup and special effects. Nonetheless, the story is watchable and even enjoyable if you like old time horror.The lead actor Ian McCulloch reminded me of a classic Roger Moore type in appearance and performance.So do not be fooled by this package with two blu-ray discs with a different movie title. This is the same movie. If you enjoy horror films then you might consider watching this one too...and not two!